Beauty of the Season!

The lights come up as the sun goes down.

     Sunrise and Sunset.  Winter has to be one of the best times of the year to view sunsets, and apparently sunrises, too.  I don't know if it's because of the direction of the sun being so far south, or if it's the air quality (which seems dramatically different in the winter), the particles that hang in the air from frequent snow storms, or the slow escape of emissions from factories and cars.  I don't know, but the sunsets in winter are a light show not to be missed.  Add in the dark silhouettes of objects against the sky and truly the pictures painted are exquisite.

     I spend a lot of time viewing sunsets in winter.  If winter has any redeeming quality for me, it's those sunsets.  I will stand outside in the cold, wrapped in a heavy coat, hat, mittens, and scarf, facing toward the southwest and view the often brief but colorful sunset of the day.

Golden glow of a sunset reflecting off a silo.

Sun kissing the tops of downtown buildings.  Notice the snow hanging out on the north side of a building.

      Sunsets tend to wrap around the sky in the winter.  These pictures show the setting sun reflecting off buildings but the sky is still blue.  As I was leaving work one Friday afternoon, I saw this sunset in the east, as it wrapped around the sky.

An eastern sunset???

     When I use to work out of town and drove to work early every morning, it was not uncommon to see the sun rising in the west.  I'd be heading south and occasionally the road would twist to the left a bit farther before twisting back right making it appear that the sun was coming up in the west.  It was just the strangest thing.

The yellow bands on this picture were actually a mint green color when I took this picture.

 Look how the color changes around the tree.

      I'm not quite as fond of the sunrise in winter but this may make me change my mind.  I saw the glow against the back of my closed blinds and when I opened the blinds I found this sunrise.  I wish the green had shown up better in this photo, it was a spectacular shade of green!

     I immediately grabbed my camera and went to the door, opened it, leaned out in my nightgown, and snapped a couple of photos.  While I was doing this, the cold air rushed in the door and began setting up shop in every nook and cranny of my apartment.  When I finally closed the door, there was this delicious feel throughout my apartment.  Crispy, cool and fresh winter air that was so invigorating!  Of course, shortly after this the furnace came on and warmed the place up, but the fresh air felt and smelled so great throughout my apartment and bouncing off my skin.  It made me long for spring!!!