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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Layers and colors

I was going to show you another cool Art Deco building today, but the natural phenomena on the river were irresistible. It's been warm the past few days, and that's typically followed by the "marine push," the layer of cool air, often formed into a dense cloud bank, that wends its way up the Columbia like a snake. It was a gorgeous day; it was strange to have visibility on our side of the river, and yet hear the deep booming of a ship's foghorn. But out on the river, the visibility was changeable, and the ships needed to make sure they they didn't surprise fishing boats and pleasure boats that were out in droves. There were even a couple of jet-skiers, which is rare for this part of the river. Above the lower cloud layer, you can see the hills in Washington. Above that is sky, and above that you can see a second layer of clouds at the top of the photo; above that, and outside the frame of the photo there was blue sky again. The position and density of the cloud layers ebbed and flowed all day long.

We're also having red tide, which I understand is typical of August. It's not an illusion, but the water you see further out is really green, and the water close up is deep red-brown. It flows in and out on the tide almost as quickly as the clouds change formation. From the back deck today I could see the red come in and flow out several times in a matter of hours. I'd never watched this happen so closely before, and I was surprised by how discretely the colors remained separated. In the space of a couple of feet, the water changed color dramatically from red to green.

Many of the boats were out today because the salmon are making their way upstream. The gulls seemed to find the whole thing interesting, too, as you can see.

9 comments:

P. said...

This picture is so beautiful.

Guy D said...

beautiful water shot Sheryl, thanks for sharing.

Have a great day
Guy
Regina In Pictures

VP said...

This image is beautiful, but it would be diffucult to understand without your precise description. It is an impressive and strange phenomenon, more fit for a tropical island...

B SQUARED said...

They are always interesting to see. The color change is similar to our Gulfstream. About 3 miles off-shore there is a visible difference in color between it and the ocean around it.

Small City Scenes said...

Interesting, but I love whatever happens around the water. Took the Ferry to visit my Mother on Tuesday and we had to wend our way through the fishing boats. so of course I tooks lots of pics. MB

Lowell said...

My goodness, there's a lot going on here! That second bank of clouds almost looks like mountains.

Your photos of the magnificent river really reinforces it's majesty and power.

That cloud bank is amazing.

We have red tide here, too, but it's an unhappy event as it kills much of the marine life.

Thanks, Sheryl, for your kind comments on Paree! Very much appreciated, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

cieldequimper said...

That *is* impressive!

Lee Spangler said...

Back in dry Central Oregon, the cool refreshing breeze of the river and sea is mighty appealing!

Jo said...

Gorgeous photo! It was 100 here in central Oregon today--would love to be in Astoria :)

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