05 April 2015

Evening, Pohangina Valley


A strong nor'wester buffeted the valley yesterday evening, and, as the light faded towards dusk, a momentary, wonderful colour suffused the overcast sky. (A second photograph a few seconds later proved too late to record this remarkable violet light — the kind of light T.S. Eliot must have had in mind when he mentioned it four times in The Waste Land.) With cloud like this, though, prospects for seeing the lunar eclipse seemed slim. Perhaps the cosmos had decided this moment had delivered my share of spectacle for the day.

At about the time the eclipse began, so did the rain. I kept working then turned my eyes and back upward from the desk and went to bed.



All content © 2015 Pete McGregor

9 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

That is a truly glorious sky. We knew we had no chance of seeing the lunar eclipse - heavy cloud all day. Sadly that cloud only gave us 0.2 of a milimetre of moisture. Sigh.

pohanginapete said...

EC, to have heavy cloud and effectively no rain when it's so needed must be frustrating in the extreme. My condolences.

Zhoen said...

Wow.

Lisa said...

A truly amazing sky - but what really caught my attention was the movement of the tree against the stillness of sheep, fences, and rolling hills. I'd swear I could see it move!

pohanginapete said...

That was my first thought, Zhoen.

Lisa, I wanted to convey that impression, so I'm so pleased you've recognised it :-)

gz said...

it passes in a breath, a moment of beauty caught, and enriches our hearts and minds

pohanginapete said...

Thank you, GZ.

Barbara Butler McCoy said...

I've returned to view this post several times, but only now do I begin to understand how it affects me. As GZ said, this moment passes in a breath, but it lingers. It lingers. As always, thank you.

pohanginapete said...

Barbara, it's always a great compliment to hear a photograph has affected someone enough to encourage them to return. Thank you :-)