Have you ever seen the sun set at the seaside? Yes? And did you follow it until the top edge of the sun’s disc just touched the horizon and then started to disappear? Probably. But did you observe the phenomenon that occurs at the instant of the last ray of light when the sky is … Continue reading Green Flash
All posts by Oikofuge
Clatto Swan
The Boon Companion’s photographs have been gracing this blog from its inception—she’s responsible for all the banner images, as well as most of the photographic content of the posts. Recently, her pictures have started to pop up in the background during BBC weather forecasts, too. Well, I was dimly aware of her departure at some … Continue reading Clatto Swan
Antilles
ænˈtɪliːz Antilles: an extensive archipelago of Caribbean islands, making up most of the West Indies Still on a Caribbean kick, you’ll see. I confess I’m embarrassed that I’d spent a week in the Antilles before I thought: 1) Where does that word come from? 2) Does it have a singular? Its origins are to some … Continue reading Antilles
Shape Of The Low Sun
Most people know why the sun looks orange-yellow when it’s rising or setting. Air preferentially scatters shorter (bluer) wavelengths of light—so the more air there is between your eye and the sun, the more short wavelengths are scattered out of the line of sight, leaving yellow/orange/red as the predominant colours reaching your eye. There’s about … Continue reading Shape Of The Low Sun
Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood’s End
“I’ve only one more question,” he said. “What shall we do about our children?” “Enjoy them while you may,” answered Rashaverak gently. “They will not be yours for long.” It was advice that might have been given to any parent in any age; but now it contained a threat and a terror it had never … Continue reading Arthur C. Clarke: Childhood’s End
(Be the first)
Sidlaws: Two Glacks
One of the interesting things about having your own website is that you get to see some of the search terms people have used to find their way here. (Some of you have been talking to Siri while drunk, I see.) Someone pitched up recently having searched for “one long walk” along the Sidlaws, which … Continue reading Sidlaws: Two Glacks
George J. Marrett: Contrails Over The Mojave
Some pilots, though probably due to the luck of the draw, always seemed to get the plane that comes apart in the air. George J. Marrett was a United States Air Force (USAF) test pilot in the Fighter Test Branch of Flight Test Operations at Edwards Air Force Base during the 1960s, and Contrails Over … Continue reading George J. Marrett: Contrails Over The Mojave
Caribbean
There is little Man has made that approaches anything in Nature, but a sailing ship does. Alan Villiers The Caribbean, in February, on a ship. We’re neither of us beach people. (We had a beach holiday in the Maldives once, in 1982, and were homicidal with boredom by the third day). And we’d never been … Continue reading Caribbean
Why Do Veins Look Blue?
The blue appearance of veins under unpigmented skin is a commonplace observation, to the extent that it has become standard coding in anatomy diagrams to colour arteries red and veins blue: But that pale blue colour is actually a bit of a puzzle. Blood gets its colour from the haemoglobin contained in the red blood … Continue reading Why Do Veins Look Blue?
Waterspouts
Last week, the Boon Companion and I were sipping sundowner cocktails in the British Virgin Islands, leaning back in our chairs, and cloud-watching. Long streets of fair-weather cumulus had been strung out over the Caribbean since midday. Now, half an hour before sunset, the cumulus was growing—boiling upwards to form towering cumulus congestus, which were … Continue reading Waterspouts
(Be the first)