Smoky Memories

I happened to notice the moon Monday morning, as it was headed down for the day. The air was thick, and the moon had an orange tint.

hang gliders over Mt. Zion on a murky day — *Gliding through the Smoke - Joyce Davell -* *enlarge*

Later that day, Joyce Davell sent this photo of hang gliders soaring around Mt. Zion. The air was still murky, tinted pink at that time of the day.

view of North & South Table Mountain with the sun rising between in an orange sky — *Wildfire Sunrise by Jen Rutter -* *enlarge*

4 Years Ago
The summer of 2020 was surreal for many reasons. People were just starting to come out of seclusion as public health experts urged us to get outdoors, but stay away from each other. Masks and hand sanitizer were in high demand and hard to find. Grocery store shelves were half-empty. Everyone was learning how to use Zoom.

Castle Rock silhouetted against a dark red sky with a red-yellow sun clearing the mountain — *Atomic Sunrise by Chris Davell -* *enlarge*

Just to make life a little more surreal and post-apocalyptic, there were wild fires all over the west, and we lived through day after day of smoke-filled air. The one bright spot with that poor air quality was the spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

orange sun peeking over the pine-covered shoulder of Lookout Mountain — *Wildfire Haze from Lookout Mountain - Buglet Solar -* *enlarge*

That was the year I introduced the daily Golden Eye Candy feature, and many of that summer's photos featured orange suns. I hope you enjoy reviewing one of my happier memories of 2020. Thanks to all the photographers!