Jeff Cox builds his wonderful 1985 book, Seasonal Celebrations, around the Chinese lunar-solar calendar, which divides the year into twenty four distinct periods. They begin with the Winter Solstice, and are then demarcated by the new or full moon, (or the equinoxes and remaining solstice). The names given to the periods are pure poetry; right now we are probably in The Period of Awakening of Creatures (Ching Che), which in 1986 ran from the full moon on Feb. 24 to the new moon on March 10.
I think of that book now, because it’s where I first found a reference to “the most delicate pastel pinks and blues” in the skies at dawn and dusk in the heart of winter. Skies like I had a couple of days ago when I took this photograph. He writes about it under The Period of the Greater Cold, (Ta Han), beginning on the new moon on January 10 to the full moon on January 26 (1986).
I’ve seen those pastels mostly in early March, maybe because I’m out more at that time of the year, the weather being warmer. As it was on this day, about 55 degrees when I took the picture.
Tomorrow, for comparison, I’ll be posting a smartphone picture of this same scene, taken at the same time of day.
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