...the darkest hour...

Yes, the darkest hour is always just before the dawn. And with the dawn comes the sunrise. There is something about a new day dawning that awakens something refreshing. You can smell something fresh in the air. You know that good things are coming!! For any of you out there that feel like you are ready to give up because the darkness is going to close in on you for good, look for your sunrise.

Todays Topic: the Sunrise.

A couple of thoughts. First, I am realizing some things about this blog as it is developing:

1. There is no way that I can do this every night of every week. Ergo, I will be taking Sundays off (at least at first) Whenever possible, like today, Saturday's post will have 20, thats right, twenty pictures instead of ten. That should make up for tomorrow. If you are accustomed to getting 10 new pictures everyday than only look at ten today, and tomorrow the other ten will be there!!

2. These topics are going to start getting more specific (I think) Yesterday as I was looking at all the amazing beach shots, I realized I needed to do a sunset/sunrise topic. Today I realized that I could do just sunrises (thus the topic). While I was picking todays pics, I realized even further that I could get more specific (beach sunrises, snow sunrises, etc) Anyway, we will see how that develops!

3. I need your help. Actually I have known this from the beginning. I need you to suggest categories, send me pictures that you like (email me the link would be best so that I can find it), and give me some recomendations of what would make this better, more fun, whatever. So send me your thoughts. For those of you that have expressed appreciation, thank you. Even more thanks to guys like Ricardo (Sr.) who mentioned that he "saw this picture on toptenpictures.blogspot.com" with a link to this blog!!! THANK YOU!! This is a great help!

4. I have changed the link format a little bit. Where the name of the artist is mentioned; as in: by toptenpicturesblog I now place a link to their photostream. Clicking on the picture will still take you to that individual picture in their stream. Thanks

More realizations to come.

On to the pictures. Something that I would like to mention. Actually someone. This guy deserves a standing ovation. When you get to his photo "Sunrise 070428" take a little extra time to look at his profile. (hint, I put his picture first). Unless I am severely mistaken, taduque wakes up every morning (or almost every morning) to take pictures of the sunrise. He has three years of sunrise pictures posted, and they are all good. My hat is off to you sir and we are all incredibly grateful to you for your sacrifice. Way to go!

Here they are, for your viewing pleasure, the Top 20 pictures of sunrises.

Enjoi.


Sunrise 070428
by taduque



Sunrise3.jpg
by a.mercurio



Golden Dreams 3
by marylea



Untitled
by s_h_a_w_n_g_13



Colored Clouds
by Miharbi



Sunrise
by NetDep


Dream Tree #10
by danr_co



palmyra dawn
by mrtoes



Silhouette & Sunrise
by dogwoodtree



Sunrise from our Balcony
by Ted Jones

sunrise

by brew.beer

Tidal Basin

by timkelley

Mount Kinabalu

by kasper1s

April 28th sunrise 2

by R Hammitt's Howard County Scenes

Nubes de fuego (Fire Clouds I think... anyone?)
by Felipe Guerra



Sunrise - شروق الشمس
by 【Qatari】™



Smoke on the Water...
by so little time...



Mirror rorriM
by Damgaard



Sun Beat Down
by Thomas Hawk

Just the sun

by 8230This&That

Wiki-sunrise anyone?

The colors of the sky, throughout the day and at sunrise and sunset, are explained by the phenomena of both Rayleigh Scattering and Mie Scattering. The red hues of the sky at sunset and sunrise are caused by Mie Scattering, not Rayleigh Scattering. The hues of blue, violet, and green in the sky are due to Rayleigh Scattering. Rayleigh Scattering is scattering of shorter wavelength light, (e.g. blue & violet), by air atoms and molecules, (not statistical variations in density of the Earth's atmosphere). The magnitude or strength of Rayleigh Scattering varies by the reciprocal of the wavelength raised to the fourth power, and hence, does not explain the beautiful variations of reds, purples, oranges, and peachy colors. The latter colors arise from Mie Scattering, low angle scattering of light off of dust, soot, smoke, and ash particles. Mie Scattering, (producing the colors of sunset and sunrise), is beautifully recognizable down-wind of and after dust storms, forest fires, and volcanic eruptions that inject large quantities of fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. A number of eruptions in recent times, such as those of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 and Krakatoa in 1883, have been sufficiently large to produce remarkable sunsets and sunrises all over the world. Sometimes just before sunrise or after sunset a green flash can be seen.

And finally, the "song of the day" was inpired by NetDep's picture and the comment of DecaBoy who said, "Hello darkness my old friend, heheBeautiful sky line" Which got "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel playing over and over in my head (*followed by once on my ipod). And then I simply had to look up the words. So here they are in case you want to sing along to the music now playing in your head (*or ipod)

Hello darkness, my old friend,

Ive come to talk with you again,

Because a vision softly creeping,

Left its seeds while I was sleeping,

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone

Narrow streets of cobblestone,

neath the halo of a street lamp,

I turned my collar to the cold and damp

When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light

That split the night

And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw

Ten thousand people, maybe more.

People talking without speaking,

People hearing without listening,

People writing songs that voices never share

And no one dare

Disturb the sound of silence.

Fools said I, you do not know

Silence like a cancer grows.

Hear my words that I might teach you,

Take my arms that I might reach you.

But my words like silent raindrops fell,

And echoed

In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed

To the neon God they made.

And the sign flashed out its warning,

In the words that it was forming.

And the sign said, the words of the prophets

Are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls.

And whisperd in the sounds of silence.

So, there you have it. I hope this will be enough to sustain you for two days. I will be back monday night.

Enjoi.