Really bright sources of light tend to shoot spires of light straight up into the sky, which are visible for quite a long distance. It’s almost like a “synthetic aurora” in a sense, except they don’t dance like the real thing.
As I began my trek home, I noticed a rainbow that became more and more vivid as the sun crept lower in the sky. At one point it even had a faint twin, as shown in this picture. It was one of those where both ends of the rainbow are visible, but I don’t have a wide enough lens to capture that. Darn.
Naturally, one wishes we could cuddle, coddle, and provide for every little creature out there…at least the cute ones, anyway. Obviously that’s neither prudent nor even possible, and wild animals don’t really want to be cuddled anyway. But I’m reasonably sure this little fella will do just fine in the cold, especially once his fur thickens for the approaching winter.
The Rockies have had an eventful fire season this year. Livingston, Montana is currently fighting a fire that’s grown to 29 square miles. My old stompin’ grounds in southwestern Montana is in a similar situation, as are many other areas of the Rocky Mountains right now.
It never fails…when there are large forest fires downwind, we get hazy. Earlier this year it was from Canada, and now from the west. If your allergies have been flaring up, it may be due to the extra stuff kicked into the air by the forest fires, not just smoke from the fires themselves. This can also cause headaches. Great, huh?
Of course, this storm seems to have skipped Bismarck just as the one a few days ago. At that time I was south of town in my truck getting hailed on in rain so heavy that traffic was stopping…yet the roads north of the Bismarck Airport were bone dry. Crazy, huh?
What I like most about this photo is that the power line towers look as if they’re lining up to brace against the assault of the storm.
Note the absence of Conrad, Dorgan, or Pomeroy. Note also the absence of any results of their hard fought battle (I mean, they ARE fighting for us…aren’t they?) for equity in Missouri River management between the northern states, who rely on its lakes for tourism, and the southern states, who rely on it for floating casinos and barges.
Yes, I know there’s a lot of talk about the barge industry…but that barge industry doesn’t account for a fraction of the combined financial interest of the northern states’ tourism and hospitality industries. But the riverboat casinos? They’ve got a little more dollars attached. I have a friend who, while he worked in the gaming industry, clued me in to that little tidbit when this debate first started raging a few years ago. I haven’t seen one mention of it in the newspapers.
The next time our congressional delegation start tooting their collective or individual horns about what they’ve done for the state, please invite them to come to Riverdale and play in the state’s largest sandbox.
In the meantime, it’s going to be a bit hazy as long as the wind brings the smoke in our direction. It makes for some neat sunsets but the haze brings more problems than anything else.
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