Tag: Climate

‘Smokin’ Heaven?’ – Alexander Petrenko

‘Smokin’ Heaven?’ photograph by Alexander Petrenko

‘Smokin’ Heaven?’ is my name for this interesting, fun and amazing photograph. Is Heaven above us? Alexander saw this group of Heavenly golfers over Moscow, Russia and captured it. How cool is that ‘Heavenly Smokin’ Golfers’. Don’t know if it’s truly Heaven, but it’s a wonderful reminder. Even in smoke we can see life and Creator’s love. It’s everywhere… all around we just need to stop, pause, breathe and see. Amazing! Thank you beloved Creator for this wonderful whimsical reminder. Cough, cough!

Alexander’s name for the photo is “Оказывается, тут тоже есть жизнь…” (“It occurs, here also there is life…”). The aerial photograph was taken over Kiev-Moscow, Russia on the approach to Sheremet’yevo Airport. He says, “I officially explain this is the photo as it appeared winter 2006, with no editing other then crop and resize.” You can see more of his wonderful photos on his photo blog or read Petrenko blog.

Another beautiful reminder of Creator’s love is this photo of Archipelago of Sulu taken by Farl. It looks like an island with a heart cut out of the center. He calls it Donut Hole. You can see more lovely photos from Farl at flickr.com.

I found both photos while perusing ‘The World From Above: The Beauty Of Aerial Photography‘. Enjoy!

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

February 19, 2009
Alien World?

‘Alien World?’ photo by Ivar Marthinusen

‘Alien World?’ is my name for this magnificent photograph . This strangely beautiful flat alien landscape looks like a lake of steaming gas which tumbles into a misty void with rainbow columns and a second sun. Is this a planet near Betelgeuse? Maybe it’s in a 2 dimensional universe somewhere other? Or perhaps this is Tolkien’s Middle Earth floating, hovering in between? What to you see?

It’s actually on Earth. The photo was taken at a ski resort in Åre, Sweden by Ivar Marthinusen on Jan. 27, 2009. A view of the world from above atop a mountain… with sun, clouds, mist, snow, ice halo and a subsun. Thank you, thank you, thank you beloved Creator for this otherworldly, amazing, magnificent creation. WOW, I’m in awe!

Space Weather featured one of Ivar’s photos on their home page February 1. The photo above was on a page with others taken on the same day. They say of the photos…

“Skiing photographer Ivar Matheson did everything right on Jan. 27th when he took the picture above. “I was at the Ãre ski resort in Sweden. It was a sunny day and the air was filled with ice crystals. This gave rise to an impressive display of luminous sun halos, sundogs, sub-sundogs, subsuns, upper and lower sun pillars and tangent arcs.” The complete collection is a must-see.”

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

February 7, 2009
Opalescent Sky

‘Opalescent Sky’ photo by Harold Leinbach

‘Opalescent Sky’ is my name for this exquisite photograph. Again Creator treats us to beautiful displays reminding us that everything is sacred and that we progress. What colors and patterns! Again we are shown colors that aren’t ‘normally’ seen in a rainbow spectrum… pastels… turquoise, pink, lavender, golden pink. And is that an eight or infinity? Perhaps a message of our infinite nature… everything is possible… endless possibilities. Our visualizations of Divine Nature made manifest. This sky is magnificent! Thank you, thank you for this gift, again… thank you Beloved Creator. You continue to awe and amaze with beauty and majesty.

Photo was taken in Boulder, Colorado January 2, 2009 by Harold Leinbach. He says of the sky,

“The pastel colors were lovely and the billowing cloud shapes were quite fascinating.”

Atmospheric optics expert Les Cowley explains: “For brightly-colored iridescence you need cloud droplets of all the same size. You get that if all the droplets have formed at the same time and experienced the same history. Dynamic conditions inside a lee cloud are just what the doctor ordered. The clouds look stationary but inside there is a ‘factory conveyor’ with uniform droplets formed at one end and evaporated at the other. Voila – iridescence.”

Lee waves may be found downwind of all mountains–not just the Rockies. If you live in the lee, keep an eye out for pastels in the sky.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

January 23, 2009
Light Beam in Aspen

‘Light beam’ photo by Thomas O’Brien

‘Light beam’ is my name for these amazing photographs. A second sun floats just above the tree tops beaming Light to earth. It looks like a being of light floating above and behind the trees. An amazing gift and wonderful display. Images taken in Aspen, Colorado January 3, 2009 by Thomas O’Brien.

Thomas says about the images,

‘I had been seeing small sun reflections in the ground all day when riding the lifts last Sunday so i decided to hike around on the backside of the mountain to see if i could find a brighter one. it was incredibly hard to photograph, it was like i was shooting directly into 2 suns at once. getting a shot without lens flare was nearly impossible. I had seen much dimmer ones before but this one was incredible. ‘

Atmospheric Optics expert Les Cowley reports, “It is exactly like shooting into two suns at once because it is a subsun, a direct reflection of the sun by millions of ice crystals acting as mirrors. The crystals are flat plates drifting in the cold air. Subsuns can be blindingly bright, look for them while skiing or when flying.”

Photo was featured on SpaceWeather.com January 11, 2009.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

January 20, 2009
Ice Flowers in Arkansas

‘Ice Flowers’ photo by Chyenne Morning Star

On January 16, 2009 Chyenne went outside her home in Edgemont, Arkansas and was greeted by these lovely ribbons of luminous ice. One is a heart. Everywhere… reminders of Creator’s Love. Mother and Father Creators showering blessings upon us. It is glorious. Thanks so much Chyenne for sharing this wonderful photo with us.

Chyenne says of the image,

Every now and then in the midst of Winter when the ground is of one color and the trees are bare, She, Mother Winter will gift us with little luminous beings of ice called Ice Flowers. And particularly when one is shaped as a heart, it is a message. A message from our Mother, the Earth and our Nature sisters and brothers telling us they love us. When I went out to get wood on this January 16, 2009 morning, I noticed these beautiful beings. I have never seen them before – or in our area. They are called Ice Flowers and only form in perfect conditions. It is rare to see them here. They were scattered over the yard. It is one of those gifts in the middle of Winter that really surprises us with another beautiful life form being. These Ice Flowers are sometimes called Rabbit Frost and are formed when the sap freezes and expands in the stem, causing long thin cracks to form along the stem. The water that is drawn through these cracks freezes immediately upon contact with the air. Thin layers of ice are pushed from the stems,causing the formation of ribbons or ‘petals.

The photo was featured on the home page of SpaceWeather.com on January 18. They say of the image:

Scientists have been studying the ice flower phenomenon for almost two hundred years. Botanists, physicists, geologists–all have puzzled over the fragile ribbons of ice that wrap themselves around the stems of some plants during winter. Over time, the following consensus has emerged: Liquid water from deep soil flows up into the stems. Linear cracks in the stems expose the water to freezing air. Water turns to ice, and the ice extrudes from the cracks in thin sheets.

There is also a wonderful video of ice flowers at youtube. So amazing… another wonderful display. Thank you beloved Creator, thank you.

~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

January 19, 2009