Halo and Hummingbird

As many of you may remember, the deck in my backyard is my “happy place” for the summer.  With the exception of the beach, it is my favorite spot and I spend many hours there when the weather allows.  Over the past couple of days, I captured a few photos from my deck that I’d like to share.

One sunny afternoon, I ambled outside, stretched my limbs and peered around the yard.  A quick glance at the sky caused me to do a double-take:

I pulled my sunglasses off my face and looked again.  It wasn’t there.  Was that arc around the sun really there?  Put the sunglasses back and it was indeed there.  Meghan had followed me outside, wondering what I was looking at.  She pulled my sunglasses from my face, and had a look for herself.  I stood there wondering, since I couldn’t see it without my sunglasses, could my camera see it?  Meghan said to me, “Wouldn’t that filter-thingy you have work?”  Duh!  Why didn’t I think of the polarizing filter?  I went inside to get the camera and attach the filter and took these shots.

I knew it wasn’t a rainbow, but I wasn’t sure what it was.  I searched online and found some information about sun halos. Apparently, ice crystals from high-level (about 20,000 feet) cirrus clouds are what cause these halos to be seen.

Just yesterday, I spent more time on the deck.  It was an unusual day because once hubby left for work, I was completely on my own.  It is rare that both of the girls are out of the house at the same time, but yesterday they spent the day at Six Flags with friends.  So I was on my own for dinner.  Not feeling like going out to get something to eat, this is what I made up for myself:

Looks pretty tasty, no?  That tomato is one of the very first I’ve enjoyed from my garden – it was delicious.  I ate it with just a sprinkle of salt, no dressing needed.  I remained outside after dinner for quite a while, reading a book I checked out of the library, 11/22/63 by Stephen King.  I’m only 78 pages into this 849 page tome, but I think I’m going to like it.

I had my camera outside with me because for the past few evenings, I’ve seen my local hummingbirds hovering around the butterfly bushes and at my feeder.  The bird that I’ve seen most often, I believe to be a juvenile male ruby-throated.  The bright red throat is yet to develop, but the vibrant green of the back and wings is there.  Perhaps it is just my own musing, but the bird seems young to me in the way it approaches the feeder.  It hovers up, down, all around before taking tentative sips.  Last evening, he stayed long enough for me to take some shots.  The light was getting low, so I couldn’t have as fast of a shutter speed as I would have liked, but here are the better shots that I took:

I just love these adorable little birds!

One week from today we leave for our family vacation in Maine.  I’m sure I’ll be busy doing laundry and packing and getting ready, so I don’t know how often I will post this week, but I’ll definitely still be checking in with all of you.

This is my first post in the month of August so it seems like a good time to remind you about the August Ends of the Earth Photo Hunt.  Please pop over and have a peek if you haven’t already.