Sometimes ‘real’ life seems really unreal. When I tune into news lately, is often seems that way…

We have this new space above our house that used to be the ‘cool tower’, a big passive evaporative cooler that provided super low energy air conditioning. When remodeling it this year we were blown away by the 360 degree views 34’ up off the ground and turned it into a room. I call it the AERIE and it is living up to its name. I spend lots of time up there in contemplation…

I thought it would be appropriate in an Aerie, like some of the ancient stone structures around the world that mark special celestial events, to notice and mark the sunrise and sunset locations today, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year here on the northern half of the planet.

Just as the edge of the sun started to peak over the mountain peaks to the east I started photographing and within seconds I saw TWO SUNS rising…what the heck? Between photos I scratched my head and rubbed my eyes and I couldn’t tell what was going on or what planet I was on…just keep photographing because it only takes a minute and the entire orb is above the edge of the earth, the magic moment has passed, the light has moved through the threshold and is present for the day.

By then I couldn’t look at the double sun anymore because it was too bright and it took some time, and reviewing the photos, to figure out that I had been seeing the ‘real’ sun and additionally, a reflection of it in the double glass of the window. Even now looking at the photos, it is hard to tell which one is ‘real’…(the one on the right is ‘real’)

Being in a 10’ x 10’ room with windows all around creates an awesome and eerie effect at times…a bit like being between two mirrors facing each other, caught in a between dimension that can be odd and disorienting. What is real here? Do you feel like that some time?

Hope you have some time today to appreciate the sun and to ask …what is real…? may be…not a thing…not even the sun…?

Here is another photo to the west with the newly risen solstice sun reflecting and another set of mountains floating in the sky above the ‘real’ mountains.