Cold Day

It was very cold outside today, and I can tell tonight and tomorrow will be very cold as well, since I just spotted the not quite full moon and a clear sky from my kitchen window.

This was the view from the same window today as the sun was rising:



Those are sun dogs on either side of the rising sun. Jim had never heard of them before moving to North Dakota, but I remember them from my growing up years in Minnesota. We have a better photo of them from back in 2006, but for some reason I can't get it to download. Sun dogs indicate a very cold day. I should have been outside before the cold weather hit, as we probably would have observed a ring around the moon. That indicates a change in weather is about to happen.

Living in the country causes you to observe things in nature which indicate changes in weather. I would not have noticed these occurrences while living in the city.

A couple of years ago I was driving north out of Minot, ND with a friend just after sunset, and we observed the most beautiful Northern Lights I have ever seen. It was as if the lights formed a ring all around us, and they bounced back and forth from the earth to the sky above. I wish I had had a camera that would capture the event, but it was useless to even try. We stopped the car and got out to observe the changing colors and patterns.

I'm looking forward to some day living on the main floor of our house with windows facing north so we'll be aware of nights when the Northern Lights are dancing in the sky. I'm sure they've been there even this winter, but we've missed them.