Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Star and sunrise on Christmas morning have always felt special to me.

Recent Christmases have brought gifts of beautiful vistas, should I have the eyes to see them! Or, in the case of these photos, the cameras. Some camera lenses have their own style, so to speak, as in the artifacts of the sunlight in the next photo that suggest a Christmas ornament.

I feel especially grateful this time of year, as when I just happened to be in the right location and the right time to see the sunrise through the towers of the downtown Central Business District. I call it, “Denver Henge”—like catching the sunrise lining up with the stelae at Stonehenge on the Equinox or Solstice—but it is possible any time of year here! That is, with the cooperation of the weather. As you can see in the following photo, a tiny gap in the clouds along the horizon barely allows the light of the sun to flare in between Denver’s skyscrapers.

This truly is the darkest time of the year in the northern hemisphere, but even in darkness, there is light! Like the rising sun shining on the clouds above Lakewood on Christmas Eve, 2022, reflected lights can illuminate the environment. This is a common weather pattern here in December, but it’s never exactly the same twice. There will be a lot more photos like this in future editions of Colorado HIGH SKY!

Of course, we have some unusual holiday traditions that might not survive, like the drive-thru holiday “light show” formerly held at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, Colorado. It started during the pandemic, reflecting a need to be distanced due to COVID. Bandimere Speedway has since shut down, and the light show may still be taking place nearby this holiday season, but I haven’t found it yet!

I thought I would close this sharing of holiday photos with a dramatic photograph of the clouds east of Erie, Colorado, from December 2021. They nearly overwhelm with a fiery red glow, but if you look closely, you will see they don’t extinguish the holiday decorations that shine blue, bold, and bright on the many homes that display them.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end on this Christmas Day, or any time. Please share the gift of this free newsletter with any and all who would enjoy the present!