Be astonished

'Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.'

Mary Oliver

Living here in my west-facing flat, I do pay attention to the evening skies and sunsets, which are always unique, sometimes unremarkable and occasionally stunning. I am often astonished, often exhilarated. I do like to tell about them - I think we all enjoy a good sky. So here's another, taken at 9.30pm one warm summer evening. 

Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. 

Job 35:5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Psalm 19:1-2

The night sky

No apologies for another night sky picture. This one, last Friday evening, was so breathtaking I have to share it here. Even more incredible when you realise this was 11pm at night. The moon was so bright. It's a bit blurry in my pic but it was a phone shot and it was too late to be bothered to go find my big camera and tripod. 

Friday was my birthday and I'd had a lovely day: time with friends and quiet time alone. I had some wonderful news from my elder granddaughter, who has been awarded the 'Character Prize' out of her entire school year group (about 250 pupils). They said she: 'flies under the radar but is an A-star student, demonstrating all the qualities, character and values [that the school seeks to foster].' I think she's amazing - she has a quiet strength - and it's lovely that her teachers and peers think so too. So that was a delightful birthday gift, as was the beautiful sky to round the day off. 

Today would have been my mum's 99th birthday, so this is for her. She'd have been very proud of her great granddaughter too, and I'm so glad she lived long enough to meet her a few times. 

Solstice

Here we are at the mid-point of the year, the summer solstice. The seasons fly by these days! I love these light nights, and always mourn when we start the downward path to darkness again. 

A couple of nights ago, at 10.30 pm, in the throes of England's first World Cup match (!), I got up to draw the curtains and I noticed the thinnest crescent moon - a waxing crescent - and the brightly shining Venus in very close conjunction. I found this rather thrilling! The match was rather thrilling too, it has to be said: England 4, Croatia 2. A good start to our campaign. 

The sky show

I've mentioned before that I find being able to watch the sunsets from my west-facing balcony is a real delight. It's not always spectacular, of course, but every night is different and I find that mesmerising and wonderful. Here are a few recent ones.

 

Roost

I absolutely love the ever-changing view from my balcony. During the day I have a prime spot for observing all the comings and goings to the apartments, since it overlooks our small car park. As the sun sets, I have a grandstand view of the western sky, except for a few houses and the church in the foreground. Inside, by the balcony doors, I've installed a comfortable chair (which swivels! 😊). I can sit knitting and still feel connected to life. Not that it matters at the moment as obviously I'm still very active, but I guess one day I might be glad of it. 

When I was choosing where to move to, I came to realise how much I like being near trees. The view from the front of my previous home was largely of mature trees and I really enjoyed watching their progression through the seasons (if not the massive job of clearing leaves from the garden and paths). Here, the apartment block is in pleasant grounds with lots of mature trees, mostly under protection orders - one being a magnificent copper beech and some walnuts too, which are not all that common. (And we have gardeners who deal with the leaves. Yay!) The tree I can see from my balcony (above) is a few blocks away, in the garden of a neighbouring apartment complex. I think that's a copper beech too. I noticed it seems to be a favoured roost for the birds as the sun goes down. 

Evening in Roberts Park

More early evening wandering, this time in Roberts Park. It's probably my favourite time of day to see the New Mill, when there's still a bit of colour in the sky and the lights are on in the NHS offices, enlivening the reflection in the river. 

You get a double value sunset when it's mirrored in the river. This one wasn't stunning but it was quite pretty. The lights of the Boathouse glowed invitingly. This was a boathouse in Victorian times, when people could hire rowing boats on the river. It's been a bar/restaurant for as long as I can remember. 

The bandstand is lit with coloured lights and provides a lovely focal point above the Half Moon pavilion. 

Opposite the bandstand, the statue of Sir Titus Salt was silhouetted against the evening sky. 

 

Seeing things in a different light

The sub-zero temperatures have eased, though it's still quite cold. Tuesday turned out to be a better day than forecast and I longed for a walk. Unfortunately I had to wait at home for a parcel delivery that didn't arrive until late afternoon, by which time it was starting to get dark. I went out anyway. Sometimes it's good to see familiar scenes in a different light. 

Salt Brewery, in what used to be the Edwardian tramsheds built in 1904, looked attractive and inviting with its glowing lights. Though open, at that hour it wasn't exactly busy. 

