Tilt Your Head Back

Pi in the sky. (thanks M.A.)

Reading about the mesosphere (topmost layer of the earth's atmosphere) reminds me to keep an eye on the sky at all times, even though at midsummer in DC it can be hard to find because of the lush tree canopy. I know how to get out from under the trees to have a look. It's always worth it.

Though I can't see red lightning sprites from ground level, nor can I see blue jets, or elves, for that matter, I feel a little thrill knowing they're up there. No one knew about them until recently. Oh, the things we don't know! Wow. Thank God that the people who ride around in the space shuttle have been kind enough to photograph them. I'm very grateful. Maybe some of the pics also come from satellites.

There's a whole lot going on where the blue atmosphere meets the blackness of space. It's amazing.

What I can see from down here, stuff happening in the troposphere, is pretty interesting too - and almost always gorgeous. In addition to the usual puffy cloud shapes and flat layers of overcast, the streaks of cirrus clouds, the rainbows that form from ice crystals in circles around the sun and moon, the sky also sometimes creates a written language made from clouds, contrails and who knows what else. Very cool. I love the sky.

Can anyone decrypt the symbol at the top of the post? It appeared right above the house on Tennessee Avenue as seen from 13th and Constitution Ave. N.E. Beautiful, isn't it?