Gabe and Baylee

A Fire Rainbow

A circumhorizonal arc or circumhorizon arc (CHA), also known as a "fire
rainbow", is a halo or an optical phenomenon similar in appearance to a
horizontal rainbow, but in contrast caused by the refraction of light through
the ice crystals in cirrus clouds.
It occurs only when the sun is high in the sky, at least 58 degrees above the
horizon, and can only occur in the presences of cirrus clouds. It can thus not
be observed at locations north of 55 degrees N or south of 55 degrees S, except
occasionally at higher latitudes from mountains. To be visible the sun must be
at an elevation of 57.8 degrees (90 -32.2 degrees) or more and if cloud
conditions are right it is seen along the horizon on the same side of the sky as
the sun. It reaches its maximum intensity at a sun elevation of 67.9 degrees.
The phenomenon is quite rare because the ice crystals must be aligned
horizontally to refract the high sun. The arc is formed as light rays enter the
horizontally-oriented flat hexagonal crystals through a vertical side face and
exit through the horizontal bottom face. It is the 90 degrees inclination that
produces the well-separated rainbow-like colours and, if the crystal alignment
is just right, makes the entire cirrus cloud shine like a flaming rainbow.
A circumhorizontal arc can be confused with an infralateral arc when the sun
is high in the sky; the former is however always oriented horizontally where the
latter is oriented as a section of a rainbow, e.g. as an arc stretching upwards
from the horizon.

More Beauty from Heaven

Heaven Opens Up

The Most Amazing Day

I headed back home for a couple of days to rest and regroup. I met up with some past High School friends and spent time with my beautiful granddaughters. But the time the stands out the most is the day I spent with my BFF (Best Friend Forever). We had no definite plans. I picked her up at 10:30ish and the day began. We headed out of town to play...... with cameras in hand. We ended up just 25 miles north in a larger town so we could relax and not worry if anyone knew us. We spent the next 6 hours completing a photo scavenger hunt for an online class that neither of us signed up for, but it got us some amazing pictures of people we didn't even know. It's amazing how people are so willing to allow their picture to be taken. The photo above is of my best friend posing when we needed a shot of a person in an eye patch....yep, in Wal-mart at the medical section! She is so brave!! All I can say is, Captain Morgan be on the lookout for your replacement!!

What lead to the Empty Nest

My spring was just the most amazing time watching my robin eggs go from blue gems to this....real and at times ugly and then to actual birds with feathers. The process was beyond miraculous...watching each step unfold before my eyes can't be put into words....but the afternoon that I opened the door and watched them all fly off my balcony left me dumb-founded and I cried. I'm glad they made it out alright but it was lonely the first few weeks without them.....but I've adjusted....now I have a birdfeeder near the place the nest use to be and now I get to see birds, lots of birds each day approach my balcony for dinner....and it's still amazing.

Because of an Angel

Here I sit at Panara Bread, alone and finished reading my best friends blog and cried. Her pictures stirred something in me that I can't even put into words. She has started a project of posting a picture a day for 365 days.....and it is the most amazing blog EVER!! I love nothing more than to write and using my camera. I think I will set myself a goal and try and at least post one picture a week for 52 weeks....that's doable and I get to do two of my most favorite things....write and take pictures. So hang on, here goes.....