I’m a skywatcher. Always have been. It probably has a lot to do with growing up in Oklahoma, where the sky dominates the prairie. There’s so much to see up there, so much going on, especially on less-than-perfect days.

Take this view, captured about an hour ago by one of my favorite webcams. Dark clouds overhead, visibly dumping what has to be snow, considering the temp is only about 32° right now. But as dry as the air is here, it may not be reaching the ground. A few little dark stragglers out there by themselves. A solid white cloud bank and blue skies back over the mountains. (This is when I check the other webcams to see what actually is going on in the mountains and around Boulder, nestled against the mountains toward the right in this shot.)

The lighting here is what first caught my eye. Dark in the foreground with that bright area in the distance, nicely framing the downtown skyscrapers. (The tallest one, with the funky curved top, is the Wells Fargo building, known locally as “the cash register.” It certainly looks and functions like one.)

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting shot, especially for midday. Especially when, an hour later, it looked like this: