Sailors Take Warning

I’m sure most have heard the expression “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” This was the sky on the way to work this morning and it got me to thinking about this old expression. Many cultures have tried for centuries to predict the weather. For many societies planting and harvesting crops were significant for survival. Seasons can affect the environment catastrophically.

Of course this all comes down to the fragileness of life and the quest for reassurances about the future. From savings accounts to crystal balls, from eating healthy to tarot cards, we all want to know if tomorrow brings with it security or scarcity, comfort or challenges, joys or sorrows. Helpless as we are to control the world, we look for signs. We grasp at past events to predict the future, and remember a rhyme we were taught as children, to give us foresight and courage for the day to come.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 230mm f/8 ISO 100 1/6 sec

The Cloudmaker

That’s what I call it. For all I know that’s what it does. I’ve been told it’s the best thing in energy production ever engineered by humankind. I’ve also been told it will be the end of life as we know it on this fragile planet. Time will tell as these quiet giants continue to fill the air with puffs of steam that silently disperse into the atmosphere until the last wisps of water vapor fade away into sky.

Nikon D800 Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 @ 58mm f/8 ISO 100 1.3 sec

#TravelTuesday Simeone Automotive Museum

Some people love cars, and some people love racing. Some people can refine these passions into the love of racing cars. At the Simeone Automotive Museum in Philadelphia their passion borders on obsession. In the collection of superbly maintained vintage racing cars housed at the museum, each vehicle is displayed in valient form, clean and looking a lot like the day it rolled out of the factory. The problem with a car museum is of course the fact that you’re seeing a work of beauty, but not really experiencing the art. It would be like going to a symphony and just following a copy of the score instead of hearing the music, or like reading a screenplay and not viewing the movie. What takes the Simeone to an award winning level (2011 Museum of the Year) is that these thoroughbreds are unleashed regularly. For example this February there is a demonstration comparing a 1964 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe and a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO.
If you know anyone (or you yourself) who has a romantic connection to the world of automobiles and racing, spend an afternoon at the Simeone Automotive Museum, your heart can race to the sights and sounds and smells of vintage racing legends.

Nikon D5100 Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 @ 15mm f/10 ISO100 5 image HDR