Sunset was creeping in by the time I got down to the canal, just a gentle glow, not spectacular but still good to see. 

Parts of the canal were still frozen, meaning that some of the ducks were standing on ice and others swimming in the water. That's not something you often see. 

The lights in Saltaire were beginning to come on by the time I reached the village. People were making their way home from work and college, no doubt relieved, as I was, not to be slithering on ice. 

The signs of the times...

Another fiery sunset. I never get tired of seeing them. You know what they say... 'Red sky at night, shepherds' delight.' (Or sailors', depending, I suppose, on how near you are to the coast.) It's said to mean good weather on the following day. We shall see. And I learned something today... the red sky lore is, apparently, even something that Jesus is said to have alluded to (according to the Bible, Matthew 16: 2b-3) when rebuking the Pharisees and Sadducees:

'When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather; for the sky is red." And in the morning, "It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening." You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.'

Still true, I think! 

God rays

We didn't get a proper sunset last night as there was too much cloud, but I loved the 'god rays' that appeared for about a quarter of an hour around 8.30 pm. Properly called crespuscular rays, they are formed when sunlight is scattered by particles in the atmosphere.

Google tells me they are most noticeable when the sun is low on the horizon, such as during sunrise or sunset, because the light travels through a greater amount of atmosphere, increasing the scattering effect. While crepuscular rays appear to converge at a point, they are actually parallel, like railway lines, according to the laws of perspective. The convergence is an optical illusion caused by the way our eyes perceive parallel lines receding into the distance. So, now we know!

I sat on my balcony with a mug of rooibos tea and just enjoyed the light show. It was so peaceful; a few birds flying overhead, still trying to decide on their roost for the night; the gentle murmur of someone's TV in another flat, not intrusive but strangely comforting. 

A sunset, at last

We finally had a 'proper' sunset last night, after weeks of low cloud blocking the horizon. Good sunsets do need a bit of cloud and this one had some artistic and impressionistic wisps that almost looked like I'd put a long exposure on the photo. (I didn't.)  They never look quite as pretty in pictures as they do in real life. It's hard to get the colours both soft and saturated. I love to see them though. 

Sunset in a puddle

With all the lovely weather we've been having, I've been hoping for some good sunsets, but none have materialised. It seems that each evening a bank of low cloud builds up on the horizon, obscuring whatever sunset there might be. There are occasional wisps of pink and I caught a few lodged in a puddle. 

Evening stroll

Lighter nights and warmer weather make it possible to take a stroll in the early evening. I don't do it nearly as often as I could (should) but, when I make the effort, I'm rewarded with a rather different view of familiar scenes. The canal, currently low in water and rather sluggish, was covered in masses of seeds and pollen, so that even the water looked golden in the low sunlight. They are talking of having to close it to boats because of the lack of water. Those in the know seem to be moving to their chosen berths. I saw the hotel boat Lady Teal coming through Saltaire the other day, perhaps keen to get back to its home mooring in Burnley. 

The light just catching the trees made them look like they could be the portal to another world. 

The end of the day

I'm still loving the sunsets I can see from my apartment windows now. Blue sky with little cloud all day slipped into a glorious dark blue fading to deep amber, all nicely graduated. It wasn't one of the spectacular sunsets we sometimes get when there's a bit of cloud but it felt very peaceful. The joy is that every sunset is different and so fleeting too; a precious little gift at the end of the day. 

'The heavens declare the glory of God;
The skies proclaim the work of His hands.'  Psalm 19: 1

Moonrise

Late autumn and we've had one of those 'super moons' that look so big and bright. Phone shots (which these are) don't really show it effectively but, on one of my walks, I caught it rising behind Salts Mill. 

Now that the leaves have mostly fallen, you can see much more of the New Mill, with its ornate Italianate chimney. Now converted into offices and flats, it remains a testament to Sir Titus Salt's grand vision and achievement in creating Saltaire. 

The men and the moon

I popped out for a walk slightly later than I habitually do, but it was a lovely evening and I enjoyed my stroll. Sunset (behind me) translated into pink clouds to the east - and a rising, almost full, 'Beaver' moon. 

