Open Thread – Red Sky
I know this isn’t the first sunrise picture I’ve posted recently, and fair warning – it won’t be the last. It’s hard, when it’s been dark for so long, not to be excited to sit over morning coffee and watch the show. It’s free entertainment at its best with a free shot of Vitamin D. The sun popped its head up at 9:30am and set at 4:57pm, giving us 7 hours and 27 glorious minutes of light – a gain of 5 minutes and 6 seconds from the day before. Not bad.
Race Update: I saw the first six mushers come into the halfway checkpoint around 8:30-9:00 pm. Deedee was first. Her dogs looked good. Colleen is in 4th (about 30 min back). Her dogs also looked good. She said she had quite a scare when 4 snowmachines almost hit her on the trail. Not good. She looked pretty tired but that is dog racing. Tomorrow should be exciting. Don’t know if Deedee can keep up the blistering pace. Cim Smyth (who, along with his brother, is known for fast finishes) is in 3rd. Colleen has come from behind to win before. More in the morning.
Has anyone else noticed the signs *in English* held up by the protesting crowds in Egypt and by the demonstrators in US cities like San Francisco and D.C. (and around the world) standing in solidarity with them? I can’t help but notice all the words *in English!* are all spelled correctly and, gasp, make sense.
The only reason I mention this is: I recollect the signage of the T-Baggers… those bastions of Amurican exceptionalism in all things *cough*including education*cough*, at their many rallys, gatherings, and demonstrations, and I can’t help but compare and contrast those signs and banners with the signage of “them furriners” I’ve seen the past couple of days. Just sayin’… beth.
I’m glad you pointed it out. I think the Tea-Baggers upset me on such a visceral level that I don’t pay attention to the stoopid signs. Which is no small thing because I was born a good speller and I love to read.
Race update, Tustumena 200, plagiarized straight from the website & the RGK blog since I’m down here in Juneau:
15 mushers total, Colleen (Cole) Robertia of Rogues Gallery Kennel drew number place number 5. DeeDee Jonrowe had about the same luck as Cole in her last race, drawing place number 15 – last. This is a small group who will probably be seeing a lot of each other on the trail.
As of the 1st checkpoint, Cole moved up to 3rd place from 5th, and DeeDee looks to be on fire by coming from last place to first place by the checkpoint. That’s a whole lot of dog teams to pass safely in such a short time! DeeDee took third in this race last year, and by all appearances is going for the gold this year. I love DeeDee – another musher with awesome ethics and an amazing ambassador for sled dog racing.
That said, loving DeeDee J and all, it’s Colleen and the team of Rogues that I’m rooting for! Go misfit dogs, be swift and safe! RGK needs a purse – and a truck that doesn’t break down!
http://www.tustumena200.com/raceresults.html
Yeah! Sunlight!
Down here in Juneau we’ve gained a whole hour since December. And this afternoon was a very prolonged sunset at 2:00 as the current arc of the sun almost exactly matched the slope of the mountain across from our house – the last bright spot of the setting sun seemed to slowly roll down the hill. Neat!
It was awesome today! I was at Sandy Beach around 4pm and it was still light, light, light – although only on the mountaintops did the sun shine. I’ll bet the wetlands in the Valley were stunning and sunny today. We’ll gain another two hours by the end of February – woo hoo!
AKM, you’re so lucky to live where you do to get these unobstructed shots. I’ve been noticing the sunrises, also, but down here in lower Turnagain we have power lines, trees and houses in the way. Your photos are gorgeous.
All afternoon I’ve been reading blogs and comments about the new GOP proposal that AKM talks about in the other post, and it’s been getting my blood pressure up.
However, the smell of the beef stew simmering in the crockpot has finally made its way across the house and into the room where I have my computer…and I am feeling much less stressed and angry. There’s nothing like the aroma of a warm, hearty stew on a cold, snowy day to ease the tension and calm the mind (although my stomach has suddenly snapped to attention and has begun growling as it watches the clock all too slowly tick off the minutes to dinner time!).
