Scintillating Sky.

Gone are the unrestricted views I once had at my disposition in the white house on the hill. I still recollect fondly the captivating light shows that from spring to autumn played out in front of my windows.

These days, wide planes surround my home and our house is nestled between others, hidden from view, lacking it as well.
However, despite these limitations - and to my surprise - the obstructed horizon can nevertheless offer subtle demonstrations of natural splendor.
Just like the other evening, when twilight enveloped our surroundings and the final rays of the setting sun illuminated the three dimensional clouds.

Camera in hand, I walked around the house, capturing the scintillating spring sky in every cardinal direction, reveling in this early "white night" sneak preview...

Beautiful sights indeed always await those who take the time to notice.

Vernal Light.

Vernal Sunset

Evocative natural beauty.
Attempting to savor and enjoy its transcending magic, I tried to capture and convey my experiences in images rather than words. These might - in their simplicity and simultaneously their complexity - more adequately describe my recent encounters than any lengthy writing.
Sometimes silence is golden.

Thus I present to you my tribute to the returning light and my fascination with the time of vernal twilight, the evening sky and the celestial objects adoring my views currently.

Happy Easter everyone - I shall return with a more profound writing next week.
Until then, may these images speak more than words.

Almost Full Moon

Moon Rise

Sunset From Our Garden

Driving Home

Solar Power Upon Dusk

Crayola Sky.

Late fall equals perpetual twilight in Scandinavia.
Our days have lost about ten hours since the summer solstice and this can certainly be perceived.

Yet as always, even the darkness brings moments of absolute enchantment.
If the weather conditions are right, over the course of the next couple of months, I will be once again granted the privilege to watch stunning sunrises as I set out on my daily commute.

Below is a selection of crayola skies - alluring works of art painted by an unseen artist upon dawn, as they passed my windows in recent mornings, dispersing momentarily the feel of everlasting dusk.

October Sky.

As we reach mid-fall, the sun is visibly vanishing, rising later and setting earlier by each passing day. However, the low lying golden disc offers once again stunning views of a dramatic sky, which becomes so apparent during my daily commute. It is a precious farewell gift from nature, like a final wonder, while we are slowly submerged into an early twilight.

Thus I can not help but marvel at the beauty that accompanies me on the road currently. In fact, I am at times touched deeply by these stunning vistas, which come across almost as if being biblical or divine, when the celestial sphere turns into breathtaking painting full of colours and light.
I try to relish in these sights as much as I can, knowing that very soon, for months to come, my drive home will be conducted under a thick blanket of darkness...

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
Rabindranath Tagore

Midnight Twilligt Finale.

The eighth of August officially marks the conclusion of our white nights. This means sadly that the second season is closing towards its end.
Yet, as we enter the summer finale, I am also entering the last weeks of my solitude. In less than a month, I will once again rest in the arms of the man I love, welcoming him home. I look forward to this time with excitement, longing and anticipation.

I have neglected to update this online diary as of lately and have graced this page with my absence. It is all unintentional - the will is there and my draft folder is full of reflective writing complimented by stunning photography. Yet I have simply not been able to find the time to share it all with you.
The reason might be that my move North has been a very successful move in every possible way. I have found not just true love and happiness here, but also a new family and new friends - all of these have added purpose and content to my days, drawing my attention and time elsewhere in a very welcomed way.
Thus despite my solitude, I have not really been alone - nor bored.

The only day of the week that allows me to spend my time here undisturbed is on a Friday morning. Immersed in the silence of a newborn day, I currently enjoy sitting outside with a cup of fresh brewed coffee, savoring the warmth of a late summer sun on my face, watching its rays reflected in our dew covered lawn. The sunshine carries with it a promise of a new, beautiful day, when anything can unfold and anything is possible.
These are those perfect moments in time that reinforce the allure of just being alive.

Nature and its endless enchantment and beauty is responsible for the best memories I carry within my recollection. Just like the photography below.
These images are my farewell tribute to the summer sun, as it now slowly accelerates its departure from our views. Captured one evening this July, from a house on a small picturesque island in the Swedish archipelago, they allowed me to marvel over a stunning sunset as it unfolded in my view for over ninety minutes, ending shortly before midnight.
Until next year.