At the moment there are large scale works going on above and below the canal and alongside the playing fields, and the crews were just packing up at the end of the day. I'm not exactly sure what they are doing but it has to do with the drains and sewerage system. Considerable lengths of temporary roadway have been laid for the vans and equipment. They appear to be clearing out and relining pipes (such a stench the other day!) and installing what looked to be large concrete chambers, possibly for storage or water treatment. I may be wrong but I suspect the work has to do with plans by the water authorities to reduce sewage outflow into the rivers. There's recently been a lot of fuss about the pollution in our waterways. Sewage outflow is allowed when storms overfill the system but it seems that discharges have been happening much more frequently. 

Pretty pastels

I'm really enjoying not only my new flat's interior but also its surroundings and its convenient location so close to many of my friends, my church, local shops and most things I need. I'm delighting, too, in being able to see the evening sky and sunsets. Of course, they are never the same from one evening to the next - and even from one minute to the next. I am treated to my very own light show to end each day. 😊  These two shots were taken within about ten minutes of each other, yesterday evening.  

The western sky

I'm absolutely loving being able to see sky from my windows, after years of living low down in the valley, surrounded by houses and trees. There haven't been any really spectacular sunsets (that I've noticed, anyway) but the sky constantly changes and provides an endless source of joy and wonder. 

Having said that, I stupidly slept through the recent, amazing display of the Northern Lights, strongly visible across much of the UK.  I'm pretty sure I could have seen it from here, judging from other's photos I've seen in the area. 

The thing that looks like some kind of creature climbing the church tower is a communications antenna. The church receives a small amount of 'rent' for hosting it. 

A sunset stroll

We're having a sudden, late heatwave, with temperatures in the high 20Cs (high 70Fs) here in Yorkshire and hotter down south. It's ironic, after July and August were so disappointing. I took a short evening stroll, when the temperature had cooled down a little. The weather forecast spoke of a Saharan dust plume crossing the UK and promised redder than usual sunsets and sunrises but here at least the sunset was softly blushing, akin to the pink of shells or rose petals.   

My photos show the usual Saltaire sights - the church, the canal, Roberts Park. The Boathouse Inn (formerly a real Victorian boathouse on the river) has had a recent revamp and now has more outdoor seating and lots of lights strung through the trees. 

PS: Despite the lack of a spectacular sunset, we evidently did get Saharan dust. After an overnight rain shower, the following morning my car was coated in fine, sandy dust - annoying since I'd only that day got it washed. 

 

Sunset from Ayr's beachfront promenade

Dumfries and Galloway holiday 18

I didn't get much chance to explore Ayr itself, though a stroll along the long seafront promenade proved both relaxing and interesting as the evening cooled down after the hot temperatures of the day. The island you can see on the horizon is Arran. There were many people walking along the beach, some metal detectorists scanning the sand, a few paddleboarders and jet ski riders further out on the calm water. On the promenade road, groups of young men were racing souped-up 'performance cars' (where do they get that kind of money?) to impress their mates and the many young women also parading along the beachfront. You could smell the hormones, as well as the petrol and scorched tyres! I felt glad to be old!!  😂

Despite the lack of clouds, sunset when it came was beautiful. 

Peace

I went to a family funeral yesterday, a much-loved member of my parents' generation who lived to just 20 days short of his 97th birthday, though sadly suffering from dementia in the last few years. 'A good life, well-lived' sums it up; may he rest in peace. The funeral was in County Durham so I had an early start and a long drive. As always, it was lovely to catch up with family members I haven't seen for a while. By the time I got home, however, having negotiated the pre-Bank Holiday weekend traffic and the ubiquitous roadworks (where there is hardly ever anyone actually working, to justify the  - in this case - eight miles of traffic cones and a speed limit, followed by a 20 minute jam at temporary traffic lights), I was exhausted and inwardly screaming. Gone are the days when you might have 'a drive' just for the sheer pleasure of it! 

A cup of tea and something to eat settled me somewhat and, since it was a lovely evening, I then went for a short walk. Enjoying the golden rays of the setting sun restored my equilibrium and brought me peace.  

It is currently staying light until almost 9pm, so evening walks are back on the menu. I enjoy how the low sun illuminates things differently so I literally see familiar places 'in a new light'.