Glory and dusk

Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream,

The Spirit he loves remains;

And I all the while bask in Heaven's blue smile,

Whilst he is dissolving in rains.

 

- excerpt from The Cloud, Percy Shelley

 

We've all heard the saying, "Every cloud has a silver lining". BUT, I recently found out that some clouds, not all, have glorious rainbows too!

As I flew back home to snowy Minnesota, still adrenaline-filled from the thought-provoking sessions from the conference in Denver, I found myself not working, not sleepy, and not reading on the airplane. That in itself is rare, but even moreso is the phenomenon I caught on my handy-dandy iPhone: a rare rainbow halo from the clouds.
 

 
 

 
 
Apparently, this is called a Glory - a majestic, yet elusive optical phenomenon! It is a rainbow of concentric rings (or halo), which forms on a cloud of water droplets around the shadow of an object (our airplane). This article had an even better picture with the plane's shadow. Since there was a snow/rain storm from Denver to the midwest, I was treated to this great view.  While I was at it, I also took pictures of dusk as the plane started its descent.



Dusk from above

Descending

 

In the misty clouds

 

Dusk from below

 
 
Amazing what you see, when you actually look!

I am the daughter of Earth and Water,

And the nursling of the Sky;

I pass through the pores of the ocean and shores;

I change, but I cannot die.

For after the rain when with never a stain

The pavilion of Heaven is bare,

And the winds and sunbeams with their convex gleams

Build up the blue dome of air,

I silently laugh at my own cenotaph,

And out of the caverns of rain,

Like a child from the womb, like a ghost from the tomb,

I arise and unbuild it again.

 

 - excerpt from The Cloud, Percy Shelley, 1792-1822