AN EVENING HALO....

Some times when you`re out and about, you just get lucky.  And on this, the shortest day of the year, it`s good to look forward, as well as back, to the long evenings of mid-summer.   Here`s a photo I too whilst taking an evening stroll on the top of the dunes on the south west coast path between Daymer Bay and Rock on Cornwall`s north coast.   I got lucky when spotting this halo as the sun went down over the opposite bank of the Camel Estuary.

Interesting things, halos.   They are a sign that high cirrus clouds are drifting 20,000 feet or more above our heads.   These clouds contain millions of ice crystals and the halos are caused by both refraction, or splitting of light, and reflection, or glints of light, from these ice crystals.  But, like rainbows, halos are personal.  Everyone sees their own particular halo, made by particular ice crystals and which are different from the ice crystals making the halo seen by someone standing next to you.   Anyway, this is my very own personal halo on that wonderful mid-summer evening.........