2 o’clock in the morning

I woke up and thought about the birch sap dripping into the bottles. So I jumped up, threw on a dressing gown, and went off to empty the collecting bottles.
It was a little lighter than it looks in this image and the birds were all singing their hearts out and fluttering around. The noise was incredible!
The air was totally still and there was a hard frost. A few of the brightest stars were still visible but the white nights are nearly here. Sunrise is still two and a half hours away but the sun is rolling along, just below the horizon.
I collected another 3 litres of birch sap, left the pipes dripping into the now empty bottles, and went back to bed.