On Thursday, we were treated to the sight of a magnificent solar halo gracing the evening sky. As is the case with many of the arcs, spots, and lines we are privileged to see in the arctic sky, solar haloes are also formed by sunlight refracting through ice crystals.
In this particular case, the ice crystals are formed when moisture in cirrus clouds is pushed by a warm front into contact with a freezing air mass. An approaching warm front is a good predictor of rain in the next few days. Due to the cause of its formation, a solar halo is also taken as a good predictor of rain in the next few days.
In a Fairbanks summer, “rain in the next few days” is a forecast people would bet money on. It is almost always the case, independent of the presence of any halo. However, this week was an exception. The days following the halo were unusually humid, but there was no rain.
On Friday afternoon, I spotted this fellow enjoying the sunshine in our back yard. This bunny has been spending time near the garage, supervising me as I build the new summer hen house.
On Saturday, Melissa and I stopped at Creamer’s Field to enjoy the view of the canola in flower.
The field was used to grow barley for enough years that canola was chosen as a rotation choice to restore the soil. It won’t bother me if it takes few more years to effect the improvement because the sight of the yellow flowers against the green hills and a clear blue sky can be breathtaking.
I dream of one day growing a field of red Himalayan buckwheat on our Goldstream lot. Buckwheat grows well here, is an excellent crop for spoil improvement, and the red color would look equally impressive in the spruce-covered hills.
We have grown barley several times. It also does well here as a crop, but simply does not compete well on the aesthetic level.
