Stop the coup in the United States! Vote! Resist! Persist!

We are blessed with an eastward facing home that looks over the Puget Sound towards Seattle. As the earth turns, each morning I see the sun move on its seasonal journey venturing either north or south of Seattle.

I did not realize how much I needed the colors of sunrise until I spent a year in my “invalid cave” otherwise known as our piano room. In my cave I recovered from five lengthy surgeries repairing my left arm and left leg, knee and ankle. I loved watching the twinkling lights of Seattle late into the night, but I particularly loved the many colors of a Seattle sunrise.

I really liked my invalid cave – except at 5am on a summer morning when the sunlight streams into the room shouting at me to wake up. My incapacitated foot loves the view and the colors, but doesn’t like the early rising time.

I archived my first sunrise photo on September 13, 2010 when we moved into our current house. This day while the yellows dominated, the purples, pinks and grays of the marine layer framed the rising sun.

I have thousands of photos of the Seattle sunrise. I have a long term goal of capturing the sunrise every day of the year so I can show how far north and south the sun moves on its yearly journey. However, I didn’t reckon with the five months of gray and rain we have during the winter months. For those months I have to be content with the occasional sunbreaks of early morning.

My favorite sunrise colors shine over the Washington State ferry as it passes below our house.

I love capturing panorama photos that show the pre-sunrise oranges and pinks against the muted gray expanse of the sky above the cascades. The shadows of Mt.Rainier and Mt. Baker lurk at the edges.

While I love the spectacular reds, pinks and oranges of a September sunrise, I feel sad that the brightest colors are coming from wildfires in the Cascade Mountains.

At times the bright reds of the pre-sunrise during wildfire season are breath taking.

In early January, the sun’s journey is almost as far south as SEATAC airport.

The colors show in layers in early December as the clouds and water reflect the sun’s struggle to rise above the Cascade mountains. The subtle pinks, yellows and oranges tint the winter gray of the ever present clouds.

While I love the moment when the sun rises above the mountains, the best colors and contrasts occur about thirty minutes before the sun rises. The twinkling lights of the ferry and Seattle herald the coming sunrise.

As I get ready for my next major surgery to do a full ankle replacement on my left foot, I look forward to returning to my “invalid cave” to be awakened by the many colors of sunrise.

Peace.