The Sunday Stills Monthly color challenge is all about blue this week, particularly cobalt blue. Cobalt is a strong color that seems to mimic a dark, clear blue sky and deep waterscapes found in nature. But any darker, rich shades of blue will do if you choose to share your own!
“I never get tired of the blue sky.” – Vincent van Gogh
Many colors, including cobalt blue, can profoundly impact our psychological well-being. The color cobalt is believed to have a calming effect on the mind and body. Source
Spring Shows Off Cobalt
Spring weather, with stormy skies, snow-melted water, and countless flowers, creates lovely landscapes highlighting the colors of cobalt.
We always love to see our sweet feathered friends…
…And our sweet flowered friends!
“Blue thou art, intensely blue; Flower, whence came to thy dazzling hue?” – James Montgomery
The Odd Blues
“Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.” – Amy Winehouse.
Or this scorpion found on a woodpile. It is not very relaxing when discovered by someone’s black light! I admit this was taken in Mexico a few years ago, but aren’t the colors perfect? 🤣
Cobalt Blue at Home
The deep shades of cobalt blue are also popular decor and interior design choices.
“Blue is, therefore, most suitable as the color of interior life.” – William H. Gass
The Wearing of the Blue
For St Patrick’s Day in March, we enjoy the “wearing o’ the green,” but May always felt like a blue month to me. Do you like to wear the color blue? As you can tell from these recent snaps, blue is my hubby’s favorite color.
I prefer to wear most shades of green, but blue works for me, too.
“Good things are associated with blue, like clear days, more than singing the blues. Just the word ‘blue’ in the singular is full of optimism and positive connotation to most people.” – David Carson
Aurora Borealis Blues
When I experience a fantastical cosmic event or another incredible bucket list event, somehow, an image or two will make it into my posts while staying true to the current theme. The meteorologists discussed the Northern Lights show on the way, which kept me hopeful for two days!
Disclaimer: my geek hat is on…
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you have undoubtedly heard the news that the Aurora Borealis made an amazing appearance this weekend, well south into areas that rarely see this phenomenon.
Being further south, even in our area of Northeastern Washington state (a two-hour drive to the Canadian Border), the lights show up as white cloud-like shapes to the naked eye. It simply takes a cell phone camera set to night view (3-sec long exposure) to reveal the intense colors.
With increasing impatience, I walked outside to our driveway at 10 p.m. to see if I could view anything in our neighborhood. Plan B was to hop in the car and drive to a more remote spot to see the show. As I looked up, I saw a faint white “cloud” and snapped the photo using my cell phone.
Shouting and whooping with delight, I began taking a variety of pictures! As I looked up, more of these “clouds” and streaks were forming, and within minutes, I saw this. Again, from our driveway, looking to the northwest.
The Northern Lights are an amazing sight caused by solar winds and coronal mass ejections (CME). They can take many shapes, including arcs, bands, coronas, and rays. Rays in the image above dance above my house!
I stood outside from 10 pm to 12:30 am for 2 1/2 hours, taking pictures and chatting with neighbors. However, by 11 p.m., the colors became more intense as faint greens and pinks were visible to the naked eye!
Following our new neighbors, we walked down our street, then turned to look northward to see the bands like a curtain shimmering over our house (on the bottom left) and our other neighbor’s home on the right—you can just make out his cobalt blue garage lights in the bottom of the image. I’m sure I snapped at least 100 pictures over the two hours.
Finally, at 12:30 p.m., it was time to go in. Tired and a little cold, I saw the lights might be dimming a bit. I snapped a couple more, and wow! They were still intense!
“Hues of magic fill the night sky, the northern lights overhead look beautiful, like fairies dancing in the night sky.” – Bridie
How To Participate in Sunday Stills Photo Challenge
The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.
- Remember to title your blog post a little differently than mine.
- Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
- Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
- Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
- Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
- I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.
I can’t wait to see how you interpret the various shades of cobalt blue this week! Join me next week as we explore… water and waterscapes.
💙 Wishing you a Happy Mother’s Day to those who celebrate! 💙
Inspiring Photo Challenges this week include Becky B’s Squares Renewal, Cee’s Flower of the Day and her Midweek Madness Challenge (denim), Dawn’s Spring Festival, Hammad’s Weekend Sky, Johnbo’s CellPic Sunday, and Lens-Artists: Hopeful.
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