Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Flat Light

Just a couple nights ago (Monday, I think? Other Clevelanders might remember.), we had some storms blow through the area. After Eleanor was in bed, Keith was on the couch and I was sitting in an armchair on the other side of the living room.

I looked up from my grading and saw that the sky was the strangest yellow/orange color. Partly what was odd about it was that it wasn't just the sky; it was like the air and everything bathed in the light had turned the same color. It was like the sunset had been turned inside out because of the low storm clouds, and all of the intense sunset colors that belonged near to the sun had been diffused evenly over all.

I'm not sure if I'm doing a very good job of describing it. I had to take a picture to try and convey just how odd it looked outside, but I still think even the picture doesn't do it justice. Do you know what I'm talking about—that odd, flat light that takes away dimension and texture? It's like you're looking at a flat picture, when you're looking out your front door.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I do. I have seen that color before a tornado growing up, and I've seen it before and after the summer storms that blow through the plains here in Southwest Ohio. It's inspiring and creepy at the same time. The "flat" description does help dimensionalize the perception of the view, but at the same time, I can never put out of my mind the massive storms that either precede or follow that picture.

cat said...

YES! You described it perfectly. It was a little creepy ... I was sitting on my couch watching tv, and all of a sudden all the light pouring through the window was gold-tinted. I looked outside and everything was in a bizarre golden haze.
I freak myself out a little more since I'm about a quarter mile away from active railroad tracks and convince myself that trains passing through are that train sound that people say tornadoes make.

M. Lubbers said...

Bob: Perhaps this light is what they're referring to when they say "the calm before the storm?"

Cat: After I took the pictures, planning to post about it, I saw your Facebook post about the same thing. Great minds!

Jonathan said...

When we had a cat, we would always know when a lightning storm was coming - he would start acting *really* bizarre.

I guess they old sayings about animals having "the wind up their tale" etc are probably true :)

M. Lubbers said...

Hmmm, I wonder what Gomez (our cat) was doing at the time I took this picture? She graces us with her presence so rarely--I can't really say whether she predicts the weather or not!