We have the gift of living on an island in the Pacific Northwest.  It is a day like today that showcases all that is the best of Seattle.

I awoke this morning to the ferry sounding its foghorn waking me from a deep sleep.  As I straggled out of bed and looked out the window there was this layer of sunshine between the horizon and the slowly lifting fog bank.  As I grabbed a cup of coffee to come to the consciousness of a new day, I heard the low drone of the ferry coming out of the harbor.  It was time to grab the iPhone and capture several images.

Later in the day I remembered to look out the window (instead of at my computer screen) and realized it was sunset already.  Our favorite time of day is what we call “fire time.”  On a clear winter day, the sun sets at such an angle that the light reflects off the skyscrapers in downtown Seattle.  If you are paying attention and catch it early enough, you will see the reflections on the houses on Magnolia, then the orange light will move south to the tall buildings in Seattle and then finally migrate to the houses in West Seattle.

The added advantage of a clear winter night like this is that Mount Rainer will be out and we get to see the top of the glacier covered mountain go from orange to 100s of shades of white and gray until the sun finally sets.  And if we are lucky, we will catch a moon rise low over the city of Seattle and watch the moon glow on the Puget Sound.