Sunset Glow #SkywatchFriday

I didn't even attempt to take a walk yesterday, especially after all my devices started screeching at me about 10am with a Severe Snow Squall warning.  Fortunately, we escaped the worst of the snow squalls where I live in the Southern Tier of New York. (And yes, we escaped the huge snow dumps some other parts of New York State were subjected to.  Whew!)

So instead, please enjoy these pictures, taken on a walk December 3.  This was another rare day when we saw blue sky.

I got there just in time. The sun was getting ready to disappear.

That tree is brown, but it was glowing in the golden hour light, as was the grass.  My photo doesn't do it justice.

A few minutes later, the sun is behind the hills and the clouds glow in the light.

Now, the snowy white skies are back, alas, and this is just another memory..

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers each Friday for #SkywatchFriday.

Sunset with the Geese #SkywatchFriday

January 15.  After work, spouse and I went down to the park.  It looked like we had a chance at a sunset after day after day of dreary weather.

It was cold and my hands weren't happy when I took my gloves off, but the sunset showed promise.

We walked along the river as the sun set.

Not sure if you can see them, but I paused to take pictures of icicles on the bottom of the photo.

Back to the sunset.

Good night, sun.

We watched silently with the geese.

I adjusted the exposure so the geese were more visible.

Nighty-night.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

Continuing a November Sunset #SkywatchFriday

It appears that winter has finally reached where I live in the Southern Tier of New York State.  There's a storm brewing, and we are expecting the snow to start around 1pm on Saturday.  Right now the forecast is five to eight inches (12.7cm-20.3 cm) but I remember some storms where that was the forecast and we got a lot more.

I'd rather think back to November 9 and a beautiful sunset I started to blog about last year.

I promised the best was yet to come.

It's not a tease.

More to come.

It's been such a snowless winter that we aren't even used to seeing this anymore. 

 Joining Yogi and other bloggers who watch the sky at #SkywatchFriday.

A Flower and a Sunset Part 2 #SkywatchFriday #GardenBloggersBloomDay

Today, you are getting two memes for the price of one - Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, which is the 15th of each month, and Yogi's Skywatch Friday, which I join up with each Friday.

For Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, we show what is blooming in our homes or yards.  Flower gardeners, I hope you stick around for the sunset.

The sparse time of year has come for me and my zone 5b garden in the Southern Tier of New York.  Although we don't have snow on the ground (except where the snow from earlier in the week hasn't melted yet) I have no outdoor flowers.  There's a possible exception but let's see the indoor flower first.

Indoors, all I have is a new to me Thanksgiving cactus, which I purchased at a nursery's holiday showcase.  No African violets - in fact, I killed two of my African violets in the past couple of months.  Yes, even flower lovers can kill plants.

I know you know that these beautiful features on poinsettias are not flowers.  They are bracts, specialized leaves that surround the tiny flowers.  Their main function is to attract pollinators.  

If you are wondering how the poinsettia got its name, I found out during a trip to Greenville, South Carolina this past February.

Let's move to the outdoors.  Although, under a covering of leaves blown by the wind, there is this.  

My white Lenten Rose is budding out.  Whether it gets to bloom next year is another matter.  Last year it was caught by no snow on the ground and a -5F (-20.56 C) cold wave.  And, alas, that's all I have to offer for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. 

And now, to the Skywatch.  This is the November 9 sunset I started to show you last Friday.  What I showed you was only the beginning.

The sun is just touching the horizon here, but the best is yet to come.

Through the trees.

There is just something about bare trees.   But I know part of the show may be elsewhere so I look in another direction.

I think it was to the west.  It's hard to see but the cloud on the left is reflecting some of the red light from the sunset.

Still more next week.

Thank you for stopping by!

Last Sunset of November #SkywatchFriday

We were thinking of going out to look at last night's sunset but got a little distracted.  We were hoping we could see the aurora but, as usual, the clouds had other ideas.

Almost too late, we realized what was happening.

We got there towards the end.  

 

But maybe there was hope.

 As we started home, there was a late display of red.

And a reflection of sorts in the back of a stop sign.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

I keep saying I'm going to post a great sunset from earlier in November, and I keep not doing it.  Maybe in December.  December!  Tomorrow begins the last month of 2023.

Where did the time go?

Which Sunset for Today? #SkywatchFriday

After months and months of hardly any sunsets to show you, I had promised to show you a really good one.

In the meantime, there was another good sunset.

One notable thing about our second summer (right now, writing this on Thursday afternoon, it is 58 F (14.4C) and I'm enjoying every degree of it)  is that the warmish weather is happening after the return of early sunsets.  Tonight, sunset is 4:42 pm.  

On days when I work, it fits right in with when my work days end.  On days off, it's still a convenient time, as we tend to eat supper a little later than many. 

I prefer not to do sunset photography in cold weather where I have to take gloves off.  With this warm wave, I'm comfortable taking pictures.

Also, the sunsets have cooperated with some nice ones.  Thank you, sunsets, for thinking of me and my readers.

The day opened up with frost all over the ground and frost on the windshield of our car. This was about 7:50 am.

Midday.

