Sunset, Thursday, 4 February 2010

William Theodore Van Doren. Sunset from Stony Point, Albemarle County, Va. Oil on watercolor block, 16 x 20.

Thanks to Ethel Cole for the word of the day (at least).

“So,” Ethel says to me, “are you ready for the snowpocalypse?” 

If you saw how revved-up folks in this area get over a predicted big storm – if you spent five minutes in a grocery store on a day like today – you’d know how truly perfect Ethel’s word is. 

Of course, this one may really be snowpocalyptic. And yes, Ethel, I believe this time we are ready. I hope this time I won’t be telling sad tales of having to walk four miles up a major highway for supplies.

The sun was a whitish moon-like blur in a gradually lowering sky, approaching sunset. 

Meanwhile, and speaking of wintry sunsets, NPR reported the following today on Morning Edition. I don’t quite understand where the webcam was located, from this story, but here’s the whole thing:

A man lost on the ice of Germany’s North Sea was saved by two cameras and a keen-eyed woman hundreds of miles away. The man had trekked onto pack ice to take photos of [the] sunset. He became disoriented and couldn’t find the shore, so he signaled for help by flashing his camera. The woman who spotted him was taking in that same sunset on a webcam from the comfort of her home. She alerted police near where he was and they guided him to safety.

Evidently, we sunset watchers also watch out for each other.