Guest hosts visit my post.

If Rod Serling were speaking:

You are a traveler moving unceasingly into the future. Your one-way ticket was purchased at birth and listed your destination as, "Unknown."  You will soon be confronted by words and sights beyond your control or experience, as you view one person's unique version of reality, separated from your own by space and time. You are about to enter these pages and view this post about a place known simply as, The Twilight Home.  

If Alfred Hitchcock were speaking:

Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we bring to you a glimpse into a life that, shall we say, is markedly different than your own.  The main character in our story decided some years ago to travel and has now settled into a place about as distant from his starting point as is possible to achieve. He has lived one life there, and is working haard to document his new life here.  So, without further ado, except for a very brief message from our sponsor, we bring you, Aotearoa, South by Southwest   

If Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) were speaking:

Oh please, what makes you think that a new life spent documenting life in a south sea island paradise, a temperate rainforest inhabited by species known as Kiwis, which might refer alternately to humans, Homo sapiens, to the flightless bird, Apteryx haasti, or the very delicious fruit, Actinidia chinensis, which, by the way, causes me to break out, is any better or worse than your lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, aka, God's country?  It's just different, that's all. So, read what this guy has written, and peruse his pictures of sunrises if you must, but while you do, I'll be doing something useful; like comparing the quantum states of dark matter. On the other hand, if he ever publishes a comic book on the order of Time Jumper's Journal, volumes one through four, let me know. 

I want to thank each of my pseudo guests today for their introductions.  

My post today is indeed about sunrises. We have the luxury of living on the east side of the Atrium building, here at Waitakere Gardens Retirement Village, in Henderson, New Zealand, and on the 2nd floor besides. (It would be called the 3rd floor if we were in the States.)  Because we are where we are, we have a good view of the eastern horizon and have the opportunity to see some great sunrises. When the clouds don't mess things up for us, that is. Unfortunately, our climate here, as Sheldon pointed out earlier, is described as temperate rainforest, so we have lots of cloudy mornings.  

Happily, we have just gone through a period of clear, or mostly clear mornings and I have been out on our balcony snapping pictures on most of them. I thought you all might like to see a few of the shots. Some nice things about looking at these photographed sunrises is that you won't have to squint nor suffer after-images from looking into the sun.  

I was warned by the salesman who sold me my camera not to shoot directly into full sun, that it could be damaging. You'll notice that these sunrise photos are taken through the maximum distance of atmosphere, and with additional clouds, or vegetation partially obscuring the sun. I use the auto focus setting for these, and that shows the current shutter speed of the auto setting on the screen.  My very fastest shutter speed is 1/2,000 sec.  When I see that I'm at that point, I am very careful not to take more pictures, if the sun continues to grow brighter.  And if I see the the shutter speed is less than the max, I know that I'm still okay. The very short shutter speed is a sort of protection in itself I think.  

Some of my very close up sun pictures were not taken quite how they look.  I upload the pictures from the camera of course into my computer and then blow the picture up.  

I mention this because if looking at my pictures might make you want to take some as well, I wouldn't want you to damage your camera.  

You may also notice that the sun is slowly moving from right to left as our summer has changed to fall. Your Northern Hemisphere sun would do the opposite.  

You might want to get a cup or coffee or tea to go with these photos since they're all sunrises.  Mine was always nearby as I took them. 

I'll end this week's pictures with my favorite series.  I love looking at the details on the last one. I feel as though I'm soaking in the rays of the world's most blazing intense sun, but am suffering none of the consequences of doing so.  It's like diet sun.  Enjoy.   -djf