Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A SUCKER FOR SUNRISE

I am a sucker for gaudy sunrises.
Show me a sunrise with a bit of color, hand me a camera…I'll take a photo. Then I'll oooh and ahhh a moment and snap another, maybe several.
If no camera is handy, I'll just oooh and ahhh and wish I had one. Then I'll oooh and ahhh some more.
You do what you can with what you've got…
This morning when I went out to feed the ducks, the eastern sky was showing some color. It was early, of course, because sunrises tend to occur early. You learn such facts as you get older and spend a fair amount of time outside looking up at the morning sky, hoping to see a gaudy sunrise.
Okay. This sunrise wasn't all that gaudy. I agree. But it was the gaudiest one I've seen all week. Plus I'm not all that picky. I admitted right up front I was a sucker for gaudy sunrises…right? Mildly gaudy or outrageously gaudy. Doesn't matter. Just show me the color!
Besides, the weather predictors say it's going to rain, off and on, for the next several days. It's raining right now. It rained this morning after I took the photo of the mildly gaudy sunrise. It may well rain until Friday, just like those paid prognosticators claim.
If that turns out to be the case, this could be the last time I see the sky for awhile. Even though not much of this morning's sky was actually visible, which was why there was a mildly gaudy sunrise. Broken clouds make colorful sunrises.
That's not a scientific statement. And probably not a scientific fact. I'm no scientist.
I'm just a fellow who went out this morning to feed ducks, looked up at the sky, saw a mildly gaudy sunrise, oooh and ahhh a moment, dashed in and grabbed a camera, made a photo, oooh and ahhh some more…then went ahead and fed the ducks.

18 comments:

Raph G. Neckmann said...

I love gaudy sunrises, sunsets and gaudy skies in between! And November brooding skies with dark clouds and bright bits in the middle. (I wonder if the ducks notice the skies?)

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Hi there Scribe. What a beautiful photo! It looks like one I posted a couple of weeks ago of a sunset - with the oranges and pinks supporting bluish clouds - all behind dark silhouetted trees. Aren't we blessed by all the beauty nature offers up to us every day?

KGMom said...

Scribe--two sunrise stories. When I left Houston a few short days ago, it was right early. And there was a glorious sunrise--which I could catch a glimpse of from within the airport. Not a place from which to take a photo--and since the only camera I had was my cell phone, doubly foiled.
Second story, your photo reminds me of another glorious sunrise. About a year ago, having attended the same committee meeting that took me to Houston, I witnessed one of the loveliest sunrises. I was driving from a place called Wooded Glen, in southern Indiana, to go to the Louisville, KY airport. As the sun came up, it kept painting the sky with lovely pinks and purples and peaches--all the way around the entire visible horizon. I had to think of Homer's constant epithet of rosy-fingered dawn. It was just lovely.
However, as I was driving a rental car, and had a passenger, I eschewed stopping to take a photo--besides, I could not have caught the 360 degree sweep of color.
Thanks for the reminder of sunrises past.

Grizz………… said...

Raph…

It pains me to say this, but I don't believe those ducks cared. They had eyes only for cracked corn.

And I, too, will take skies gaudy any time I can…morning, noon, or night. BTW, I notice you have some pretty gaudy skies over at your place. Quite lovely.

Grizz………… said...

Bonnie…

We are, indeed, blessed by such beauty, every single day. No two skies have ever been, or will ever be, alike…and I want to see and appreciate each and every one I can.

I expect you feel the same…

Grizz………… said...

KGMom…

As a general rule (really, general) sunrises tend to be less gaudy than sunsets, while sunrises favor the pastels—pinks and golds and lavenders. But when you see one as as the one you describe, they're truly awesome.

I'm glad I could bring something of that back for you to enjoy again.

Wanda..... said...

My post today is about that same gaudy sunrise Tuesday morning. I grabbed my camera too!

Bernie said...

Ahhh Grizz your not a sucker for sunrise, you just love the opening and closing of each day....I love how you appreciate nature and all it's beauty....:-) Hugs

Grizz………… said...

Wanda…

Hey, we both know a gaudy, pretty sunrise when we see one. Great minds think alike! I'll be over and read your post.

Jayne said...

Gaudy or not, I stand slack jawed just the same, with a goofy smile on my face too. :c)

Grizz………… said...

Bernie…

I do love the crepuscular hours, the edges of night and day, with the low, parallel light and the spectacular sky colors. All the money in the world can't buy you a beautiful sunrise or sunset…but they're free to one and all to enjoy.

Grizz………… said...

Jayne…

I think if you can't be dazzled by a gaudy sunrise, you'd better check your pulse…or your heart.

Richard said...

At least you remembered to feed the ducks. That was the important thing.

Grizz………… said...

Richard…

I don't have to remember—they sit in the pool just below the steps, about 10 feet from my great room windows, and quack at the top of their lungs to remind me! The only way I can shut them up is with a scoop or two of cracked corn.

Ducks are demanding and not in the least bashful.

Gail said...

HI GRIZZ-

I love your so called gaudy sunrise. :-) I love to be up on our upper deck when the sun rises - I feel closer to it - part of it sort of - like it is rising around me not above me. Ya know?
It is all magical and hopeful - full of promise and challenge -
Love to you
Gail
peace.....

Grizz………… said...

Gail…

Alas, no semi-gaudy sunrise here this morning, only clouds and rain. But it's still 50-plus degrees out, and I don't mid such days. Good for hunkering in, building a fire, making soup and reading. Or working. Or napping…

The Weaver of Grass said...

Oh Scribe - never believe your ducks don't care - they may have eyes for only the corn but at night when they are cuddled up together in a sheltered place I bet they quack about you and how kind you are to them!
I love the sunrise too. Our bedroom window faces East and when the farmer brings my morning cup of tea I sit up in bed and watch the sun rise this time of the year. Sometimes is creeps up and sometimes it advertises its coming with trumpets and great scars of red across the sky. (This usually means it is going to rain shortly)

Grizz………… said...

Weaver…

I was just doing some good-natured grumbling re. the ducks. I don't begrudge them their corn, or the fact of wanting their breakfast first thing. Besides, Moon the dog is ready for her morning ramble then, too.

I'm usually up an hour or more before sunrise. I like being at my desk, clutching my coffee the way Count Dracula would clutch a pint of AB-positive, and watching the black turn to gray and gradually full light. I can see south and almost west from my window, but not east—so sometimes when I go to the front door, I'm surprised to see color in the sky.