Welcome to Spring

In addition to the start of Spring, this month features the tenth “Month of Photography” series of events at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, located in the old Art Institute building where I used to teach. While meteorologists have already marked the start of Spring, astronomers as well as the rest of us have to wait until the equinox for it to be official.

This morning, after taking photographs of the sunrise, I chose the first of the recommendations for other newsletters I wish to share. I hope focusing on the environment will be an appropriate choice of topic for the subject and interest of you, the reader, I hope! I don’t know what form the recommendation will take, but I believe it will be an email when there is a post available from the recommended newsletter. Of course, I will check in the days to come and follow up. Let me know what you think!

This morning, I thought I couldn’t believe my eyes. The colors blazed through the sky before dawn, saturating the landscape. My drone flew upwards towards what appeared to be a fiery zenith that was—in fact, still cool—the temperature at sunrise this morning being only just above freezing.

Even before the sun rose, the cascading glow from the clouds illuminated Bear Creek from multiple directions. Clouds had been rolling in from the south all night long, soon to dissipate under the light of the sun. But before the sun could ascend, the colors in the clouds announced its arrival.

Once the sun rose above the horizon, its glare pierced the clouds drifting towards it. An ultrawide-angle view of Bear Creek passing underneath Kipling Parkway revealed the flares from the sun’s glow. With Daylight Savings Time not arriving until next week, I still had to rush to capture the sunrise. Next Sunday should allow me more time to get ready once I wake up!

The weather has been signaling a shift, heralding the arrival of Spring, with mild temperatures and mostly clear skies. Winter is expected to return within days of this writing, as it isn’t done with us yet!

When visiting Lakewood’s East Reservoir recently (a topic shared previously in the first edition of this newsletter), I could see that the grasses and plants were still dormant, but the algae within the pond had started to bloom. Now that the nights are above freezing, the ice on the ponds and lakes are thawing, and life is renewing again.

Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this little ol’ edition of Colorado HIGH SKY!