Perhaps it’s time to cleanse myself of negative thoughts, pick up one of my as yet unread gardening magazines and dream of planting season.
Never tire of seeing amazing sunrises- so feel free to post them anytime AKM! Sunsets are great too,also.
Post all the sunrise pictures you have, AKM. They make my day as we are still waking up to rainy mornings instead of lovely colorful skies. I am so ready for summer.
The Tustamena 200 sled dog race starts in 45 min. Colleen and dogs should be on the trail within 2 hours. Will send link to website as soon as they are off.
Thank you! Amy, who comments on the Rogues Gallery Kennel blog, is a volunteer this year and said the team looked great, with Penny & Metoo in the lead and all dogs in booties.
For folks who don’t know about lead dog pint-sized Penny – here’s a fun little story of Penny the 29 lb wonder dog!
http://www.adn.com/2010/03/07/1172821/29-pound-lead-dog-has-right-stuff.html
Penny led Colleen’s team through most of the Iditarod last year, and the Yukon Quest the year before. She even has her own beer named after her – how cool is that?
Info on the Kock Busters rally
http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=6537383&msource=eew1101kogow
Beautiful photos AKM.
In the meantime headed for SoCal…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/koch-brothers-gather-billionaires_n_815719.html#s232314&title=Fred_Malek
Gorgeous sunrise photos.
Paul Krugman has an excellent column about Europe’s reality vs. Republican fantasy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/opinion/28krugman.html?src=me&ref=general
“And underlying that choice was the new British government’s adherence to the same theory offered by Republicans to justify their demand for immediate spending cuts here — the claim that slashing government spending in the face of a depressed economy will actually help growth rather than hurt it.
So how’s that theory looking? Not good. The British economy, which seemed to be recovering earlier in 2010, turned down again in the fourth quarter. Yes, weather was a factor, and, no, you shouldn’t read too much into one quarter’s numbers. But there’s certainly no sign of the surging private-sector confidence that was supposed to offset the direct effects of eliminating half-a-million government jobs. And, as a result, there’s no comfort in the British experience for Republican claims that the United States needs spending cuts in the face of mass unemployment.”
I have notice the absence of That Crow Woman’s witty posts. Hope all is well with her.
Me too and also…
Caw Caw Caw…
Be careful what you wish for. The next Egyptian regime will probably be a total Islamic religious state as opposed to a secular state which was allowed under Mubarak. Time will tell, but I don’t feel very optimistic.
I’m of the opinion that you won’t see that happening.. I haven’t been to Egypt (yet!) but it appears to be very secular, and from what I’ve been getting from CNN, the people are protesting/revolting for more opportunities, not for religous reasons..
I agree with you Ben. I used to go to a Dentist who was Egyptian. I got the impression that it is a more moderate society that happens to be Muslim. I think the people in the street are just tried of the dictator and want to elect a new government.
Be careful what you wish for. The next Egyptian regime will probably be a total Islamic reliogious state as opposed to a secular state which was allowed under Mubarak. Time will tell, but I don’t feel very optimistic.
Christ-on-a-cracker… WTC (what the crap) are you being careful about what you’re wishing for? Just wondering. WTF?
Reminds me of the sunsets in Galveston Tx.I saw,as a child, and took “memory snapshots”. So many , I miss them. The color spectrum was indescribable. Just beauty incarnate. Galveston and sunsets have been ingrained in my soul forever.
Carry on beautiful sunsets and breaking dawns… and thank you.
Sigh. At my house in the last weeks of January the sun drags itself over the ridgeline in the afternoon. I won’t have a before-noon sunrise until February 8.
OMG—thanks for the link.
I think we have a hen fight coming up!
For all of you living in a warm climate—–send me you “sand” bucket, and I will fill it with Iowa snow.
We are having warmer days, and can see some patches of grass. A good thing for the deer who roam around looking for food. The squirrels and birds enjoy our feeders.My entertainment as I drink my morning coffee.
