Sun Dogs

On Friday just before sunset, one of my colleagues noticed a very interesting phenomenon on the sky: a parhelion or a sun dog as it’s sometimes called, so I grabbed my phone and took a (poor) picture. They usually come in pairs (one on each side of the sun), but some trees blocked my view and I couldn’t get the second “dog”. Sun dogs are spots on a solar halo, sometimes so bright that they can be mistaken for a pair of extra suns. They occur when the sun is quite low in the sky (i.e. before sunset or after sunrise) and apparently they happen on other planets from our Solar System as well (giant gas planets like Jupiter). The sunlight passes through small ice crystals from cirrus clouds (another important ingredient) and gets refracted. Depending on the direction of the light and the type and alignment of the ice crystals (they can be flat, or long needle like, horizontally or vertically aligned or not aligned at all) one can get different "breeds" of sun dogs. The one I’ve seen looked a bit like a rainbow.

I found some pictures and a nice phenomenology description on this website.

Ten Days in Utah - Episode 4: Zion National Park

Having a very diverse landscape, Utah is also good for hiking, even in winter. We hired a (very ugly) car and we started to drive south towards St. George, hoping to escape the snow and the bad weather for a few days. It was just after sunset when we saw something resembling a giant dark wall forming a few miles in front of us. We were being hit by a snow blizzard. Within minutes the road markings disappeared and the snow on the motorway accumulated at a frightening pace. The visibility was limited to a couple of meters or so, with snow coming from all directions. That gave me the hallucinating feeling that I was being hypnotised by a powerful storm magician: “You are going to sleep in the snow…”. But our friends driving the car in front of us were quite determined to beat this blizzard so we followed them very closely. Several times we almost ended up in the ditch on the side of the road like some other unlucky drivers. After about 30 minutes that seemed like an eternity we found a motorway exit, only because we nearly hit the exit sign. We stopped in a petrol station and after a while two things became clear to everyone: we were quite lucky to get this far and it was impossible to go any further. Fortunately there was a motel nearby that had some spare rooms, except that getting there proved to be another challenge. Eventually we made it and the moment I saw myself in a room that had a roof and a bed, all that adrenaline in my body miraculously turned into a whole set of flavoured feel good hormones. I was happy and grateful.

That night the snow ploughs worked hard to clear the roads so in the morning the motorway seemed quite safe to drive. Here and there one could see an abandoned car or a jack-knifed lorry, testimony that the hell we’ve been through wasn’t just a bad dream.
We didn’t drive too long before miraculously all the dark clouds disappeared unveiling the most beautiful dark blue sky. A weird and wonderful landscape unfolded in front of us and for a second we thought we’ve just landed on the Red Planet... But no, this is Southern Utah.

There are quite a few national parks around and Zion is one of them. The crisp, cold, desert air made all my senses a bit sharper as if the place really wanted someone to appreciate its beauty. Amazing sandstone cliffs painted in different shades of red were hiding behind every corner. The red colour I assume is simply iron oxide but you don’t have to be a geologist to see how fantastic this place is. Apparently the name Zion is a Hebrew word meaning sanctuary (the Mormons again…) and there really is something special there that demands reverence and creates wonder…
There are some good hikes in Zion, but because of the snow we were told it’s a bit dangerous to try anything adventurous. We did do however two fairly easy ones, one of which gave a fantastic overview of the canyon. We also saw some mountain goats or sheep that were as curious about us as we were about them. On the way back I’ve noticed another interesting thing… even the tarmac on the road was red to keep in tune with the harmony of the place, while some houses in St George were designed in the same fashion.
That night we had a long drive back to SLC and this was the end of our short Utah adventure... a place that hides many undiscovered treasures and which is definitively worth re-visiting.

More pictures in this album.
Kenny and Jessica also took some great pictures, and Emil and Krystal have a good selection as well.

