Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sunrise on the mountain

The sunrises over Roundtop have been particularly lovely this week. It’s the clouds, of course. Good sunrises and good sunsets need clouds to enhance them. When skies are perfectly clear, the sun simply clears the horizon and the day begins with no particular drama to announce it.

The clouds add color to the sky and alter the lighting that falls here on the mountain. When I can catch the reflection of good sunrise in a pond, that doubles the effect and make it even better. Usually I like sunrises better than sunsets. For one thing, I can’t usually catch a reflection in a lake or pond during sunset but mostly, I just think sunrises are prettier, even though sunsets seem to get most of the good press.

That whole riding off into the sunset thing has been way overdone, in my book. I think riding off into the sunrise sounds a lot more interesting, as though the story is just beginning instead of ending.

Sunrises signify that I’ve made it to see another day and have a whole new day in front of me. Both of those things are good things. When the sun is setting, the day is over and who knows what the night might bring? Better to have a sunrise in front of me, I say. I prefer possibilities to endings.

5 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I don't think so much about endings as I do "rest" when I watch a sunset.
The rest before a new day.

Lovely picture.

Grizz………… said...

I love both "edges" to the day.

Yet I hadn't much thought about how I view them until now. I guess I tend to see a sunrise as a prelude, a slowly intensifying color show before the bustle of the day. The invocation of drama. And sunset is more a reward, a quiet sigh of peace and relaxation.

Barb said...

Spectacular - thanks! I couldn't even see my mountain this morning. Too much blowing snow...

Carolyn H said...

Lynne: Funny, but sunset doesn't particularly mean rest to me. It means I ran out of time, again, to do whatever I was hoping to do.

Grizzled: I sort of like sunsets in summer--they mean it's going to cool down for a few hours.

Barb: My snow might be done for the year.

Carolyn H.

Anonymous said...

Excellent photo!