Sunday 5 June 2011

Beauty at the end of the day

Warsaw's weather has settled into entirely agreeable (if maybe a tad too hot) summer pattern; skies with thin clouds that presage gorgeous sunsets. And where better to shoot me some mood-enhancing photos but from the end of the road, across the tracks - flat fields, trees.

Above: Still half an hour to go, but the sun has descended behind a meagre bank of cloud casting a golden light on the surrounding fields. This - as I've mentioned many times before - is the Magic Hour, beloved of film makers; that golden time of day. The effect it has on the human spirit is entirely mellow; a sublime frame of mind ensues.

As the earth spins from west to east, so the sun appears to settle towards the western horizon. Well, at this time of year, the north-western horizon. In the distance, roof tops of Dawidy.

Through the elderflower trees, the setting sun sets the sky afire; the end of the day wreathed in beauty and the weather set fair for tomorrow. The night now is less than eight hours long; the sun will rise at 4:30.

On weekend days like this, when nothing else is going on, it is a waste not to take time out to witness the setting of the sun and to participate in that majestic sense of spiritual wellness that doing so engenders.

I'd be interested to know what neurobiology ascribes this particular feeling of euphoria brought on about by nature's light show at the end of the day, an explanation for the sublime nature of a summer dusk.

This time last year:
Jeziorki's flood of floods slowly subsides

This time two years ago:
Black-and-white homage to Ansel Adams

2 comments:

student SGH said...

Right on Michael, right on!

Living in a suburb entails some inconveniences (commuting, being far from cultural events), but at this time of year, in the evening, one can rediscover undisputable values of living far from the concrete jungle. May our neighbourhood stay as beatiful as we could enjoy it over this weekend.

Have a good week (despite the heat)!

Paddy said...

Bring me sunshine, bring me love.

Glorious weather, the hotter the lepiej, as it's all the better to tease my rain soaked colleagues in the UK with.