Ten Days in Utah - Episode 3: The Wedding

One day in a man's life everything has to be close to perfection. And that's his wedding day. Later on, the man finds out that for a woman things are a bit different. These perfect days have to come in much more often bringing equal amounts of cheerfulness and stress.
So the perfect day for my friend Emil and his bride Krystal happened to be right before Christmas. And just like in one of my childhood fairy tales the wedding actually lasted a whole week. A huge house was rented for the guests. It had seven bedrooms, a hot tub and a living room as big as my flat. They said it belonged to a Mormon family, but to me all the houses on that street were just as big as this one. We also had a magic pool table that in reality was a human magnet. When we first got into the house it felt a bit empty and strange, but things were about to change. Family and friends started to show up and soon the house was too small for everyone.
All those new faces asking twice about my funny name and trying to pick up my witty accent got me a bit worried at first. But the weds to be had it all planed. They locked us up in this house for three days (I think one night about 20 people slept there) and soon the faces became names, the names became stories and the stories became bridges over every possible gap. On a few occasions some of us managed to escape and explore the surroundings, do some shopping (amazing discounts), ski, and even play some basketball. Inside the house a lot of the time was spent around the dining table trying a very substantial and diverse cuisine. In US peanut butter seems to be essential for breakfast. We had a bucket of it, and it was going down rapidly. For the Christmas day we enjoyed a traditional Transylvanian dinner. No, not speared turkey cooked in blood, but “salata de boef”, soup and cabbage rolls.
Past memories were inundating my mind and the snow created an ambiance hard to describe... It was magic. Americans like their Christmas. Every house had amazing light decorations. We drove past this street one evening that seemed to be a Hollywood setup for a remake of “It’s a Wonderful Life”.



And then the wedding day came… Initially, KrystalimE (that’s a name they’ve coined for themselves) had planned a wedding on skis, somewhere on the slopes of Alta, but since a massive snowstorm was on the way, plan B had to be adopted. Arrangements were made for the reception to be held in a beautiful greenhouse that looked a bit like a tropical forest in contrast with the white blizzard outside. Now, I’ve known Emil since we were five. We grew up together, and since I don’t have any siblings I like to think of him as my brother. We went to school together, rode the same bike for a while (his), went trout fishing, chased dogs, fought “Corneii” every now and again, rode a home-made vehicle down the hill (Carutul), played the “tuberman” wars in the forest ” and hundreds of other things. But one thing we never did. We never spoke about the perfect day. Never! And when the night before I asked Emil if he’s nervous he said he didn’t think too much about it. But that morning he came to me and said with a little tremble in his voice… “Man, it’s happening”. And that tremble became stronger that day showing a man not frightened or unsecure, but emotional and in love. When the bride came in, beautiful and radiant, that emotion almost burst out. They read their vows, and while they were looking at each other as if they’ve been separated for the last ten years, my mind went back to the moment I did the same thing, three years ago. I looked at the incredible woman sitting next to me and she was smiling. I knew her mind was browsing the same past.


We had a wonderful dinner that featured among many things a bean soup. Concerned about the well being of their guests, the hosts provided some pills that battled the well-know secondary effects of the beans. I don’t know if they stop the sound, change the odour or prevent “things” from happening at all, but they didn’t work for me! They did prove however, that in the US you can get a pill for everything. I should have brought some laughing pills because after the dinner, it was speech time. I said a few words as well, but nobody got my jokes except Emil, Krystal and Georgi. Actually some people looked at me in horror, so I'm expecting Greenpeace to set my house on fire soon, for animal cruelty. Emil's not safe either.
After the dinner party the newlyweds drove to an unknown location. We went back to the house and for about an hour a diabolical plan to locate them was put together, involving sophisticated devices, spies, double agents and satellite tracking. Eventually an old, wise man pointed out that maybe they want to be alone for a reason. Hmmm…
And that’s the way things went. When everything was over and the house started to feel empty again, I felt a bit sorrow. But, as they say it’s never the end, it’s a new beginning. Now I have 20 more people to send Christmas cards to and if ever I get lost in Alaska, I know who to call.
See more pictures in this album, or on Krystal’s website.