Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Keeping Abreast of What I'm Missing




Last night Mr. TV Weatherman mentioned that there would likely be fog and low clouds in the morning. That's a forecast that always makes my creative side stand at attention, because living along Colorado's Front Range makes it relatively easy to get above a low cloud deck and experience the sight of mountains rising through the clouds and into a clear, blue sky. It's one of my favorite types of conditions to shoot in, no doubt about it.

I didn't make any grand plans to get up early, but I figured if I woke up early enough on my own, I'd take a peek out the window and see if there was anything worth getting up for. That time arrived about 2:15am, way too early to even consider going anywhere. Another 90 minutes of sleep, I told myself, and if I wake up, I'll check things out.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....................................

3:45 snuck past quietly while I was out cold, so when I did wake up around 5:15, it was too late to get anywhere. This would be one sunrise I'd have to enjoy from the comfort of my bed. Wouldn't be the first, and it sure won't be the last.

I grabbed my laptop and swung open the lid, and once it sprang to life, I navigated through a bunch of online Web cams that are on my normal vicarious itinerary. First stop, Garden of the Gods. Cloudy, dreary, and somebody stole Pikes Peak! Either that, or it was hidden behind all those gray, depressing clouds.

Next stop, Pikes Peak's summit cams. Just as I suspected—thin, wispy clouds and blue sky above, duck soup below. Oh, what I would've given to have gotten my butt out of bed and up onto Rampart Range for this! Since it was obviously too late to do anything about it, I sat in bed hitting the "refresh" button on my browser until I caught a glimpse of the sun cresting the eastern horizon.

A few more minutes making the rounds of my favorite Web cams, and it was back to Dreamland. Better luck next time.

[as always, click on the small images to see the big versions.]

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