Beautiful sunrise #13

December 19, 6:55 AM

Beautiful sunset #26

March 17, 7:11 PM

Beautiful sunset #25 seen two ways

January 4, 4:49 PM

The sunset on January 4 was so big and beautiful that even the widest angle view through my camera didn't really do it justice.  So I thought this 180-degree video sweep might do.



(you can watch the wide-screen version here)

Actually, even that seemed less impressive than it did when I was standing there in the middle of it.  Maybe next time I'll just have to climb on the roof and shoot a 360-degree video.

Beautiful sunset #24

December 23, 2011, 4:41 PM

Coincidentally, December 23, 2010 provided one of the best sunrises I've ever recorded, which you can find here.  I think I'll keep my eyes open again next year on the 23rd.

A small collection of beautiful fall sunsets

I've been waiting for the perfect sunset this fall, so I could photograph it and enjoy it indefinitely. Alas, you won't find that image in this post, as the sunsets that I would rate even more beautiful than these were enjoyed without my camera at my side. I'll keep my eyes open and camera handy for the rest of this fall and winter, but for now I hope these will suffice.

October 18

October 23

October 27

November 10

November 18, 4:51 PM

November 18, 4:56 PM

(aka beautiful sunsets #17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23)

Beautiful sunrise #12

December 23, 7:04 AM

Beautiful sunset #17

Frequently, when I'm photographing a sunset, I'm not sure at which moment the sunset looks the best. I think this is a pretty good solution: 114 photos stitched together to represent our sunset from 4:40 to 5:12 PM, but accelerated so you can enjoy the whole thing in only 15 seconds.

Beautiful sunset #16

September 15, 7:03 PM

Beautiful sunrise #11, beautiful sunset #15, and a rainbow in between

August 4, 5:38 AM

August 4, 5:29 PM

August 4, 8:06 PM

Evidently a good day for admiring the sky, even if I did have to wipe the condensation off the camera lens each time.

Beautiful sunrise #10

June 21, 5:12 AM

Beautiful sunrise #9

July 2, 5:42 AM

Beautiful sunset #14

February 9, 5:29 PM

A Collection of Beautiful Sunrises & Sunsets

It seems I've been saving some of these and neglecting to post them. I hope you enjoy them nonetheless.

Sunrise #8, January 2, 7:11 AM

Sunset #11, January 4, 4:49 PM

Sunset #12, January 9, 5:01 PM

Sunset #13, January 13, 4:58 PM

Beautiful sunrise #7

December 21, 7:20 AM

-3°F, 29 mph wind

Coincidentally the day of the year with the least sunlight started without electricity at our house. We had 1/2" of freezing rain two days earlier so the trees and electric lines were coated in ice, and Saturday night the wind gusted up to 40 mph all night. We were in bed when we realized the power was out by 11:30 PM, but at that point we knew a good night's sleep was more important than trying to keep appliances running through the night. I called Corn Belt to make sure they knew we didn't have power, and went back to bed.

Laying in the quiet stillness, I tried not to think about the fact that the temperature was falling below zero, and the generator had not started the last three times I had tried it; all the while trying to ignore what sounded like boulders falling on our roof. I laid out my plan countless times as I tried to fall asleep: (1) wake at first light and start a fire in the basement wood burner, (2) tear apart the generator carburetor and clean up what was probably just a gummed up orifice, (3) restore power to the furnace and refrigerator from the generator, and (4) go to the neighbor's house to make sure their house isn't getting too cold (since they're in Florida now).

As the bedroom lightened in the morning, the air in the house was down to 50°F, so I rose at 6:30 to carry out my plan. Before I made it to the basement the electricity came back on. I thanked God for being merciful to us, and proceeded to make coffee before the power went back out again. Confident that the house didn't need my attention, I shoveled ice off the driveway (note: I said "shoveled", not "scraped" since the ice had fallen out of the trees like cubes from a refrigerator dispenser). When I came back inside before 8:00 the power was back out again, and as it didn't return for 15 minutes, I started into my original plan.

A fire was quickly started in the wood burner, and with Gretel holding a flashlight for me, we cleaned up the generator carburetor and started it for the first time in years. I fashioned some temporary wires for the furnace so I could plug it into an extension cord that I routed from the basement upstairs and through the garage. As I was carrying the generator out of the house the electricity came back on again. I thanked God again for being merciful to me.

