morning sky

Astoria, Queens, Wednesday morning, about 6:50am

The way our front door is situated I take a quick look east every morning before heading west to the subway station on my way to work. Although early I love having a perfect front-row seat for the sunrise every morning (at least these days). I might take a few extra seconds and survey the sky, as if it might give me some insight on the day. Since returning to garden work I realized that people look differently at the sky depending on their day. For many it seems that outside is just something to avoid on their way to their sheltered desk job. Weather happens and people freak out, as if after millions of years water is actually going to hurt us. I suppose I have fallen into some of the same silliness. But now that I know I am going to be spending my days outside, I look to the sky to try and understand it better. I have always been fascinated by the sky and the atmosphere. I think we have to try and understand and embrace this changing climate as best we can in order to make smart decisions moving forward. Growing up surrounded by surfers and fisherman and other seafarers the weather channel seemed to be the default setting on the TV for most households. We all got into meteorology as kids, though we never thought about it that way. We just wanted to know whether we were going to have smooth seas or chop, and how the tides might be affected. In high school excellent environmental scientists taught me to study weather patterns and their intensity as they related to climate change and global warming. One teacher knew the changing of the seasons so well he made spring sugaring (aka the making of maple syrup) a true art form. Aboriculture came naturally as I already had my head regularly stuck in an upward position, gazing at the trees and their backdrop. I love the subtly of the shades of blue during the sunrise and sunset, and the contrast of those warm oranges bouncing off the clouds. That is a good sky to me, the sign of a good day that was, or will be.