Sun Dogs

Every January for the past few years I attend a quilting retreat at the Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center put on by a great gal and teacher, Carole Wilder. She has created an event that is attended by 40+ regulars who wouldn't miss it for the world. I'm getting to know all of them and look forward to catching up with them and their projects.

The view from my sewing table was spectacular. We're situated high on the bluffs overlooking the Root River in southeastern Minnesota.  From that vantage point, I love to keep an eye peeled for wildlife.  I'm never disappointed. Soaring eagles. A huge raven. And a bright red cardinal that flew down to the deep snow to pick up seeds that had fallen in the heavy winter gusts. The wind blew the cardinal sideways as it made its way from seed to seed, tipping it over at times. I wonder how it would have felt seeing a crowd of laughing quilters peering down at it's struggles?

But the highlight this time were the sun dogs. The wind kept enough ice crystals suspended in the air to create a rainbow around the rising sun. They became bigger, brighter, and more colorful as the sun became brighter and higher in the sky. It lasted for hours. This picture just doesn't do it justice. I had to block out the sun with the window frame so the sun dogs on either side show up.

Can you see them? They were intensely bright in their centers and the colors of the rainbow. You'll have to take my word for it! The sun had a bright horizontal and another vertical ray running through it, too.

What an amazing light show!