Through the episode I found a few things to be thankful for:

• I'm thankful that thousands of people over the last couple hundred years have taken dominion over electrons and made it possible for us to do all kinds of things with this mystery called electricity. Not the least of these things is keeping my family warm.
• I'm thankful that there were probably dozens of linemen outside all night all over the Peoria area repairing lines and transformers so people like me could sleep in a warm bed and enjoy hot coffee in the morning. I don't envy them working in subzero temperatures with winds strong enough to knock over ladders and make boom trucks sway.
• I'm thankful for building materials that keep our house warm such that the temperature in the house only dropped 15° in the seven hours the power was off.
• I'm thankful for our little wood burner that takes the chill off the basement and allows our water pipes to stay above freezing.
• Most importantly I'm thankful for God's providence and mercy in this experience. I realize he controls the supply and restriction of electricity on our grid and around the world. I realize he controls the wind and temperature, and decides in his sovereignty whether our yard will be covered in rain, snow, or ice. I realize he allows us to experience trials for the strengthening of our faith, and I'm grateful for his mercy when he ends the trial before I expect it to end.

Beautiful sunsets #9 & 10

December 2, 4:50 PM

December 4, 4:32 PM

Beautiful sunsets #7 & 8

November 21, 2008, 4:45 PM

November 23, 2008, 4:44PM

Beautiful sunset #6

November 17, 2008, 4:19 PM
(courtesy of Gretel)

Beautiful sunrise #6

October 15, 7:15 AM

Table Rock Lake, Missouri

Beautiful sunsets #4 & 5

October 9, 6:11 PM

I decided to post this sunset because I think it is so typical of the sunsets this time of year. Often we have no clouds and the sun seems to sit on the horizon for an hour. These sunsets are especially hard to drive into -- the sun visor has to be down so low that you really can't see the road ahead. Nevertheless I think the beauty in this sunset is much like the beauty in the Illinois prairie: it's an acquired taste, unappreciated by those normally surrounded by more dramatic beauty.

October 10, 6:37 PM

Garage construction #4 and beautiful (and unusual) sunset #6

On Gene's second day of digging with the tractor he was able to dig the trench for the water line from the house to the garage site, and begin digging the footings for the garage foundation.
Here he's digging the footing under what will be the west wall. The 8" bucket allows us to dig a trench at the correct grade and simply fill the trench with cement to produce the footing.

Here's the trench for the water line with the spool of extra tubing sitting at the garage end. The line has been stubbed through the house basement wall at this time and the tubing laid into the trench.

This is why the excavator has that little dozer blade on the front end of the undercarriage: to push dirt back into the trench you just made! Even though Gene looks very serious in these tractor operation photos, it was clear he really enjoyed running the machine and moving dirt. What a perfect gift for the man that seems to have everything: his own tractor! Maybe Stan will buy him one someday....

This was as far as we got on Friday night. The footing trench is a little over halfway done, and the water line is laid in its own trench. This is starting to look like a construction site!

At the end of the day Friday, the Lord blessed us with a beautiful and unusual sunset. Can anyone explain why the dark streaks appear in the sky? They aren't clouds....

Saturday saw more progress with the tractor including digging the trench to the electrical service. We got rained out about the time we were going to set the conduit in the trench, so that will have to wait until next week. The wire running out of conduit on the back side of the meter pole is the telephone line that we had to carefully avoid during our digging. The electrical service could be a bit undersized for both the house and the garage, so we have an appointment with our electricity cooperative, Corn Belt, to assess the situation.

After a pretty good (and humid) day's effort on Saturday, August 23, this is how the site looks. The footing trench is complete, the electric trench is dug, and the water line is laid in its trench and buried almost all the way back to the house. Once the concrete patch around the water pipe on the house foundation is dried we'll close the water line trench in completely. You may have also noticed the pile of clay dirt in the foreground has been spread around on the driveway on the east side of the garage since that end will need more fill before the project is done.

Point of trivia: the difference in elevation between the high northwest corner (on right) and the low southeast corner (on left) is 13 inches! Who would have thought our yard sloped that much?

Next steps: set rebar in the footing trench to prepare for the concrete pour, and prepare for laying a couple of rows of concrete blocks on top of the footing. Thanks for reading; Lord willing, we'll be back with more details in the days to come....