September 10, 2024

Another year has passed in The Althouse Sunrise Project.

Yesterday was the 5th anniversary of my daily photographs of the sunrise. A few days were skipped for bad weather and once or twice I overslept, but the ritual practice is nearly every single day. I try to get good pictures, but many days are like other days and simply doing it is more important to me than getting a distinctive photograph. Still I rejoice on those days when it looks especially great, and I take this annual occasion to repost a few of the best.

Like this one, with the most unusual color, from May 21:

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And this, from April 26, where white showed its worth as a sunrise color:

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And just last week, on September 3, brown was a delicate delight:

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Was this the most beautiful red, on February 19?

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Or does this win the red category, from May 29?

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I love the orange chaos from October 24:

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At the other end of the aesthetic continuum, there is the mindbending subtlety of gray, seen on October 17:

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Less subtle gray finds favor too, from September 20:

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I love this gentle multicolored type, seen on June 11:

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There was this raging orange in the rain on September 24:

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White again, on April 18:

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Elegant orange, on April 25:

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The best sequence of the year came on June 26. Go here to see all 6 pictures, but let me pick one out:

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And there's where I'll end this review of Year 5 of The Althouse Sunrise Project.

52 comments:

CJinPA said...

I appreciate your appreciation of sunrise. For me, it's sunsets, and my kids joke about me imploring them through the years to appreciate the beauty and awesomeness.
Some day I'll see more sunsets. For now, I see them every day here.

TickTock said...

A remarkable set of pictures. I appreciate the retrospective but still hope for the book.

Joe Bar said...

Always a delightful surprise.

Did you order your Handmaids Tale Outfit yet?/ Rachel Maddow is a Psychopath said...

Those are exquisite.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I have about fifty rotating photos for wallpaper on all my monitors, and two of them are Althouse sunrises (non-commercial use of course). I love the cloud colors and the vast sky over lake Mendota.

J Severs said...

very nice!

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

For an inland lake, Lake Mendota has a lot of different textures.

n.n said...

There is a distinct orange hue capturing the scene.

AnotherJim said...

You've adopted a mundane, repetitive and trivial exercise, and in doing so, have revealed extraordinary variation. What a delight! After reviewing just a few examples, I'm at a loss to describe what a sunrise looks like. Every one's the same, but spectacularly different.

mezzrow said...

I love it when a plan comes together. Thanks for these, Althouse.

BudBrown said...

I look forward to seeing them plus the morning fungi. Thank you very much.

Shouting Thomas said...

The legal profession, particularly corp legal, attracts people who are doggedly devoted to taking care of business in an organized fashion and are determined record keepers.

Shouting Thomas said...

The legal profession, particularly corp legal, attracts people who are doggedly devoted to taking care of business in an organized fashion and are determined record keepers.

m stone said...

In the 1995 film Smoke, Harvey Keitel, who played a cigar store owner, took the same photo of his shop every day for years. One of the photos revealed a pedestrian who figured into the clever plot.

Money Manger said...

I feed the horses every morning right at dawn. One really appreciates the progress and regress of the time of sunrise across the year.

Narr said...

Lavish.

Phaedrus said...

You know I’m a fan Althouse! Thrilled you keep this up and as I mentioned way back when we were email directly to you for posting comments, almost always the first website I go to in the mornings (this morning I had to check on the Polaris Dawn launch first- didn’t have it in me to watch in the middle of the night).

Where I live on our lake in Dallas, I have to work for sunrise photos but only have to walk a couple hundred feet for sunset images with the Dallas skyline in the background. You do it daily while I’m just an opportunist. My hats off you you and here’s to your health and another 5 years in the series!!

Temujin said...

They are all beautiful and unique. Every one has its own signature.

Aggie said...

Congratulations on your panoramanniversary ! And thank you for all the terrific photos, you should feature in a photo journal. Its a joyful way to celebrate - and greet - each incoming day.

Have you ever captured snowfall? I don't recall seeing one.

FWBuff said...

Beautiful and majestic! Thank you for your persistence and generosity.

Aggie said...

Such a lovely array of hues and colors. Congratulations on your panoramanniversary & thank you ! I don't recall ever seeing a snowfall over that lovely lake - even if there's no sun, it would still make for a lovely picture .

