Wow....What a Day!

I kicked off Monday right by dragging myself out of bed early enough to get set up to catch the sunrise coming in behind the 11th Street Bridge in Southeast Washington, DC.

Sunrise - Anacostia River - Washington, DC

This location has become a standby for me to capture good shots in the morning. The water is generally calm, there are interesting things to silhouette in the foreground and middle ground, and if the sky is clear the quality of the light rivals anything from the Mediterranean region.  Often, you get one of the rowing clubs coming through in their boats/shells, so that adds a little bit of interest as well. This shot qualified the day as a good day.

I got out of work much later than I'd hoped because I scheduled a meeting last week to start at 1700 our time. I was dreading that decision today because apart from that self imposed pain, there was nothing really keeping me in the building. We slogged through the meeting, I worked the calisthenic part of the daily practice, and headed out for the commute home.

When I got outside, I noticed a thunderstorm moving into the area, and on a whim, I drove to the top of the parking garage to see what the scenery looked like.  I was not disappointed.

Thunderstorm Pounding Washington DC, with the Hammer of Thor

Standing on the upper level with the bulwark at chest high and the lightning rods ringing the garage coming in at just about collarbone level, I only got off about three or four photos before my hands started to tingle, and I decided that the better part of wisdom would be for me to catch pictures from inside the car.  I tried to catch lightning, and I got some on video, but the results of the electrically isolated arrangement were far less satisfactory. The windshield tinting washed out the colors of the sky, and I never did capture a satisfactory still photo of lightning.  The videos were alright, but they just don't have the same tangible feel of catching the blue white flash from the sky to the ground.

I followed this thunderstorm home, and it spent quite a bit of its fury over the intervening miles.  The lightning was still active, so I thought I'd give it another go.

Lightning Over Annapolis, MD

Just a little less than 200 single frames into the effort, I managed to catch this washed out and obscured by trees image. It's only the second live lightning strike that I've managed to capture, and it's not very satisfactory. That said, I'm pretty sure that I'm hooked on trying to capture the beauty and menace of this electric display of the gods.  More research is needed for sure, and I may have to try some new equipment. More on this later, and I'll let you all know how things develop.

All was not lost because the storm rolled on through, and set up a sunset that I would not have believed unless I had seen it with my own eyes.

Severn River Sunset - After the Thunderstorm - Annapolis, MD

There are no filters, no trickery, no gimmicks of any kind in this photo. If anything, the pinks and oranges are a little washed out, but this is what the Severn River looked like after the passing of the storm. I've never seen anything like it, and if you've followed these ramblings at all you'll know that I"ve spent quite a bit of time chasing sunsets and sunrises. This scene was breathtaking, and I only captured three or four shots of it because it was too good to experience on the back side of an LCD screen.

Wow...What a Day!  I don't know what tomorrow may reveal, but I'm looking forward to finding out. Every day is unique, and this one today seemed particularly remarkable, but it reminded me of something I've learned from my time on the road moving slowly. There is an amazing wealth of beauty all around each of us every day. Once you start looking for it, you'll see it everywhere. As noted yesterday, the Universe is an amazing and highly prolific artist, and I'm grateful beyond words that I opened my eyes at a time when things could have gone in an entirely different and darker direction.

On Sunsets and Thunderstorms

This morning, I spent my time walking about on the anvil of the sun. The weather has taken on a distinctive tangibility of summer, and mountains of energy were piling up in the atmosphere. The heat was wet and heavy, and felt like it might foreshadow the kind of fireworks that drop out of the tops of cumulonimbus clouds later in the afternoon.

Around eight pm, the sky hadn't opened up yet so I took a quick jaunt down the street to catch the sunset though the lens of my viewfinder. Thinking just a bit ahead, I managed to remember to carry along a zip to sandwich bag "just in case" thunderstorms split the sky.

The pinkish orange twilight was beginning to stretch to the tops of the clouds when I left the front door, but I'd scarcely travelled two blocks when a more ominous hint of trouble began to overtake me from behind.

Thunderstorm Gaining Ground on my Position - College Creek

I ducked into an alcove in the boathouse on College Creek.  The timing proved impeccable as the sky split just as I found a thing fringe of protected concrete. A brisk rain started to fall, but the sky grew increasingly heavy.

Beginning of the Rain - College Creek Boathouse

Moving with a quickness I associate with bicycles and school buses, the brunt of the storm picked up its pace, and the rain swept across the boat dock in sheets.

Sheets of Rain at the Height of the Storm - College Creek Boathouse

As quickly as the storm rolled in, it moved on.

Passing of the Storm - College Creek

Following the cleansing rinse, the thunder gods plied their trade on the back side of the storm. Lightning flashed through the air, and I spent quite a bit of time trying to capture a photo of the fierce denomount. Happily for me, I managed to strike it rich once. 

Lightning Strike - College Creek

This was far from the most impressive display of direct current produced, but you've got to be quick and lucky to get anything on a cell phone camera when this sort of thing happens. This was a blessing to both witness and bear witness to the power unleashed over the course of about twenty minutes.

The Storm Moves On - College Creek

I didn't capture my sunset this evening. It happened, and I'm sure it was spectacular. Flying over the fury to the east would have been a great place to capture the magic hour of the day. I'm pretty happy with how my own viewpoint turned out.

Nightfall - College Creek

Lightning continued to flash, but in spite of my best efforts to snag another digital view, timing and luck didn't favor me again.

I hope there will be other opportunities. Another adventure is in the books, and I'm looking forward to unwrapping the gift of tomorrow.

Unsettled

Just after dusk, the storm front rolled up from the southeast. It cut a swath of damage caused by wind, hail, and several tornadoes that left fatalities in their wake. Fingers of heavy rain scratched their way across the suburbs as long snakes of traffic made their way along the glistening highways in endless, red, LED lit rivers of angst.

The wind whipped the trees and sheets of lightening cascaded from cloud top to cloud top. The weather was as unsettled as the political landscape.

Sitting in the waning grey light, surrounded by the metal cocoon of the best Japanese engineering $28K can acquire my own thoughts rattled around in my head. The time had come to part ways with a familiar companion.

Five weeks had passed since the pop followed by a fiery wave of pain had been loosed from the outside of my left foot and washed up my calf to the knee. Since then, the CAM Boot and I had gone everywhere together. Up stairs and down. Clomping down sidewalks and streets. Through the grey corridors so typical of government facilities.

The CAM Boot Retired

Locking my foot and ankle in the tight wrap of it's velcro and unyielding sole, the boot had become my companion and confidant. It shifted my gait and my pelvis ever so slightly. I walked with a starboard list, but my friend had clobbered the pain. After a mere week or two in the boot's familiar embrace, the Motrin had been placed back in the corner of the dark cupboard.  Short walks from the car park to work or a store with a slightly off center list were the norm. Thoughts of my lower back and lower left leg faded into obscurity to be replaced with more pedestrian concerns.

It's been a good run with the boot. I'm left to wonder what tomorrow will reveal. What will it feel like to be restored to a completely vertical orientation. Will each step carry a tickle of worry that the fifth metatarsal will snap throwing me to the pavement. Will my ankle flap and flop like a flag that has lost one corner of mooring from the flagpole.

Time will tell, and I'm looking forward to the next steps.