Tag Archives: sunrise

Morning Has Broken

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Morning has broken, like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird. Praise for the singing, praise for the morning. Praise for the completeness where His feet pass.

Sweet the rains dewfall, sunlit from Heaven. Like the dewfall on the first grass. Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden. Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning. Born of the one light, Eden saw play. Praise with elation, praise every morning. God’s recreation of the new day.

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This song was made popular in 1971 by British singer, Cat Stevens, and is actually a Christian hymn. The lyrics were penned by Eleanor Farjeon in 1931 and was set to a Scottish Gaelic tune known as Bunessan (Wikipedia source). Many other music artists also recorded this song since Stevens did. Cat Stevens converted to the Muslim faith in 1977 and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. He is best remembered for this hymn. Born in 1948, he is still writing and singing music.

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TORCH LIGHT

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Sunrise and placement of car.  Opened window and waited. Sun shifted over water tower.

Transmission power lines.  Standing tall as sentinels.  Cloud cover swirling about.

Camera shutter clicked open.  Image captured with delight.  Torch lit for a moment.

Energy revealed in light and lines.  What a way to begin a day! 

 

Morning Walk

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Took a walk with the pup this morning and this is what we saw. Well, maybe only I saw this panorama as Carson’s eyes are usually focused where his nose is headed to…tree trunks, sign posts, bushes, unexplainable things which shouldn’t be sniffed, etc. As Carson looks ahead or down most of the time, I tend to look up a lot. Moments like this are worth the extra muscle effort it takes to tilt the head back with eyes wide open! Here’s hoping you have a terrific day filled with reflection of all that is good.

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Destination Unknown

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6-8-15 003This image comes to you as the result of nature’s generosity…this morning’s sunrise. We have had an abundance of rain this Spring and very little sunshine so this sunrise was a pleasant sight.

Tomorrow, I leave for a vacation with my wife. I don’t know where we are heading! This trip is her gift to me for my birthday. Cheryl decided to make this trip a surprise and has planned all of the itinerary and made all of the reservations without me discovering anything which would give away our destination. I am pretty confident we are not heading to Greenland or Antarctica because I don’t have to take a winter coat. I don’t think we are heading to the Mohave Desert or the Great Rift in Tanzania because I am not taking short pants or swimming trunks.

Funny, but I have anticipated this trip as much, if not more, than most due to the element of surprise that it presents me. Usually, we tag-team on making all of the plans for our trips, but I have purposely not wanted to know even though several friends and family members could barely contain their knowledge concerning this trip. I found this aspect funny. I will learn of our destination(s) tomorrow when we receive our airline tickets…perhaps I won’t know exactly where we are visiting until we actually land and get the rental car (burro or lama)! Either way, I am excited and grateful for this gift. And, I am blessed to be traveling somewhere with my best friend. Heck, I don’t care if we simply go to another state next to Kansas, as long as we are together. Well, maybe I would be a little disappointed.

Hopefully, upon our return, I will have learned where we went. If not, then I probably should have stayed there. Ha! In the meantime, enjoy the sunshine, appreciate the rain, and be thankful in all things. I am grateful for Carson who will be holding down the fort while we are gone.

Two of a Kind

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5-27-15 0135-27-15 017I came upon a group of calves as I was heading to a meeting. The sun had just peaked above the horizon and all I could see from my vehicle were the tops of a bunch of different colored heads and ears protruding above the prairie grass. I had a few extra minutes so I parked about a block away and walked to the fence to get a better look. I discovered a group of calves laying in a field of tall grass next to a four lane road merely fifty feet away. Only one in the entire group was curious enough to stand and get a better look at me.  It was at this moment that I became the spectacle. In addition to seeing the calves this particular morning, I passed an idyllic scene which could have been found in a beautifully illustrated children’s book. The brilliant green pasture, the placid pond, the perfectly placed trees and shrubs provided a canvas for these two geldings. These horses are always together which pleasantly fits this calm image of visual poetry. I tried to soak up the serenity for a few minutes before I had to move on.5-27-15 002

I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

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3-12-15 001” I feel the earth move under my feet. I feel the sky tumbling down. I feel my heart start to tremble whenever your around…” 3-12-15 002Carol King wrote and sang this iconic song back in 1971. It was featured on her Tapestry album, along with, It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now, another big hit. For some reason unknown to me, I often think of songs when I see something unusual or that I want to shoot…usually after the image is captured. That’s what came to mind when I down loaded these photos and decided to post them.3-12-15 003As soon as I saw the track hoe loading a dump truck, high atop a large rock and earthen outcropping, I knew I had to immediately stop on the shoulder of the exit ramp and take these pictures. I think it was the dark equipment silhouetted before the beautiful sunrise that grabbed me so strongly. Fortunately, I had my camera next to me which is usually the case, as I am an opportunistic photographer. For those interested, this construction work is but a small piece of a giant redesign of a major interchange which includes the confluence of three highways, located in a southern suburb of Kansas City. This construction, know as Gateway, is the largest single highway construction project that KDOT has ever engineered and attempted. It will take about three years to complete. As you can imagine, there will be orange cones, barricades, closed ramps, traffic jams and fender benders to add to the excitement ! Hopefully, the end result will be worth all the effort and cost.

Morning Lights

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2-6-15 016 Good morning! I had the privilege of witnessing another stunning sunrise earlier today. In the eastern sky was the sun peaking above the horizon and to the west the moon was fading down towards the opposite horizon. I wondered how I could have captured both with one photograph, but lacked the knowledge, the equipment, and most importantly, the perspective, as both were approximately 165 degrees apart in our midwestern sky.2-6-15 011 Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word.

Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlight from heaven.
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning.
Born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation, praise every morning;
God’s recreation of the new day.

