Monday, November 24, 2008

weather

I'm not sure if it's just me, or a part of me that is exaggerated a little more than others, but I have a thing with the weather. I think I mentioned recently that it isn't wise to get me started about the national hurricane center. Well, the Atlantic hurricane season is drawing to a close. I suppose I could discuss my obsession with the sites I have bookmarked with the northern Aurora forecasts. I don't live in Alaska, but I've seen them from here and they are truly an other-world experience. It really isn't peak aurora season here either, though. What's really funny, is that where I live, it's gonna be cloudy with a chance of rain, 90 percent of the time, for the next six months. I have no idea why I'm obsessed with the weather. The tides fascinate me. Trying to decipher whether it is going in or going out at first glance is a subject of pride with me. I figure I run along the beach often enough that I ought to know. Some of my favorite runs have been the ability to sneak along the 'never trodden upon' sand at really low tide. It's a little challenging lately with the baby jogger. But the other day we (the baby in the jogger and I) played hide and seek with a harbor seal for a good mile or two from the seawall, so it was okay that I wasn't on the sand. But I'm digressing from the weather.

It's November. For the next four months I will hope for snow. Otherwise it will be cloudy with a chance of meatballs as it hovers near forty degrees day and night. It is so damp here that I have a de-humidifier running in my home several hours a day. But back to snow. This morning it was 32 degrees when I awoke. And unlike the rest of the world that uses a metric thermometer, 32 degrees here is freezing. But no snow today. Just a life-altering sunrise.

I used to try to decide if I was a sunrise or a sunset person, and never came to a concrete conclusion. Until today. When I pulled up the blinds, the sky was still dark on the eastern horizon, with a hint of light from the impending sunrise. The moon was but a sliver of silver with a shadow of it's better half. I sat with my hands glued to my ceramic coffee mug hoping the heat transfer would tame the chill of early morning. And as I sat, the night turned to day. The moon began to fade against the sky as a pink glow emerged. Mount Rainier appeared in all of its glory as a silhouette against a painting in transformation. Clouds slowly formed in pattern to celebrate the light as the pink turned to a fluorescence. I have no idea how long I watched, transfixed by the show, until it became a yellowish light and the day had begun. The vision, though, carried me throughout my day and somehow uplifted me every time I remembered it - like it had been a promise of the day to come and a celebration of my every moment.

I wish I could share a photograph - but maybe I just did. And I just decided that I'm a sunrise person. Although, sunsets can be pretty amazing - reflecting back in thanks on all that has been.

But now, I have to check the forecast, for tomorrow . . . I get to travel over the mountains and oh so hope that I will get to glimpse some snow.

8 comments:

E said...

yes. you are a sunrise person. you just forget until you see one :-) just think, if we get up early enough, we can see sunrise 5479 together.

Legs and Wings said...

You did paint a lovely picture. And, yes - even snow can be lovely...I'll give you that.

I am a sunrise person. It gives some hope doesn't it. Enjoy your trip over the mountains.

Anne said...

I used to live in Alaska and would take the girls for an afternoon "stroll" in their sleds during the long winters and sometimes we'd get a surprise early look at the northern lights. That phenomenon remains my most vivid memory of those years. That and being chased by a bear on a run.

Rich said...

That's a nice view from where you're sitting!

Sarah Elaine said...

Beauty comes at all hours of the day, no? Your sunrise sounds beautiful though. :-)

IHateToast said...

i love sunrises, but they come too early. for me it's not the sun at all, but its siblings living in the outer suburbs of the gallaxy. it's not sunrises. it's not sunsets. it's the stars.

love that you obsess about the weather. it's rainman meets gingerbread man.

Sarah Elaine said...

What would Chistmas be without a little visit to my favorite Ginger Breadman?? Happy Christmas to you and yours!

Sarah Elaine said...

Just stopping by to wish you the best for 2009, Cookie.