December Sunrise-Joy in the Morning

I took these pictures on the way to work this morning, so, although I left the house early, I walked into our meeting just a teensy, weensy bit late.
I'm guessing the pictures are worth it.

I know this one looks like a lake, but it isn't. . . simply the roof of my car, Dusky

Morning on the Prairie

I got a couple of hours off from classes this morning because the history teacher had taken my students to watch a town hall meeting and see their state representative in action; it gave me a chance to go have the oil changed on my car before it disowned me. Anyway. I really can't go anywhere without taking a picture or two. Here's a sunrise from the drive into town and the windmills from the trip back. The tree--well, I really can't resist a tree that's brave enough to try to grow out here in this drought.


                                                                           
                                                                             And, lest you think those clouds mean we got a break from the weather, I sadly report that we got no rain...and my car thermometer was at 110 when I left school this afternoon. I know that's hard to believe. Blue clouds mean cool weather. Right?

September Sky

It didn't take much to get me out of the house
for a serious walk this evening. There were
clouds but no thunderous grumbles or lightning
threats. So I asked Clay, my faithful walking companion and somebody who doesn't mind my stopping occasionally, ahem, well, every few minutes to take a picture.The sun was setting quickly so we headed out of town where the fields are full of views. After four or five blocks, my camera gave me the dreaded "low battery" message, and promptly refused to come back on. There was a brief debate over whether we should go home for more batteries or keep walking so we could see what we would have been able to take pictures of. I was all for going home, but Clay pointed out that by the time we got back it would be too dark for pictures. We trudged on.
At the edge of town, we turned around and saw the sky lit up--like this but a whole sky hemisphere more impressive. I reached for the camera and turned it on. Nice. It came on...and stayed on for this picture and about eight more. Then it died again, but I didn't care. I had captured a little slice of golden September sky.

The Year in Skies

Thursday Thirteen

The part of the country where I live isn't really famous for its scenery. No tourists come driving through to ooh and aah over fields, cows, and little creek beds with muddy red water dribbling through them. So I feel a secret joy in seeing great beauty here...the sun coming up...the rain moving in...the fog surrounding...it's all delightful to me. Here are pictures I've taken of the sky: from January through December and beyond...

January--a great orange, ripple
of clouds in the early morning
















February--winds and windmills in a
white whirl of low-hanging clouds
















March--new wheat rising under cool
clouds, greening the land















April--the sweet promise of rain on thirsty wheat














May-- loud storms, bouncing hail pellets,
thunderous tornadoes















June--quiet blue skies over harvested fields,
maybe a tired tuft of cloud.



















July--the sun sinking behind the city, bronzing
clouds with a wearying heat















August--days full of rain, and the world smiled,
wonderful, wrapping mists of moisture














September--soil dry, red dirt, steel sky















October--fog on the bridges and whisper gray













November--thick clouds rolling, masses of cold
pushing the bright yellow sunlight from the fields
















December--Pink sky, very early morning...
a snowy stillness on Christmas Day.















A final picture to make 13. This one was taken by one of my students on our way to school one morning. So how did she get such a good picture of the moon from a moving vehicle? Well, truthfully, that's not the moon; that's the sun.

Swinging in the Clouds

Someone is finally going to have to take this camera away from me...or else my morning ride to work needs to be much duller with no orange sunrises and junior high girls singing Gloria Domine en Excelsius (or something like that). If you look closely at the first picture, you can see seven little birds perched on a line and coddled by the clouds? That's what I feel like sometimes on mornings like this--I have six carpool riders so we are seven, traveling along. It seems like I'm a very insignificant, very ordinary little gray bird--surrounded by extraordinary cloud beauty and song beauty and just reveling in it all.

The Sky is Scenery Too

I remember when we lived in Colorado. People there knew that we had moved from Oklahoma and they used to ask us how we could stand living where there were no mountains...no gorgeous scenery. Well, I have to agree that mountains are beautiful, but so are green fields. So is a cloudy sky. This evening I took these pictures of our exquisite scenery. So far, no rain out of all this, but you must admit it looks promising.