Twilight at Lincoln Park
The sun sets late at this time of year here in the northern hemisphere. During winter, I often miss twilight because I'm still working when Brother Sun sets. In winter, I only notice because I have to turn on the lights.
But in late spring at the conclusion of a long walk, (for instance) I can dance in shamanic alignment with the twilight. It is so beautiful. Wow. I was thinking last night that twilight is luxurious, like satin or velvet. Once the sun dips beneath the horizon, all the colors deepen. The sky deepens, the trees, too. The world becomes saturated by deep cobalt while the birds sing their lullabye songs. After those few minutes of luxury, the streetlights switch on and then it becomes absolutely dark. Night is magic, but not nearly so entrancing as dusk.
One of the reasons I would love to visit the far north (or far south) some day is to experience the lengthy twilights and dawns of those landscapes. One of my teachers used to refer to dawn and dusk as "cracks between the worlds" during which anything could happen. It really feels that way to me when I'm out and about at twilight. At least it did last night. What a beautiful evening it was! Oh yeah.
Woman with a dog in her backpack, riding her bike on the sidewalk, at twilight. I know it's blurry, but I kind of like it. It's painterly.
17 comments:
One of the cool things about Judaism is that we begin our holidays at sunset. We know how to throw a great holiday. When the sun sets, let the magic begin!
It is a wonderful time. I love it that I can leave work after 7 and still have a good hour or two of light to take a walk, mess around in the garden, read outside, all that good stuff.
You know, I always complain about twilight because I can't see as well in the dim lighting. But maybe that's the point. Slow down. Enjoy the "painterly" aspect of a day coming to an end. I'm going to experiment with that tonight!
Soft, magical twilight is my favorite time of day. It's when I like to do my walking.
Twilight is the magical time of the day when you know that you are getting ready to eat a great meal and then snuggle down with the family to share your day's experiences with each other.
Truly a wonderful time of the day and if you take a walk with each other, hand in hand, then it is truly magical.
God bless.
That's the downside of having a house surrounded by trees - lack of a proper twilight! It's beautiful during the day, but once the sun goes down it goes from light to dark almost instantly.
I spent a few days in Jutland, where the night does not happen for months- seems to be always on the edge of day and night not making up it's mind, the sun never gets high enough or low enough- the light does not change- just always dim- like loosing your way in a the middle of a sentence. Today it is raining, darkish, no drama- I could snooze through this day totally!
Religious holidays are usually imaginative - just about all of them are kind of fun- except for good friday, whatever that is, sure wasn't good for that one guy...and ash wednesday when folks go get dirty forheads from the guy in a dress and walk around all day not washing...weird.
I love that bottom photo. The movement and colors are so vivid. Maybe you caught the "energy" or "aura" of twilight.
I think I did catch the aura of twilight in that pic. Thanks Ronda.
And yes all holidays are good. I like them all, I really do.
your photo yesterday was good also--i need to start a Reya folder, because you have quite the eye.
Tom, thanks!
reya the in-between times of dawn and twilight are like doors opening . . . light falls in, colour washes over, the heart opens, the mind unfurls, life becomes.
beautiful place you keep here. steven
THank you, Steven.
When I was working on a ship about five years ago I had a chance to experience the prolonged twilight, although it's not nearly as interesting out in the middle of the ocean as it would be on land because there are no hills or trees to cast shadows and create clouds, and the sky is usually either completely overcast or totally clear. So the sunsets are very plain. At around 3AM the sun finally dips all the way into to the ocean after hovering for about an hour, but there is still a glow in the sky even after it goes down. About 20 minutes later it comes back up just slightly east of where it went down. It's pretty amazing even though the effect is kind of understated out at sea. I think the best way to see it would be from land with a south-facing view of the water.
I often wander about the yard at twilight. Tucking everything in.
yes it is the magic hour--love the thought of you doing your shamanic dance down the boulevard!
Ellen I love that image, of you tucking everything in. Love that.
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