Euphoria?

   The old adage of "Red sky at night, sailor's delight.  Red sky in morning, sailor's warning." holds true most of the time.  Sometimes, however, that red sky (or golden in yesterday's case) is eerily beautiful, if that makes sense.  We have had a good number of thunderstorms lately and after yesterday's rain, the sky turned remarkably golden.  Although I was inside, the vividness of orange lit up the room.  Curious, I had to head outside to see what was happening.  Seriously?  Not much other than the entire sky was orangish colored but it made the whole place "feel" different.  As I meandered through the back gardens, a feeling of inexplicable euphoria overcame me.  Since I was alone, I came to feel as if this "magical sunset" was meant just for me.  I quietly padded along the footpaths without a care in the world.  (Too bad that feeling cannot be everlasting.)  Soon enough a slight mist started falling again and forced me to take cover.

  Back inside, I could only admire the beauty through the window.  Still, I smiled.  I had been submerged into the mysteriousness of an early evening stroll. The smells, the sounds, the closeness of nature...always make the heart sing.

Turn Around

   By the time I was able to get myself outside today, things were awash in the most glorious golden hue.  I noticed it first even before opening the French doors.  Every pane was reddened!  Once outside, the gardens were golden, the trees were golden and the waters of the Bayou were golden.  Oh, my!  It was as if I had stepped into an entirely different world.

 

  My step quickened as I wanted to get to the pier before this phenomenon ended.  I had to see what was happening with the sunrise!  Once there, I was a bit disappointed with the eastern horizon.  There was not a lot going on there but turning to the north and then to the west, I was purely blown away by the sky.  Wow!  The entire sky was ablaze with brilliant oranges and reds as a thunderstorm was threatening just west of us.  I was able to photograph the gorgeousness before it finally faded away as the sun rose above the pines.  Then, the clouds turned dark and ominous causing me to head back to the Little Bayou House.  

Weather Forecast? Clear Tomorrow

  Mark and I meandered down to the pier this evening just in time to watch the sun slide down behind the pines.  The setting sun blazed across the sky making the entire thing red.  Hmmm.  I have heard several old sayings about this and the weather for the coming day.  "Red sky at night, shepherd's delight" or the marine version of "Red sky at night, sailor's delight" both popped into the head this evening.  Those folks sure did like their sunsets, I suppose.   Both occupations seem to love red sunsets.  I pondered if there was much truth to the sayings.  I had read once that it all had to do with atmospheric pressure or some such scientific knowledge.

  I checked and sure enough, it seems as if both the shepherds and sailors were great at weather-forecasting.  Our day should be bright and sunny tomorrow.  According to knowledgeable folks, that all that redness is caused by dust and other small particles trapped up in the atmosphere by high pressure.  This supposedly scatters all the blue light and leaves only the red visible.  When we see the red sky at night, it means that a high pressure system is moving in from the west and with it comes dry and mild weather. 

  Mark and I watched that sun disappear and then headed back to the Little Bayou House. I can rest assured that my garden will need to be watered in the morning and that if I hang the laundry on the line it will get dry.  There will be no storms on the Bayou tomorrow!  The sky said so!