Morning has broken, like the first morning.
Blackbird has spoken, like the first day.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning.

By Eleanor Farjeon, Songs of Praise, 19312-6-15 013

Smoke Stacks

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Misc. 10-20-14 017On a recent chilly morning I witnessed the release of steam mixed with smoke bellowing out of various manufacturing buildings. The sun was wakening and revealed herself in a blanket of light which illuminated the buildings, stacks and the fast-moving, vertical clouds in marvelous ways. Smoke stacks are created to carry away the by-products of various manufacturing operations. These stacks are in the same lower industrial district called Fairfax, in Kansas City, Kansas. This is the same area where I photographed the starlings on wires. Interestingly, during WWII, much of this area-including the old General Motors automobile plant-was transformed into a mighty war machine, producing everything from bombers to nuts and bolts. There was even an aircraft strip made for the bombers to depart from their plant. It is long gone. I can envision a Thomas Hart Benton painting as America flexed her industrial might which transformed her into an industrial giant in the twentieth century. Instead of products for war being fabricated, domestic products such as fiberglass insulation, electric motors and new automobiles are currently produced in this area.  Misc. 10-20-14 019 I don’t like pollution, but I understand there is a certain amount of it pouring out of these stacks as materials are mixed and burned, etc. I’m sure there are processes in place to scrub the pollutants out of the by-product that we call smoke. In the case of these photographs, much of what appears to be smoke is actually steam which is readily visible due to the moisture in the air and the sunlight reflecting off the steam and smoke. Most of my photographs are of nature because I am so drawn to God’s creation, but I still find beauty in other things, including smoke and steam clouds !Misc. 10-20-14 025 As I drove around the area my angle of attack shifted from the east looking west to the west looking east, into the sun. This perspective provides a more etherial quality to the images as the smoke and steam are semi-translucent. A few minutes after these photos were taken the sun leaped above the horizon and I was on my way to another project. I hope you find these images interesting, and perhaps a bit mystifying, too. Thanks for viewing my post today!Misc. 10-20-14 026

Autumn’s First Sunrise

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9-23-14 014As I left home this morning I rode into one of the most stunning sunrises I have ever witnessed. I couldn’t help myself so I stopped at a couple of locations as I headed east and took multiple photos. Each photo is untouched and the colors were as rich and vibrant then as now. 9-23-14 015I hesitate to share too many images, but am compelled to give you a half-dozen just so the intensity of this sunrise captures you as it did me.9-23-14 017Having a stationary object included in a sky photograph usually accents both the sky and the object, as did this utility pole. However, only one stayed still, and it sure wasn’t the clouds!9-23-14 022I couldn’t resist taking a photograph of the photographer. I like reflections from glass, water or from any reflective material.9-23-14 028Within minutes the shapes and colors of God’s palette changed. I never knew ambers so rich as these. And the shadows so vivid while the reflections were so brilliant. Ablaze was the eastern sky this morning. And just think, this is eastern Kansas and not some exotic locale. What a privilege to have witnessed this unfolding of morning on September 23rd, the Autumnal Equinox. Perhaps this Fall will be special. It certainly started out that way for me…and now for you!9-23-14 032

Into the Sun

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7-30-14 057I drove into the sun this morning. First, the sky was yellow and it had a western facing rainbow (odd with no rain). As I drove I watched a glowing ball of super-energy rise from the horizon like Godzilla lifting out of the sea…all very dramatic. The sky colors turned into an intense red-orange canvas. Within five minutes the drama was over, the clouds evaporated away, and the horizon melded with the landscape in the foreground.. Amazing, isn’t it? Every morning, no matter where one is on this planet, the sun can be seen rising or setting. Okay, I’ll grant you that the sun moves horizontally at the extreme north and south polar regions, but who lives there anyway? Such a strange sight those horizontal sunsets.AM Sky 7-26-12 001The thought occurred to me (yes, I really do have thoughts occasionally) that we live our lives in a vacuum so-to-speak. The air we breath is the same wherever you travel, except it may be purer in one local than another. The same holds true for water. Food is a bit more complicated as some types of vegetation can grow only in certain geographic regions so we don’t all enjoy the same cuisine, unless it is captured and brought to us or we visit where it is actually harvested. Shelter is another example of great variations; one can live in a hut on the Serengeti, in a tent on the sands of Arabia, in a brick house in New England or in a Chateau in France. Shelter is a necessary commodity for survival. So, in one simple, but profound way, we are all the same in that we need shelter, warmth in winter months, food and water. Safety and good health are wonderful things to have, as well, but not all are so fortunate.Friday Morn 10-14-11 006As the sun rises so it sets…each a unique print encased in God’s book, volume one, Sky Paintings. As the earth turns and the sunshine escapes for another night, our habits change due to darkness converging on us like a cloak thrown over our head. Artificial light tries to turn night into day, but it’s not the same. What is it about us humans that we are constantly trying to thwart the natural for the unnatural-all in the name of some sort of progress. What used to be accomplished only during the daytime is now an eighteen hour episode of busyness which accomplishes much-but who is to say how much is beneficial. So, as I began the day looking into the sun and planning what I must accomplish, I now view the end of the day from a different perspective…was it all worth it? Am I better off now than I was a dozen hours ago or am I simply spinning my mental, physical and emotional wheels-going nowhere? Or, perhaps I am whistling a tune of joy for having the privilege of experiencing another day. I want this to be the case.Morning 11-29-11 007A rear view mirror offers a completely different perspective while traveling forward; we can see where we have come from. And we can sense if the trip was worth the fare. Let’s hope so, but if the feeling is that we somehow got ripped off, then it’s time to re-evaluate…and rest a while before we drive into the sun another day. To be still is as important as all the other commonalities that keep us alive…perhaps even more so.