We had a beautiful sunrise here in northwest lower Michigan – pure gold light on the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay – and about three inches of snow overnight. Right now intensely blue sky and shadows on the snow. Great morning. The first beagle is off for her walk (“odd” days first) and the second beagle is baying away (she doesn’t understand that she’s the “even” day first beagle). One would think a beagle would prefer to be the “even” day beagle . . . .
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. If we had a beautiful sunrise, I slept right through it.
How lovely! We have clouds here this morning. But it’s all good in my sunny living room. I finished putting it back together yesterday and am enjoying my morning coffee on the couch with my feet up in fuzzy socks. From the couch, I can see out the front window to watch.the visitors to the bird feeders. Yesterday, I had a woodpecker at the suet feeder. I work the closing shift today. Enjoy your day all!
Gail Collins takes an entertaining look at the Palin/Bachmann mess.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/opinion/29collins.html?hp
Good article. It points how how incredibly dumb Bachmann is but it also shows why we should be more worried about her. I don’t know what she was doing in her history classes, but I suspect she didn’t understand the finer implications of anything that happened and so she has reworked it in her own mind. The problem is that when she states that nonsense as fact, some who are taken in by her must have skipped class altogether so they don’t know how wrong she is.
What we REALLY have to worry about is that she’s going to sit on the Intelligence committee. How is that possible, when her mere presence lowers the average IQ in the room by many points?
I’ve been wondering about that. Maybe they did it because it effectively shuts her up. It is the one committee that requires it’s members to not blab. If she does blab, then she is in big trouble because it would be disclosing classified info. Oh to be a fly on the wall.
I have to think both her and palin went to the same school where history was ignored maybe for bible reading instead.
Beautiful! It’s been so long since I’ve seen anything but white and gray….
For those interested in world reaction to Obama’s Egyptian address, I’ve posted several articles at http://politico-junkie.blogspot.com/
We had no sunrise this am, just lightly falling snow. The kind that sticks to the trees and soften the sounds of everyday life. The sky is that gray, white color that lets you know the sun will not peek out for a long time.
We will be below zero for a couple of nights, days in the single digits or teens. We have missed all of the big snow storm on the East coast but seem to have a light snow every day.
My daughter lives south of Boston and has had over 60 inches this year! Our Christmas gift of a snow blower has come in handy.
Good day for soup, fresh bread, a fire and a good book. Wine, too!!
Diane – How did you manage to name all the good things I’m having today?
Our winery is featuring soup every Saturday this month, and they just brought up a big pot to heat up.
The soup has a whole bottle of wine in it, I’m baking bread, and reading a good book “The Hangman’s Daughter). I’ll probably turn on my fake fireplace later on this evenng Yup, this is the good life!
Ben and Oz, that is exactly what I thought when I first saw the picture. We are nearly finished with winter here. Just have to get through about six more weeks of nasty. Today will be in the 40’s. Tomorrow we are to have “significant accumulation of snow turning to hazardous amounts of icing through Wednesday.” Have to love this weather. Or not.
We have lots of books, a beautiful new cribbage board given to us for Christmas, and two cords of wood. Himself can work from home, my mother has wonderful neighbors who will help her if I can’t get there, and today will be spent cooking goodies that can be warmed up in the fireplace if we lose power. Easy!
Good Luck with that weather- just got back to Calif after 3 weeks in Northern Alabama..sonice to ba able to wear shorts again after being bundled up in long johns and gloves ! of course, now I have to mow the lawn and pull weeds…..
Who are you fooling? I lived in Santa Cruz, and I know Ben Lomond measures annual rainfall in feet rather than inches, and the winters are bone-chilling cold. Ok, California is unseasonably warm right now-70F in the desert where I live- but really you wouldn’t NORMALLY be wearing shorts in Ben Lomond this time of the year.;-}
Actually, the last couple of weeks you could have but now it’s taking a turn to a more winter like temp. Grin.
Yes, actually… We always have a warm spell in January. “Days taken from August” is what I call it.
Though our warm weather has vanished today… it’s back to being in the 50s and cloudy, with rain forecast tonight and tomorrow. BenLomond2, ya better hurry and get those weeds pulled!
