Thursday, August 30, 2012

Another Day in Paradise

Martha at Living Among Tourists asked folks to post what their sky looked like at 7:00am. I missed by a little but here is the sky looking east this morning at 7:14am. A little darker than when sunrise was at 2am but still light enough so you can't tell if your headlight is working. The University of Alaska Museum is the weird looking building to the left and on the right is one of the research greenhouses run by the Institute of Arctic Biology. Including a greenhouse seemed appropriate for this challenge.

The mornings have been in the mid to high 30's (°F) since I've been back home with a fair amount of rain earlier in the week. On Tuesday, there were hundreds of cranes in the lower field with huge formations circling looking for a good place to touch down. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera with me. Not even my phone. Yesterday, there are only a few dozen left on the yellowish field in the middle of the picture. They only show up as dots on the picture. Something else that is hard to see in this iPhone picture is the Alaska Range. I thought it looked spectacular earlier in the morning. I was able to see the north and south peaks of Mt. McKinley just above the horizon. Maybe I should carry around the camera. Another beautiful day in paradise.


18 comments:

  1. Richard, I LOVE these photos! Thank you for taking my challenge. This is just so great. I love seeing what others are seeing. It's so beautiful. And I can imagine that same landscape in shades of white, gray and blue.

    And thanks for that greenhouse photo, too!

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    1. Better yesterday than today. It is raining today. Yesterday, I went on a walk through the botanical gardens and found out that they also use this greenhouse to start some of their plants.

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  2. Luckily someone likes frozen outdoor water in august. Paradise indeed, for those with electric underwear.

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    1. I haven't run into frozen outdoor water yet. But it feels like it may be getting close.

      I thought that the "Paradise" may get a response from some. Personally, I don't think that it gets much better than summer in Alaska. Winter, not so much.

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  3. Grey't sky view in the morning. Sorry I missed the challenge. (Couldn't really see the cranes, guess I need stronger glasses,)

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    1. The cranes are the line of black dots near the left center of the picture. You don't need better glasses, I needed a better camera...

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  4. Wonderful colors and textures in the second image. You are right though...sky isn't quite as bright. Still inviting though.

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    1. The second image was taken using ProHDR on my phone. It takes two photos and munges them together somehow so some of the colors end up more saturated. But I kind of like the effect. The alternative was underexposed foreground or blown out sky.

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  5. Very nice sky view. I understand that you might not take your camera around 24/7 but leaving the house without a phone? I thought men would be connected to their communication devices by an invisible umbilical cord...

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    1. I think that is a stereotype. Actually, the phone is thrown into my tank bag at the beginning of the day and many times I don't dig it out until I go for a walk. I think I'm addicted to these audiobooks and podcasts.

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  6. Beautiful colors in the second picture. Enjoy that sunshine while you have it.

    We are lucky that our lows are still in the high 40's and our days are filled with sunshine.

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    1. Yesterday, our high was over 70°F. Quite a shock compared to our temperatures earlier in the week. Yesterday, I actually found a maple down in the experimental farm. It should be turning bright red soon....

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  7. Glad you got to see the cranes. Sorry you were camera-less. That must of been a wonderful sight.
    ~k

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    1. Hmm, your comment was also in the spam folder.

      The sight and sound of the cranes circling was pretty spectacular.

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  8. Love that second pic - such a colorful and pretty landscape! We're not even close to your temps yet, but I have noticed a bit of a chill in the mornings.

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    1. I've noticed enough of a chill in the morning to be tempted by the heated liner. I really like the view of the fields from the green area next to my building. A nice place to sit in the sun only a few yards from my office.

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  9. Tsk, apparently my original thoughts on Paradise at 30 degrees never showed up. Trust me summer in a gruesome California heatwave is how summer is meant to be. However I am starting to look forward to the first cold front of the fall, about two months away. sigh.

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    1. The folks at Google thought that your first comment was spam. Not at all sure why...

      Having grown up in California, I would heartily agree if you happen to be near the coast or in the mountains. Anywhere else I thought was miserably hot.

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