Brno. Sunrise lake swim

2 Sep 2023. I make to pull the garage door shut and, just as I reach for the handle, I casually look up. The stars are all there for me to see, and I almost missed them. Why don’t I pay attention? It’s around 5.15 on a late-summer morning and I’m driving to the lake for sunrise, but that’s still over an hour away. It’s not pitch black anymore: the sky has turned to that deep, radiant shade of dark blue that already speaks of dawn, but it’s still night in its own right.

And all those stars: there are no stupid street lights here in the garage lot, I can see so many. Why don’t I do this more often? Just cross the street to the garage lot at night, see how many stars I get to see.

I drive through the city, still sound asleep but for the few late nighters you invariably run into on such early outings; a city I’m often not too fond of anymore but right now I do like: silent, empty, still.

I park the car at the Rokle parking lot, almost halfway down the western side of the lake. The moon shines high above the trees: a bright yellow circle enveloped in mist. I walk a few steps down to the shore, and suddenly blue hour is everywhere: on the path, in the trees, in the banks of mist lingering over water. How does nature get to be so perfect? Like it doesn’t need anything to shine other than itself.

I walk a stretch of the lakeshore trail till I find an open viewing spot right by the water. While I’m standing there, the dark blue turns to light blue, then white, then yellow, then- sunrise happens. It’s gentle, delicate, soft-toned, mesmerising. However you anticipate it in your head, sunrise always catches you off guard. Picture a deep-orange sun rising over the water like a ball of fire, and you’ll get a horizon of pastel colours; expect a sky of iridescent tones, and all the brightest hues will appear.

Once the sun is up and rising, I resume the walk, and soon end up at the exact same spot where I swam at twilight only a week before. It’s not a coincidence. After the twilight swim I said I’d imagined doing it again, doing it at sunrise. Well, here we are.