(Note: The photographs below are taken in Sweden last month.
However the images throughout the post are taken in the proximity of our home last week, as I enjoyed an evening stroll along the North Sea with good friends.) 

Northern Night Skies.

I recently complained about the lack of alluring views. Those that I used to marveled over in my former home. While this fact still remains, I have also realized that if I only take the time to look, stunning light shows still take place right above me.

Last week, as I opened our bedroom window close to midnight, I could glimpse beautifully painted heavens to my left. Stepping out into our garden illuminated by the twilight of a white night, I could see purple clouds moving across a scintillated sky. The traces of a late summer sunset lingered across the north, reflecting the sun which moved just below the horizon on its way to the east, in order to rise in just a few hours.

I stood there in the stillness of the colourful night and felt deeply sentimental, as I got enveloped in bittersweet remembrance of what once was, while fully aware of the magic I was witnessing right then and there and simultaneously exhilarated about the endless possibilities of what is yet to come...

Festival Of Light.

Once again, our evening sky becomes lit up as a silver hue settles across the heavens upon sunset. We commence the time of white nights here in the cold North and the countdown to midnight sun has begun, even though my position is in the southern most Scandinavia, where the midnight sun is used as a symbolical term only.

Still, our day has gained almost nine hours since winter solstice and the time of dusk is now stretched to comprise one hour short of midnight and is only growing. In a month the night will truly be white, or light as we say here.

I love this time of the year and it is now that my heart experiences a bittersweet longing for the views I once had at my disposal at the white house on the hill. Every day, with the onset in May, offered spectacular sunset skies and an endless twilight horizon. Today all I see are treetops and red roofs.
However, that is life - we gain some and we loose some. I have gained on so many other levels, that this is sacrifice I gladly take.

On our recent drive home from one of the Danish islands, after visiting my husbands family, we experience beautiful views of a late sunset as it unraveled over the sea, before we embarked on a ferry to take us home. Later we watched the silver skies accompany us home all the way through to the other side of midnight.
It made me realize that even though I do not get to see the stunning views on regular bases, the few times I get the privilege to see them makes the experience even more precious and enchanting.

Vernal Sun.

Today's vernal equinox signifies the return of the sun, making our days and nights equal in length. We have crossed the threshold into a new season, which brings changes to our natural surroundings, those that grow in intensity by each new day.

This is the beginning of the time of light here in the twilight north, a time that is cherished and celebrated.

I have been neglecting my writing here terribly. My visits to all of you, dear friends, have been in the last weeks sporadic at the very best, for which I very much apologize. I am running out of time - yes, that precious time I have left with the man I love endlessly, until our temporary but impending separation comes the month of May. My life is currently in the most profound and fulfilling state I can ever recall, thus my attention these days is directed elsewhere and is forcing me (in a welcomed way) to take an extended blog break. 

However, I will return once spring moves into an early summer, ready to share with you some novel reflections on life.

Let me leave you with a collection of photographs depicting the evening journey of the vernal sun, a beautiful celestial show that played out in the heavens during my drive home recently, making each mile enchanted and special.

See you soon dear friends,

xoxo
Zuzana

Tangelo Twilight.

There is something noticeably different about our daylight. Almost one month since winter solstice, our day has already increased by fifty minutes, a difference that can certainly be perceived.

This past weekend as I stood in our kitchen preoccupied with my own thoughts, the silhouette of our birch suddenly caught my eye, as it stood illuminated by the setting sun, against an evening sky defined by peach and iris blue coloured hue. The day has aged into twilight, my favorite kind of light. I love the time of dusk, with its contagious stillness and enchanted atmosphere.

As I stood there watching, the surroundings grew the hue of tangelo. I had to walk out, camera in my hand, witnessing a natural wonder, while the beauty of the first visible mid winter sunset unfolded through the barren trees in our backyard. The amber coloured skies created a sense of preview of what is to come, as winter moves into the second half of its reign.