I'm scribbling this while my blogging juice is flowing, which is not always the case. Or, may I say, while I have a few minutes to spare today.
This is an event from the other day, January 6. When I woke up in the morning, which was late, since it was a holiday, the first thing I did was glance through our balcony door to check how the weather was and how the trees and foliage looked like. This is actually my morning ritual. A quick glance showed that it was a frosty day. Every atom in my body leaped with delight!
As I sipped my coffee and nibbled my apple strudel slice while checking some mails and messages, something in the sunshine persistently drew my eyes like a magnet. I stepped out to our balcony and looked over where the sun was supposed to be at that time. I saw only this rainbow pillar of light with what seemed like a sun halfway through. I couldn't see more to the right as the side of our building blocked the whole view. That was definitely not the sun, but a mock sun!
Uh-uh! A sundog of epic intensity was afloat! I frantically got dressed and rushed down, anxious that the phenomena might fade out before I could see and capture it in its full glory, as it only lasts in a few minutes. The biting minus 20 degrees Celsius air, or something around that, whooshed toward me the moment I was outdoor. Since I only slipped my thick jacket over my pajamas, I just kept myself within a short distance of our building, and took several pictures while watching the mock suns intensify and dissolve. That was the closest to perfection that I've ever seen so far! I went back to our apartment when the sundog or parhelion completely evanesced.
Over a couple of hours later, after eating our lunch, I went out again to capture the frost-coated trees that had become denser in a matter of hours. This time, I wandered toward the football ground adjacent to our apartment compound.
left mock sun
the actual sun
right mock sun
the cream-colored building behind the frosty trees is our apartment building
When I returned home, I saw this boy in green coveralls waiting for his playmates who later went romping under the silvery moon.
You might be wondering why I am so consumed with these natural things and phenomena that don't seem to have practical values in life. Why do I frantically pursue them? Answer: Every time I'm absorbed in these things, time seems to stand still, and all the troubles in the world, let alone my own woes, fade into nothingness. I'm transported to a world of wonder and quietude where I can commune with our Creator who generously gave all of these amazing things that can lift our spirits. And then I feel afterward a sense of rejuvenation, a renewal of the spirit that enables me to deal with life's agitation with strength and joy. It's the healing power of the natural creation. A panacea for the soul.
"He made the great lights,
For his loyal love endures forever,
The sun to rule over the day,
For his loyal love endures forever.
The moon and the stars to rule over the night,
For his loyal love endures forever."
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