What is a sundog, you ask?

I received a comment from Josi yesterday on my Bunkering Down post. Josi wanted to know what a sundog was so here's my answer:

Sundogs (also called mock suns) are a phenomena we see several times a winter. They are caused by light refracting through ice crystals and are usually in very cold weather, or in not-so cold weather but where there's lots of ice crystals in the air - you know, the kind that turn the trees white. Although the twin mock suns on either side are the actual sundogs, the whole thing is commonly called a sundog in these parts much like a ring around the moon is called a moondog.

Usually a sundog is close to the horizon, like in the photo I showed yesterday or in some of my previous sunrise pics. However last year, I took several photos of one at noon on our way back from church. I wouldn't even have noticed it except for the bright light at ground level which peaked my curiosity so I followed it upwards.



Taken Feb 7, 2010

What made this sundog special was that it had twin sundogs on each side. In other words, it had a double ring around it. So in my posts, I've referred to it as a double sundog:

Double ring Sundog Feb 7, 2010

For more of my sundog photos, check the LABELS on the right side of this blog.

I've even turned some of my sundog photos into  jigsaw puzzles.

Next time it's a cold morning, see if you can see a sundog.

Thanks for asking, Josi. :)

Sweet Sundog Sunrise

I was getting ready to head outside this morning and taking my time because the boys said it was cold out there. Well, they left for school an hour ago and it's still cold. At the moment, we're down to -23C/-9F but the windchill makes it feel like -34C/-30F. Yes, that's right -30F! And it's only November. Ugh.

As I was getting ready however, I happened to look outside and saw this from my window:

Well, forget the cold - I needed a photo of that sundog! With a minimal amount of outerwear on, I dashed down the tracks left by the school bus to the edge of the shelterbelt and took this shot:

And then, just to show you what else I woke up to this bright morning, I took this:

The snow isn't the soft, fluffy kind, but the crusty stuff that crunches under your feet as you walk. It's cold and hard and hurts when you fall face-first into it. I know. I speak from experience.

This is my first sundog sighting this winter. I'm sure they'll be many more if last year is anything to go by.

Actually, last year I turned 3 of my sundog pics into on-line jigsaw puzzles.  If you want to just see all my sundog and puzzle posts, look for them under the LABELS in the right sidebar of this blog.

Has winter started early where you live?

Puzzle Fun for You

I saw my first ever double ringed Sun Dog yesterday on the way back from church.

I don't know what it is with Sun Dogs this year, but we saw another awesome display yesterday on the way to church and then more spectacular on the way back after. I'll show you the photos here but I'm also trying something new.

I've turned these 3 photos into jigsaw puzzles compliments of http://www.jigzone.com/ so if you want to relax for a few minutes, vist my Sun Dogs Jigsaw Puzzle Gallery - JigZone.com

I took the first one around
9 am yesterday. The temp was only
-15 but the wind chill was ridiculous. I stepped out of the car to snap this photo and my hands were chaffed and stinging by the time I got back into the van. And I was only outside the vehicle 20 seconds tops.

We go to church in Glenavon, SK and they have one of the few remaining grain elevators still in operation. It was about 9:30 am at this time.

We left church at 12 noon and headed west on Hwy 48 toward Montmartre. I didn't realize anything spectacular was going on until I looked out my window and saw this bright light on the southern horizon. Say what? Then I realized it was the bottom of a Sun Dog. It took me a few more miles to realize it was a double ringed Sun Dog - my first ever. (This photo is not a puzzle.)

Actually, this next photo is too washed out to see the glory it showed live but die-hard puzzle fans might like the challenge.

It's the best photo of the double ringed Sun Dogs  because it was so big and wouldn't all fit on my little camera screen at the same time. The right rings were rainbow colored but in the photo, the bright sun has washed it all out.

So, did you go over and make a puzzle?

And no, I'm not wasting my time making puzzles instead of writing... our church has over a dozen beautiful 4-8 foot fabric banners and I'm turning them into puzzles for the church website. This is just my testing ground.