So I had the usual long exposure photo planned for today but I just walked in from shoveling a fresh 7″ of snow from the driveway and needed to see something much warmer and full of color and life.

This past weekend, a coronal mass ejection (CME) occurred on the sun that managed to hit the Earth just right and set off auroras close to home.  I missed the Saturday spectacle as it took place at 5am and then decided to head out at sunset to catch the tail end of it.  I got to Chandler Hovey a bit early and found myself witnessing a beautiful sunset.  The clouds were wispy and at just the right spot.  They further served to diffuse the bright glow of the setting sun.

As if the scene wasn’t ‘good enough’, two birds flew by the sun and I managed to capture them just as one was silhouetted by the glowing light of the setting sun.  Enjoy and stay warm today.

*Some of my subscribers may see today’s planned photo as it was published automatically this morning.  Hope you are able to see this one as well and don’t mind if I ‘recycle’ that one next week ; )