By 4:52 pm, things were looking promising.

A couple of minutes later, promise kept.

Reflection on the river.

More reflections.

And to all, a good night.

Next week, a different sunset.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.

It's Getting Shorter All The Time

No, I'm not talking about my height although (thank you for asking) now that I'm in my seventh decade, I am shrinking a little.  

No, I'm talking about the seasons and daylight.

Did you know that winter started last week here in the Southern Tier of New York?

No, we didn't get a freak snowstorm.  No, we didn't get an unusual June freeze.  Instead, something happened that happens every year.

The days strted getting shorter here in the Northern Hemisphere.  By that, I mean the length of daylight shortened.

It's a sneaky process.  There you are in June.  There is daylight for hours after dinnertime.  When I was a child, it would seem like summer would never end.  I would be chased outside to play.  And we did, while our mothers gathered on benches in the housing project I grew up in to talk and gossip.  No supervision.

But I'm an adult now.  Yes, and a senior citizen, too.

I hate those short winter days (and am grateful I don't live in Alaska) when the sun sets at 4:31 pm.  Now, the sun sets around 8:50 pm.    But, watch carefully.

We are losing minutes to the dark.  Soon, it will be hours.

Soon, the street lights will snap on before dinnertime.

I love having my flowers. In three or so months, it will be like a dream that I ever had flowers.

Like my first day lily, which opened on Monday.

 

My second, which opened on Tuesday.

In December, I'll open my phone's Photos app and look at the photos, and wonder where the time went.  And I'll wonder if it will ever get warm again, as the snowflakes fly.

In the meantime, the days are shrinking.  The days are getting shorter every day.

Like sands through the hourglass....

Can Sunset Lightning Strike Twice? #SkywatchFriday

 Let me assure you first, I'm not talking about actual lightning.  Rather....

Last week, I brought you an amazing sunset from February 9th that I would have missed if not for my spouse, whom I've turned into a fellow skywatcher.  Thank you, spouse!

Can the same thing happen twice?  Judge for yourself.

On February 12, Superbowl night, we were busy around sunset, preparing food for the arrival of our company (only one person, but, for us, that's enough) who was going to visit with us during the first half of the game.

I was totally involved with doing my part of the preparations, when spouse said, "Look out the window!"

Oh no! There was no way I could interrupt what I was doing to get to the park where we watch sunsets.  Instead, I dashed out of the house into our back yard.  Yes, I ran outside, cell phone in hand, with no shoes on.  Fortunately, the snow had melted.

  The best part was behind some houses.

I tried to get a slightly better view, but we have a small yard and I couldn't maneuver far.

I tried to capture the blue of the blue hour.

A reflection from one of my windows - alas, a curtain produced the rectangle in the lower corner.

The sunset started to fade away, and I had to go back inside.

Sometimes you can't be in the right place at the right time.  You just do the best you can.

Joining up with Yogi and other sky watching bloggers for #SkywatchFriday.

Sailor's Delight #SkywatchFriday

I was writing a blog post in our bedroom yesterday when my spouse called up and said "I think we are going to have a good sunset".

I threw on my coat and followed him out the door to our local park. It was raining, and I didn't hold out much hope, but then, in the western sky, I saw a blazing sun about to set.  As we approached the park entrance, this is what I saw.

I zoomed in and saw a sailor's delight, a reddish orange that took my breath away.

Besides our amazing still green grass in February, I saw the walking paths glowing orange.

The sun was ready to set, and I zoomed back in.

Just as it set.

The sun disappeared.

I tried to zoom in on the orange paths.  Obviously, not their normal color.

 With the sun behind a hill, the color started to fade.

One last little show as the last of the sunset lighting highlights some clouds.  I returned home to finish my blogging.

What an unexpected treat.  Some sailors somewhere will be delighted.

Joining Yogi and skywatching bloggers each Friday for #SkywatchFriday.

Seize the Pre-Sunset #SkywatchFriday

Do you ever focus on getting the perfect sunset, and forget the purpose of sunset watching?

A couple of days ago, we were out walking about 3:50 pm.  The sun would be setting in another hour.  We decided to take a short exercise walk after a car trip.

The skies were cloudy but promising an interesting sunset.  I saw some colors already forming in the clouds.

I decided to take a couple of pictures.  And then, I would come back in a half hour and take some more.

Except, by then, the sky had clouded completely over and the sunset was a dud.  Sigh...If only I had taken more pictures and not just those two, I thought.  I should have seized the pre-sunset.

So I thought back to another sunset, a couple of days before I took these pictures, and I relearned a lesson I thought I had learned long ago.

No clouds in the area of this January 9 orange ball about to go down.
 

Zooming in for a better look.

The sun disappears in an orange glow.

So, what have I learned once again?  Sunsets don't have to be perfect.  They just need to be appreciated as individual events, each with their own strengths.  Some sunsets pull you into a different world for a few seconds of transcendence.  Some sunsets just....are.

Today,  we get a cold front and it's back to January weather and no sunset picture taking for a couple of days.

May today be a lucky day for you.

Joining Yogi and other skywatchers for #SkywatchFriday.