sundowns and sundogs

Winter is here. The wood stove in the kitchen is pressed into all day service. The dogs sojurns to the out of doors are less frequent and the sheep stay close to their winter shed. As David and I watched a particularly beautiful evening sky a few days ago, David commented that these was the most spectacular sundogs he'd ever seen. I had never seen or heard of sundogs. These photographs do not do the scene justice. It was a jaw-dropper. "Sundogs, also known as mock suns or "parhelia", are a pair of brightly colored spots, one on either side of the sun. Sundogs are visible when the sun is near the horizon and on the same horizontal plane as the observer and the ice crystals. As sunlight passes through the ice crystals, it is bent by 22 degrees before reaching our eyes, much like what happens with 22 degree halos. This bending of light results in the formation of a sundog. source " And the sunsets. Ahh... a blissful everyday event. Sundown is just one time in the day when we count our many blessings.