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Coop, what lake are you on? I'm on Ray Hubbard next to the Harbor. We're currently getting an education on bridge building.

Eva Marie said...
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Paddy O said...

An always wonderful part of this blog

Enlighten-NewJersey said...

Wonderful pictures. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Eva Marie said...

Today’s theme: It’s morning in America.

DanTheMan said...

Artistic talent + perseverance. A great combination!

Phaedrus said...

I live on White Rock Lake, on the East side directly above the Bath House. We are getting an education on all the corruption and graft that goes into “studies” and “impact statements” to dredge this dang mud hole.

That bridge construction is something else! But will it help??? Choking back down to two lanes east of Rockwall needs to be addressed at some point. Let’ hope it doesn’t turn out like the two bridges over the Trinity that are unsafe for use and condemned before they even were finished with construction! (Be thankful yours is outside of an City of Dallas jurisdiction!!)

William said...

I'm more into sunsets. They're particularly poignant in the fall and especially so if you're old.......There's a fair chance that we're the only creatures in creation that can see and recognize such beauty. I guess we are lucky to be present and aware of this beauty, before it passes into nada and us along with it. Bummer though.

Richard Dolan said...

"the ritual practice"

Been reading this blog daily for many years, and have come to value the rituals that are observed here. It's odd but true that the faithful observance of rituals enriches life, often beyond measure, provided that the particular practice is carefully chosen. If so chosen, it never becomes merely rote but instead brings with it the same richness that got it started at the beginning. Up thread, several discuss these photos in terms of the awe they can inspire. The word is overused these days, but for me, it's rooted in the idea of the holy as Otto described it so well in his book of the same name -- the mysterium tremendum et fascinans at the heart of any religious experience.

So, bravo for staying true to your ritual practice. Look forward to it every day.

n.n said...

An orange light illuminates the land. The leaches begin to shiver. And Stork is forked outside sanctuary states. The greatness of the thriller. Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah

Narr said...

Which one?

Breezy said...

Happy Sunrise Anniversary! It’s truly a remarkable and unique collection.

MOfarmer said...

Dittos to all these fine comments. Your photos are as excellent as your track record! Keep it going!

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

Aren't all lakes inland? If they weren't inland, they would be oceans wouldn't they?

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

Inland schmindland. I'm trying to say something nice and you're being annoying. Go away.

Mkd said...

Thanks for sharing all your sunrises.

Quaestor said...

Madison is so prissy. A touch more Sturm und Drang over the lake would improve its soul.

traditionalguy said...

God must love you because He makes the special Purple sunrises knowing you love them.

NMObjectivist said...

I love your photos. Thank you for posting them.

BUMBLE BEE said...

They're superb!

BG said...

“Sigh” of appreciation. A picture book would be especially nice. Please create and sell on Amazon!

wendybar said...

Thank you for all your beautiful pictures. Some are remarkable. You should take up painting, and paint one!!!

Smilin' Jack said...

I rarely stay up late enough to appreciate the sunrise, so I appreciate you doing it for me. Great pictures!

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

Better than Trump's coffee table book.

Narayanan said...

To get started, all you have to do is have a Flickr account with some stored photos. Pick your favourite photo set, then click on the Photo Book icon, and Flickr will automatically turn it into a Flickr Photo Book. The service will send the book to whatever address you designate.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I love all rhe richly colored photographs with just a streak of white. It draws my eye, then my field of focus expands and, it is beautiful.

Kind of like those old nature shows where they focused on a single tulip, and then zoomed out. Sensory overload.

JIM said...

You get a thousand ''likes" from me.

Mikey NTH said...

Thank you. Reminds me of looking over Higgins Lake in Michigan in the early morning.

Batman AZ said...

Ann, thank you for this gift that you capture and share with us nearly every day. The photos are a testament to your determination, stamina and faithfulness to consistently make the effort, and to your artistry in doing so. They are likewise a testament to the incomparable and ever-changing beauty that God provides for all of us to wonder at in the natural world in which we live. You, your photos, and the daily sunrises are all treasures. Good morning.

Art in LA said...

I’m glad you’re enjoying your hobby! 🤣 I miss those rat sketches though … 😢

Hazy Dave said...

This is a very cool subproject in the overall blog project. Many thanks, much respect, best wishes.