A Glimpse of Distant Fire

The system that brought some rain earlier in the week began to pack its bags and move on through on Thursday morning. The change in weather brought a dramatic cloud show which began in the morning and continued to evolve all day long. What a sky!

This is how it often is on my drive to work in the morning: breaking clouds and light. And I am on route 550, driving, driving, watching the show. It often seems as though State College, in the distance, is experiencing some kind of marvelous sunrise. And if I can just hurry a bit, maybe I can get there in time to capture some pictures.

But on this day, the sky couldn't wait and neither could I. And so I pulled my car off the road for pictures twice while the show was at its peak: once along the tree row at Sawmill Road, and then again just a bit after that, along a farmer's field off route 550. The sky was changing every minute.

Yes, that's Mount Nittany in the far left background, and in front of it is a tree (and a TINY tree to the left of that - tiny tree squee!). And in the sky, dark blue storm clouds are passing, their belly lit by a golden glow: a glimpse of distant fire.

The soundtrack for this image is a favorite tune, and it appears in the soundtrack for the film Michael. Here is Van Morrison with Bright Side of the Road.