Fall, and coincidences

If you can say, as we always did when we were kids, that spring has sprung, can you also say that fall has fell?  

Whatever it does, it has done so here in Henderson, and that means, for one thing, that the sun is now rising a good deal later than it has been rising throughout the summer months. It has become easy to get my restful eight and still shoot sunrise photos. This morning for example, I rose at 6:45 and it rose at about 7:30.  I had already finished a cup of coffee before its first direct rays tempted my camera lens.   

And, since we are now finally getting some greatly overdue clear mornings, I'd thought I'd try to record  how some of them start. I took all of these pictures from the third floor outdoor walkway of The Palms. The yellow dot shows where I stood and rested my camera on the railing. 

 

I've taken lots of sunrises in the past and used quite a few of them for my header pictures, and will continue to do so, since I'm especially fond of them. And I always think when birds fly through my sunrise pictures, that it's a very special, lucky occurrence. 

My latest batch of sunrises offered an even more unlikely circumstance that incredibly, repeated itself over the course of several days. I was so pleased that I decided to do a post about the series of pictures I took.  

So, if you're in the mood for a cuppa, (decaf, tea, or even an orange juice is okay) get it, and look over my pictures. You can pretend that its dawn, wherever you happen to be in the world and whatever your time really is.   

Here's a dandy sunrise to start things off, taken on 3-23-23. The bird arrived right on cue and did a fine job of adding value to the shot. (Truth be told, it's really expensive to hire these trained birds and get them released on schedule.)

But, let's get to really special pictures.   

These first two shots I'm showing you were taken on a cloudy morning. They're not quite as nice to look at as clear skies, but I wanted you to see where I'm looking and I hadn't taken any long-view shots when the days were clear.  

There is a tower crane out there, just below the brightest part of the sky.

You can see the crane a little better in this one.  It's still a while before dawn. Those are some heavy clouds behind it.     

This is it, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. It's one of my favorite sunrises. It was taken on 3-25-23.(The American way of writing the date)  Or 25-03-23, if you prefer. 

It's my favorite because, not only do I have two birds in it, I have caught the tower crane operator about to step into his booth. Here is a close up.   

(I know that way back when, everybody was using the term photobombing, it was the latest buzzword, and I suppose some might still want to claim this picture as an example.  I don't.  I look at it as a very fortunate happenstance.)  

You can tell from the position of the sun that this one was taken just seconds after the photo above, and you can no longer see him outside the booth.  

But, if we look really closely into the booth, you'll see the outline of his face, a hand and knee, and maybe his foot. After you look at this one, go back and compare the empty booth above.  

Well, let me tell you, I was delighted with the morning's work. I went about the rest of my day with a song in my heart,* and a spring in my 71 year-old step, so to speak. 

* just in case you care, and remember that you can click to the post back while any song plays. ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81YQFvmrOEs

The next morning, 3-26-23, as I once again caffeinated myself, it occurred to me that I should try to extend my good luck.  Minutes later, I headed up the stairs to my third floor aerie, camera clutched confidently.

This was the result. Let's start with a fairly close look. Is the operator there, anywhere?

No, but let's continue to watch. At least the bird is there. The sun isn't visible yet.  

.....just moments later....

Look. Look! Do you see a figure?

Quick, zoom in some more....That's him.  Here comes the sun. He must have a great view. For him, it would be rising over Auckland' South Side. 

Another shot, as the sun continues to mount the sky. **

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF5emO1X0HA

And my bird is back too.  Hey, this is really working out nicely.  

And there he goes, climbing the ladder.  Dang bird, it was supposed to keep circling.  

We now come to day three of our odyssey.  When I looked out into the predawn darkness, I saw clouds.  There would be no golden sunrise today.  This was actually the day that I took the two pictures that appeared above as the second and third photos of this post. The cloudy morning pictures. 

But, hope springs eternal, and I trudged back up the staircase, just in case...

There was no sun and no birds, but our friend was there. Caught him just in time.  

And here's the last shot, I had just enough time to zoom in a little more before he disappeared. The crane is at a different angle this morning and that is  preventing us from seeing him standing on the level with his booth.   

Well, folks, that's all for today.  

However, I find myself curious about this tower crane. I just might look into where it is, how far it is from my balcony, what it's helping to build, and so on. I'll bet I could research it with Google Maps, then hop a bus, and find the answers to the questions I just posed. 

I think you had better check back with me next week to learn for yourselves the truth behind the photo essay you've just enjoyed. (Hopefully enjoyed, that is.  I'd even take tolerated.) 

Till then, take care,         -djf