SUNRISE PERFECTION.

Today may have had the MOST INCREDIBLE SUNRISE of the entire summer!
It started out with great clouds, which then splashed color across the morning sky.
So much drama. So many colors. So incredibly beautiful. A perfect Fall sunrise.

I’m sure there’s some “meterological” reason why Fall sunrises are so much more dramatic… but I’d like to think of it as a wonderfully “magic” sky show. Don’t really care how or why… I just LOVE that it happens. Making my mornings even better!!!

This morning I found myself down on Navy Pier when the sky began changing colors. It started with dark colors mixed amongst the gray clouds. A perfect backdrop for the flags & anchor at the east end of the Pier.

Then the sky started to turn shades of red, pink & orange…

And then brighter pinks…

Then onto oranges, indigos and purples…

And then the oranges brightened up, glowing low on the horizon.

Soon enough, the tumultuous rolling cloud formations seemed to be ablaze with colors.
Crazy. Amazing. Colorful. Could it be any more incredible?!

Each transition getting better than the one before.
I just couldn’t stop taking photos – as each one was better than the next.

And then, almost as quickly as the sky turned red & orange, it changed back to shades of blues & grays. Sky show over. At least for today…

Last night I finished up two batches of mugs. One made of soda clay, the other B-Clay.
Stamped, trimmed, handled and now accented with colored slip.
Drying for a trip to the bisque kiln.

Today was a BEAUTIFUL day in Chicago!!!
Perfect weather. A wonderfully warm day of late Indian Summer.

SPECTACULAR.

The PERFECT day for a little run along the Lakefront.
Today was the Monster Dash Half Marathon. They “encourage” people to dress up in costume. Some people did. Some people did not.

We did not.

Instead, we decided to run in comfortable running clothes. Especially with the surprisingly warm weather, any extra layers or facial make-up would have become a big sweaty mess! Chris and I had a great run. Another fun run with friends. Another 13.1 miles : done!!!

During the post-Finish Line festivities, my friend Chris found an bunch of new friends to hangout with! Just another example of the “monsters” playing downtown today for the Monster Dash Half Marathon. With any luck, we’re pretty sure that Chris will make it to the Monster Dash Facebook page with this one!!!

And it’s another fun running event… for this essentially NON-RUNNER!!!
I still prefer my bike… but bike events don’t give medals!!! Ha.
Plus, oh but wait there’s more... we also got a really cool lightweight jacket & knit hat!!!
Just for signing up & finishing! Sweet… I LOVE freebies!!!

Followed by a quick bike ride this afternoon…
enjoying the wonderful weather AND working out a few of the kinks!

The big event is coming quickly.
Just about two weeks away for organizer Pam Kinsmith to pull it all together.
I’m pleased to have helped, donated mugs and rallied some friends to help as well.
For more information, and to see more of the mugs, click here for Finding Forever.

And it’s kind of cool to be one of the mugs featured on the front!!!
As well as my friend Nancy Jana-Kent who made the mug in the bottom right!

Another batch of handles.
Another batch of mugs.

After a week of beautiful sunrises… today was not.

Sure, the sunrise was beautiful. Dark, saturated colors.
But I was a little depressed to see that the snow-fencing had been installed along the bike trail already. Seemingly overnight. Yeah, Summer is over… but preparing for snow already?! Really???

And then the clouds turned pink. Ribbons of color across the sky.

Beautiful reflections in Belmont Harbor… with fewer boats than normal as many of them have already been removed from the lake and put into dry storage.

One last look back at the sunrise as I pedaled off towards home…