One of the things I have most been enjoying about living in Scotland are the spectacular skies. When we first got here I couldn't figure out why we were blessed with such spectacular sunsets every night, but then I realised that it is because there are almost always clouds in the sky. Cloudless days have their charms, but they make for lousy sunsets! I love looking up at the sky at the tiered levels of clouds and varying shades of blue and waiting for a magnificent pink-and-orange sunset. I know that the Prairies of Canada boast some great skies, but I did not grow up there, so know nothing about them. But I know that in Edinburgh it is not uncommon to have great stacks of clouds high in the sky, with lower, fast-moving clouds scuttling their way across the city. Or to have the whole sky filled with cotton ball clouds. Or to look out the window and get excited for a good downpour because the sky has suddenly gone ominously dark. Or to look again and have my breath taken away by a brilliant rainbow piercing the clouds after a rainfall.
I think that the sky has become more a part of my day because of the topography of the city. Edinburgh is so hilly that as you walk through it you have constantly changing vantage points. One moment you feel that the city is beneath you and that the sky is all around you and a few minutes later the roofltops are etched against the sky as you look up at them.
Right now, in winter, the sky is perhaps a little less exciting as there is less light, but I am looking forward to Spring and once again seeing the gorgeous sunsets out of my own living room window.
I was reminded of my admiration for Scottish Skies on recent day trip to Stirling, during which we got a whole day full of an impressive balance of light and cloud, pictured below.
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