Wow. I’m finally nearing the end of the weekend of April 2, 2010. The photographs in this post were taken just an hour or two later than those in last week’s post.
More than a month has passed since I captured this sunset.
I wonder how far north the sun will have moved in this time. If the weather permits, we’ll see this weekend.
I do like sunglades.
With sunlight dancing on the water, I strolled around near the house, camera in hand. There was a wonderful sunset on April 2nd, but those photos will have to wait as instead I bring you an afternoon’s sun magic.
It’s a gift, that’s what it is.
I realize this almost every time I look at the sky. The sky is filled with unutterable, incomprehensible, exquisite beauty. I don’t know whether this beauty is inherent in the sky itself or in how we humans are wired to perceive it, but that doesn’t really matter, does it? Because either way … it is given to us.
So here is another ordinary everyday breathtaking sunset on Block Island. April 1, 2010. We are blessed.
I especially like how the sun image reflects in Sachem Pond.
Later, the breeze picked up a little, ruffling the pond. But the sky show went on.
It’s 6:30 in the morning on a Saturday, a day I’d hoped to sleep late. But it was 24-karat sunshine angling into the bedroom window, that worth-more-per-ounce-than-you-have-money-in-the-bank kind of light, and it drew me out of bed just as surely as if they were giving out thousand-dollar bills on the beach.
There aren’t many places on the island from which you can see both sunrises and sunsets over the ocean.
This house is one of the few.
To the west, the lighthouse glowed in the dawn light. Quite a different sight from when the fog rolled in that evening–see last week’s post.
What a beautiful weekend on the island! I’ll have a couple of great sunsets and a delicious sunrise to ease the nostalgia sometime when we’re far away, but for today I’d like to share Saturday’s stunning weather phenomenon. In the early afternoon we were in town and noticed how a brooding grey fog bank blanketed the shores of America, while on the island it was sunny and warm. But later in the day a fog rolled in out of the west, shrouding the North Light in mystery.
Later, the fog thickened, a dark roiling grey lying on the sea just beyond the dunes of the National Seashore.
Then it closed in.
After nearly four months away, we returned to the island last Friday on the 6pm ferry. What a wonderful homecoming! Of course, the question that kept our pulses racing was: Will we make it back to the house in time for the sunset?
Early signs were encouraging. The sun had not yet set when the ferry docked. We raced up Corn Neck Road. Oh–no, sorry, officer, what I meant was: We drove up Corn Neck Road just as quickly as traffic (nonexistent) and the speed limit would allow.
But there was a problem with the photographer.
The photographer wanted to stop at every photo opportunity. The photographer even made Dan turn the car around and go back once when he hadn’t realized she wasn’t joking. The photographer had to take a picture of the violent waves crashing on Crescent Beach, with the wings of the sunset spreading to the north.
The photographer *also* had to stop and take a picture of the sun setting over Great Salt Pond.
So it will come as no surprise to anyone that by the time we arrived home at about 7:15, the sun had already set. But it was one of those glorious sunset that keeps up the light show for a while after the sun goes down.
The contrast of colors was remarkable. An arrival to remember.
Next weekend is the weekend we’ve been looking forward to all winter! Yes! We’ll be opening the house on Block Island.
(Well, okay; we are also looking forward to our son’s wedding, but that won’t be till May.)
Will we have a beautiful sunset while we’re there? The weather forecast looks promising. If we do, the sun will be setting between Sachem Pond and the lighthouse, much like this photo from early April, 2008.
Spring is almost here in the Boston area. The sturdy early flowers have appeared, crocus and snowdrops and a bright yellow flower whose name I don’t know; and already there are leaves–perhaps daffodils–pushing up in protected spots. The waterfall in our back yard is running again, and I am listening to it through an open window.
In less than three weeks we will be back on the island. The sunsets will look similar to the one below as the sun works its way northward to the lighthouse.
Can’t wait!
The first time my friend Charlie came out to Block Island with us, we drove together out to the house. As we came down the final hill approaching Sachem Pond, Charlie leaned forward, squinted maybe a little, and stared intently at the view. “Look at that!” he said.
“Pretty, isn’t it?” we replied. We were feeling warm inside, the way a person does who is coming home after a long absence, and we were enjoying the view ourselves.
But Charlie said, “Yes, it is pretty, but that wasn’t what I was talking about. I was wondering why the water in the pond is so much higher than the water in the ocean. You’d think, with the two of them so close, it would equalize.”
Have I mentioned yet that Charlie has a background in engineering, and he’s very good at it?
In all the years we’ve been coming to the island, we never noticed a difference in the water level. But Charlie was right. You can see it in this picture. Kind of. If you squint and stare intently at it.
Here it is, Tuesday again, and we have a weather forecast that looks like this:
| This Afternoon  Snow Likely Hi 38 °F |
Tonight Rain/Snow Lo 32 °F |
Wednesday Rain/Snow Hi 37 °F |
Wednesday Night  Rain/Snow Lo 32 °F |
Thursday Rain/Snow Hi 41 °F |
Thursday Night  Rain/Snow Lo 30 °F |
Friday Snow Likely Hi 37 °F |
Friday Night  Snow Likely Lo 28 °F |
Saturday Chance Rain/Snow Hi 41 °F |
I’d say, it’s time for a beautiful sunset! Here’s one from July, 2008, a fitting antidote to cold, dreary weather!
