Nautical Dawn

Nautical Twilight (nautical dawn in the morning) begins about 80 minutes prior to sunrise and lasts for 40 minutes until the start of civil twilight which is the 40 minutes just prior to sunrise. This special time of day is often referred to as "first light". It's during this time that stars, planets, and the moon can all be still clearly scene in the saturated colors of the approaching daylight.

November is a great time for twilight pictures. The relatively late sunrise (7:30AM) and cold clear air allows one to sleep in until 5AM and still make it to the shoreline for a few pictures. Here, the Duluth Pier Lighthouses arise out of the "first light" and join with the crescent moon to welcome another beautiful day.

These lighthouses have been here for more than 100 years and I couldn't help but wonder how many people have also stood and watched with wonder as the same celestial bodies rotated their way through the heavens like a giant clockwork wound by the hands of a mighty God.

Then God said, "Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them mark off the seasons, days, and years. Gen 1:14

Hard Water, Soft Light

During the last days of November, darkness comes early to the Northland with short days and long nights. By the time another Thanksgiving roles around, Canadian cold fronts have swept the last of the migrating birds south and bears have nodded off for another winters sleep. Lakes slowly freeze over and a silent contentment seems to settle on the landscape.

On this particular evening, I stepped lightly onto the newly formed ice of Caribou Lake, making sure it was strong enough to hold myself, the camera, and our Golden Retriever, Abby. Abby seemed a bit hesitant to try out her new ability to "walk on water", but followed along, not wanting to be left behind. I set up the camera and snapped this picture as the golden light of the setting sun glared across the ice and into my camera lens just before setting into the southwestern sky.

One of the amazing properties of water is that when it freezes, it actually expands and floats, allowing the warmer, more dense water to settle below the ice layer. If it were not for this phenomenon, lakes and oceans would freeze solid, making life on earth impossible. God's hand in creation is evident all around us, its always a pleasure to focus on His gallery.

The stormy wind comes from its chamber, and the driving winds bring the cold.
God's breath sends the ice, freezing wide expanses of water. Job 37:9

November Beacon

November 10th is a special evening at Split Rock Lighthouse, not only is the lighthouse beacon lit for one of the few times out of the year, but a memorial service is held for the crew of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sank in a November 10th storm 33 years ago.

The last words ever heard from the "Fitz" was from the radio operator stating "We are holding our own."

Without the big ships radar navigation sets, which had been knocked out by the waves, the men on the Edmund Fitzgerald were desperately trying to spot the Whitefish Point Lighthouse. Unknown to them, power to the lighthouse had been knocked out by a power outage.

29 men where on the Fitzgerald that night, none of whom knew that eternity would be their next port. It made me think, am I right with God, or, am just "Holding my own".

The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deu 33:27

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November Twilight

By the time November rolls around in the Northland the colorful leaves are on the ground and daylight hours are dull gray until the snow comes. Evenings are long and it seems that all of the colors missing from the daylight hours have been pushed to the edge of night. There is a special time of day, just after sunset, when the peak of beauty is displayed.


This picture was taken out my front door on Caribou lake, just as a sawtooth shaped deck of clouds drifted across the crescent moon. As I watched the light fade into darkness a wolf pack started howling a chorus from a distant ridge as if to give their approval to the beauty of the evening.

Ask the beasts, and let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and let them tell you. Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you; and let the fish of the sea declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? Job 12:7-9

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