Posted: 28/04/22

Sunrise 10 April - Gemma Richal-Webb

So today I did my vigil and it was really interesting to compare the difference between east and west.  When I was stood on the east it was amazing.  I saw this rainbow through the clouds: it was red and then orange and yellow and then a little bit of green and then blue and the sun hadn’t arisen as yet.  And then looking out of the west window it was quite dark, you could see the city and the lights on and then I went back to the east window and I spotted this tiny little orange haze coming from the horizon so I knew the sun was about to rise.  And it’s SO orange.  You could see it just emerging and peeking over the horizon and it was beautiful and then you had the clouds and the rainbow and they started to disappear and then it became white and then the sky went blue and you could see the lines from the aeroplanes and then there wasn’t any and it was just so clear and blue. 

And then the other side – the west side window – the darkness started changing to lights as the sun rose; you could see the balance changing and then you could see the world waking up, people coming out.  I counted seven altogether this morning.  There was two dogs, I’m very sad, a cyclist, somebody walking and the dog had silly behaviour with the owner in the Gardens.  I couldn’t see any buses actually but maybe the timing was wrong but there was a lot of traffic on the A63 and the freeway. It was quite busy but in and around the immediate vicinity of the College it was quite quiet.  And I saw this cyclist sauntering and then he stopped and then I was looking at him and thinking, ‘What’s he doing?  What’s he contemplating, I wonder?’ and then he got back on and rode a little bit more.  Then I looked at Queen’s Gardens and it was really beautiful and still and then went back to the east window and I couldn’t see – it was so bright was the sun and so I closed my eyes and I just felt the warmth coming from the sun through the window on my body and just appreciated the silence and stillness and I opened my eyes and the sun was still there but you could see the silhouette behind the buildings and it reminded me of the film Mary Poppins and the song Chim, Chiminey when I could see the rooftops. 

So the Vigil was a really worthwhile experience.  I am a person who does rely on technology a lot and that was an hour that gave me freedom from that.