DONE ! weeds and lawn both before noon… drizzling now, rain for sunday, and clear and sunny for most of next week !
Well, I’m sipping my freshly picked, freshly squeezed OJ (nothing to do with football, bloody gloves, etc.) and I will be wearing shorts. I love my OJ, I love wearing shorts, but frankly, the weather’s getting boring. I wish I could go to the snow! I’m sure there’s a lot of you that would trade place with me! 🙂
…Red in the Morning.
Sailor take Warning.
Red at Night,
Sailor’s Delight
what’s the weather forecast? 🙂
Its obviously an oldie, but goodie.
Beautiful photos! Reminds me of that old sailor’s ditty…
“Red sails at night – sailor’s delight
Red sails at dawning – sailor’s take warning”
…which goes through my head every time I see a red sky 🙂
DANG ! just posted the same basic ditty !!!
And I was just about to post it too!
🙂
Interestingly enough a paraphrase of that diddy can be found in the New Testament in Matthew 16:
1)The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven. 2) He answered and said unto them. “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3)And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering: O ye hprocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky: but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Speaking of the signs of the times…and hypocrites, “Our government” has always been about supporting the corrupt corporatocracy that has run our country and the world for the past century. We have raped, pillaged, and polluted the third world countries through loans from the IMF and World Bank all in the name of “Democracy” while in reality “our corporations” have grabbed their natural resources for our selfish, materialistic, squander. 24,000 people in this world die daily of starvation and we are worried about the price of gas hitting $5. Pathetic! Just saying…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41323843
The revolution continues …
There is a large population of Americans living permanently in Egypt and one has to wonder how this uprising is affecting them.
The revolution (I think it is safe to call it that) in Egypt has me fascinated, inspired and scared for the people of Egypt. I wish our government was less timid about supporting the will of the people. It is hard to change horses in midstream.
I have been glued to Twitter, busily reading and refreshing “#egypt” and “#25Jan”. There’s a Democracy Now! senior editor (sharifkouddous) tweeting from Cairo. Al Jazeera English (AJEnglish) is also doing a good job at getting information out.
I did see one tweet that upset me–some TPers spreading the word that “Muslims will take over nukes in Egypt.” I don’t know if it is ignorance or deliberate misinformation. As far as I know, Egypt has no nuclear weapons–just power plants. And those power plants have been under “Muslim” control since they were built. You would think TPers would be all for people taking back their government….
We’re feeling pretty excited down here in Juneau too. The sun peeped out this morning into a clear blue sky and the town went wild. Yippee! It was almost getting “lighter” when I drove to work and the day just got better and better. AKM, your pics are stunningly beautiful and so evocative of our light rebirth each year. Thanks. We’ve got sun this weekend hopefully, and its presence sure helps the general mood. Greetings all Mudpups and friends.
Wow! and I thought we western Washingtonians were sun worshipers! We’ve made my celebration mark; its still light at 5pm. As a person with a bad case of SADS, I really understand your joy.
Me too. The short days in Washington are the only things that make me wish I still lived in southwest Kansas. Of course, Garden City (my home town) was always on central time instead of mountain like we should have been. So even before daylight savings time, we had more sun at the end of the day. I find it very hard sometimes to have just over 8 hours of sunlight in the winter, especially when it’s rainy and dark.
Yes they are beautiful and I have saved them and kept one as a background so thanks AKM
The good folks up in Barrow are really excited. They had their first sunrise in over a month. Yikes.
Truly BEAUTIFUL! Here comes the sun.
Here comes the sun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGKPHFrHVVY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQKcpmnRsP0
AKM, these songs are a special shout out to you and your family. 🙂
What a gorgeous morning!
For the sputnik generation, this spells the end for $ payme.
I hope I hope I hope
Yes, those of us who remember it and remember the space race and the moon landing are well aware how stupid she sounded when she said that. She totally missed his point, as usual, and made herself look very foolish.
This is glorious site for this night owl to see just before she heads off to bed. Thank you!