Sunset on Hudson

Down By the River

Making Hay While the Sun Shines

We were gifted with a couple of unseasonably warm and lovely days last week, and rather than stay indoors, we took full advantage. Academics happen just as well at home after dark. Some things can't be put off. Basking in the sun on the beach on a November day in New York is not a treat to pass up! Nor is a Hudson River sunset.

But first, we took a nature walk, looked for owls in a certain pine stand (none there), watched a kestrel fly over our heads, and wandered the hilltop meadow that used to be the County Dump and is now a bird watcher's delight. Mostly sparrows this time, but still a nice afternoon.

Want to come along?
























And then it was time to head to the beach before sunset...

















We found what I think is a catfish skull:



And an ancient plastic bucket covered in barnacles.



And then we watched the show... Wow.

Look! Up in the Sky! It's...

Sometimes it's the International Space Station going overhead. There is supposed to be a great sighting opportunity tonight. Check your local info, but here in NY it will be about 8:53 pm, if I remember right. It will be nearly 80 degrees above the horizon at maximum elevation, so it's highly visible. You are looking for a really bright, relatively fast moving dot that does not bink. (Airplanes have blinking marker lights; the ISS glows steadily.)





Sometimes it's just the clouds. We like to look for shapes in them... I have never outgrown this, and I sincerely hope Mikro never does either.











And sometimes, it is an utterly breathtaking sunset. These are not in any way retouched. The sky really was this gorgeous! If you remember to look, you can see beauty even in a supermarket parking lot.