Sunday evening was quiet around here. I was returning to the house from the barn when I saw a sun dog (also called a parhelion, meaning “beside the sun”). Unlike a rainbow they appear in the sky near the sun — usually about 22 degrees from it and at the same altitude. This phenomenon is caused by ice crystals high in cirrus clouds that refract sunlight and, like tiny prisms, break the light up into colors. Red is closest to the sun, blue and violet are away from the sun. The colors are not clearly defined, nor are they vivid.

I walked quickly to the house to retrieve the camera. I was concerned that the sun dog would not be visible when I had returned. It turned out I had good reason. That’s the sun behind the weeping willow tree.

The bright spot above is not the sun. It is just a thin spot in the clouds. A minute or two earlier the sun dog was clearly visible just to the right of the bright spot. When I shot this I could barely see the fading color. Unfortunately the CCD of the digital camera is not as sensitive as my eyes.

Before returning to the house, I noticed the neighbors cattle grazing in the pasture across the road.

Is it any wonder that our visitors quickly fall in love with this place? We love nature, but we also feel blessed to live in this agricultural community where productive people do their part to feed our nation. This mob is turning grass into steaks and burgers.

Monday morning we went to visit Sylvia’s dad. (Our niece and her boy friend from South Carolina were there for a visit.) These were some of the geese that had spent the night in the same cow pasture. We saw them as we were leaving, stopped and took this shot. (The cattle are out of the frame to the right.)