first frost

sunrise:  6:14

I had an early departure for southern Maine this morning, and it just so happened that my dog walk coincided perfectly with the sunrise.  I could feel the frost in the air even before I went out, so I doubled up the fleece.

Frost, fog, and the low-lying light of September made for a lovely combination.

spring abounding

sunrise:  4:56

I won't keep you with a lot of talk.  Spring comes late to Maine, relative to much of the country, but it seems to be lingering longer than it did a dozen years ago when we first arrived.

Imagine the songs of red-winged blackbirds, chickadees, robins, mourning doves, bobolinks, warblers, sparrows, cardinals, blue-jays, crows, catbirds, and a slew of others as you look at the abundance of flowering new life out there in the back field.

apple blossom time

lily of the valley

lilacs

don't know what these white carpet flowers are called...

wild strawberry blossom

this particular apple blossom reminded me of an orchid

red and green maple

another tree decked out in that fresh spring green...poplar?  ash?  

sunrising, way to the north end of the field

fern

I love these tall grasses, soon to be higher than my head

bluets - my favorite!

sunrise in Israel

It took something wonderful like an Israel sunrise to nudge me out of my long posting hiatus.  Perhaps this means some more dawn blogging to come -- if not from me, from you!  Let's see the sun around the world --

Our contributor today went on her first trip to Israel under the auspices of the Birthright program.  She was kind enough to send her photos of dawn from two different days during her group's tour of the country.  Here are her notes:

"The first three were taken atop Masada, an ancient fortress at the top of a mountain that also borders the Dead Sea. We woke up at 4am to hike up to the top in time for sunrise, and it really paid off. If you look closely at the horizon, just between the mountains and the ground, you may notice a shimmering stripe between them - that's the Dead Sea."

"The second shot was taken from a Bedouin encampment where we stayed for one night in the middle of the Negev desert, in the south of Israel. You can get a sense of the flatness and texture of the land there, and I also love this shot because you can still see the moon, just beside the morning sun."