Retirement

When I took the dogs out for their first run on Tuesday of last week, I thought I heard an airplane going over. When I looked up, I didn’t see a plane, but I was astonished at the sight of a rainbow in the clouds overhead. The sun is out of the bottom of the frame in the image above. I can’t remember ever seeing a rainbow arc away from the sun until I saw this. Click on the image to enlarge.

I uploaded the image to SpaceWeather.com and found out that this is a circumzenithal arc:

The circumzenithal arc, CZA, is the most beautiful of all the halos. The first sighting is always a surprise, an ethereal rainbow fled from its watery origins and wrapped improbably about the zenith. It is often described as an “upside down rainbow” by first timers. Someone also charmingly likened it to “a grin in the sky”.

Look straight up near to the zenith when the sun is fairly low and especially if sundogs are visible. The center of the bow always sunwards and red is on the outside.

Fairly rare to see. I feel blessed.

We were treated to this colorful display in the sky this afternoon. I first noticed the rainbow through the front window, so I grabbed my camera and went out in the shadow of our saguaro in our driveway to get this shot. Click on the image to enlarge.

We happened to be in old downtown today and ate lunch across the street from this quaint saloon, the La Cabaña. There are several old saloons and cafés in Town and we have decided to sample some of the food in the area. We were doing just that today, having BBQ sandwiches at the “Nearly Famous” Hog Trough Café. Click on the image to enlarge.