Tell Me How the Sun Rose (#82)

Poetry, physics, and photography meet in this nod to sunrises.

Nov 02, 2023

*A female northern shoveller duck glides through the morning sunrise on Saturday, October 28. (Photo: Bryn Robinson, 2023)*

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The Tangent Function
There’s not much
that can’t be solved
by a sunrise.

As mornings contract,
the dark dawn’s
expanding blanket
covers the land;
nature lay longer
under covers.
But eventually
the sun will pierce
horizon’s tangent,
and scatter the blues,
leaving only gold,
ruby, and topaz.

No, there’s not much
that can’t be solved
by a sunrise.

*A female American black duck (I think) contemplates the next bite. (Photo: Bryn Robinson, 2023)*

Until I read more about sunrises, I never knew that there were even different types of light “scattering”, let alone the Rayleigh scattering1 that gives us both bright blue skies and juicy bookends to our days. (The varieties exist thanks to the a) presence/absence of atmospheric particles to refract light, and b) the size of any particles that are present.) When the sun is high in the sky, the shorter wavelengths of visible blue light make it possible to colour our skies cerulean - but when the sun is lower and closer to the horizon line, the light has longer time to travel.

And with longer time, the easier it is to scatter the shorter wavelengths - leaving only the longer wavelengths of reds and oranges to paint the sky in the spectacular. (Clouds only enhance the refraction and are cause for excitement if I’m planning to shoot at dawn or dusk.)

*Sitting marsh-side as the sun rose in Hampton. Just me and the ducks. (Photo: Bryn Robinson, 2023)*

Last Saturday, after a week of flying solo/single parenting (Ben being away and leading a team of university students to glorious hacking victory in Norway), I needed the escape and reset that nature always offers me.

It was a final burst of heat - reaching 20 Celsius by late afternoon - before plunging us into more typical frostiness, and while I longed for the chillier temperatures, I wanted to indulge in a final soaking of sunshine to soothe the soul.

There really isn’t much that can’t be solved by a sunrise.

Further along the trail in Hampton to the water treatment plant that always plays host to hundreds of ducks - mostly mallards, American black ducks, gadwalls, shovellers, and wigeons. I was also treated, though, to some green-winged teals and a solitary merganser. (Photo: Bryn Robinson, 2023)

If you enjoy bird-punctuated posts like this, please do have a gander2 at some previous ones that indulge in this little passion of mine. A small selection box: