Day 50/365 February 19 2026
Behold the new winter. Dirty layers of old winter with its dust and grime slowly revealed as the melt peeled away are covered with a fresh blanket of white. Like it or not ‘tis beautiful
Greyscale sights prolonged until spring blooms say enough #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 365/365 December 31 2025
The snow globe was shaken this morning. The year ends with a fresh blanket. This is sunrise 1826 since 1/1/2021. It’s become a great habit. I’ve learned a lot and plan to continue. Every sunrise is a spectacle
Some are spectacular
Enjoy them all #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 364/365 December 30 2025
This morning’s greyscale sunrise. Yesterday’s clear skies already a memory. Next is last nights sky an hour or so after sunset. A bright half moon almost drowned out Jupiter near Castor and Pollux. Orion rising with Taurus and Pleiades above #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 363/365 December 29 2025
Fresh snow blanket rumpled by wind covers the ice. Amazing sculpted drifts cover the ground. Clouds are clearing with color. An hour later a full parhelion appears confirming the frigid forecast. Feels like -14. Sunshine can help it feel better #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 362/365 December 28 2025
Cobalt colored sunrise. A calm before the storm. Blizzard in the forecast. Travel smart as Boreas blows. Greyscale landscapes continue into the New Year. This is sunrise 1823. Completing five years of this habit of observing sunrises. Love it!
#LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 361/365 December 27 2025
A fair and frosty foggy sunrise. The hoar frost on the trees makes a marvelous winter scene. Mild temps today followed by more freezing will magnify the heave on the shore. The ice is expanding and contracting. It groans like grumpy a old man #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 360/365 December 26 2025
Foggy misty slippery sunrise. Just a bit of lighter grey behind the clouds where Sol resides. From out on the ice the frozen footsteps of a fisherman seem to retreat to the horizon. The ice is a foot thick or more here
Still groaning as it grows #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 359/365 December 25 2025
A half hour before sunrise, the clouds are tinged pink. Color would diminish and the sunrise was muted behind an overcast sky. The ice stays smooth despite the whipping winds. Today’s mild temps won’t feel the same
Bundle up!
enjoy Christmas Day #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 358/365 December 24 2025
The break in the clouds offers color and a glimpse of where sunrise will be by February. We are still in the dark of winter. On the eve of Christmas, we still long for the light. A magical time of year. Days lengthen. Colors return. So much myth #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 357/365 December 23 2025
Grandpas hideout is on the ice. Pesky perch below offer a constant entertainment. Hoping a walleye will wander by. Ice and sky share the grey. Freeze thaw cycle has pushed a heave against the shore. The ice creaks and moans with age just like us
#LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 356/365 December 22 2025
The clouds are cracking and breaking up like late season ice. Sunlight brightens the greyscale landscape. Soak up the natural vitamin D and smile. It’s still slippery in many places. Use penguin steps when on the frozen lake or on the sidewalks. #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 355/365 December 21 2025
Winter Solstice has arrived! A sunrise through the car window on the day the sun seems to stand still. It appears to rise in the same spot for a few days. Then the journey back toward summer begins. Days will get longer again
Make memories!
Away #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 354/365 December 20 2025
An urban sunrise. Peeking through clouds that look like a mountain range Sol brings brightness to the day. The traffic light echoes the message “Go!” It’s a great day. Get moving. Share smiles and memories. Dress warm. Watch for ice and deer
Not #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 353/365 December 19 2025
With urban sunrises you often get a subtle glimpse and then a burst between buildings or bounces off windows. This mornings first hint is pink tinged clouds above street lights. Then Sol appears shining brightly around a corner through trees
Not #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 352/365 December 18 2025
Greyscale dawn with just the light of day without color. The morning reveals that much of the snow that blanketed the ice has melted away. Now an almost skateable surface shows. More snow and refreezing is forecast. Tread cautiously outside #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 351/365 December 17 2025
Sol tops the trees with a smile at all the meltwater that refroze on the ice. Another day of thaw then back to winter doldrums. It’s amazing how much snow cover was lost in the last two days
The re-freeze can be super slick, be careful out there #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 350/365 December 16 2025
Lazy floating cloud bank obscures the powerful sun. Skies will clear and melt will continue. Welcoming warmth to clear the roads and walks. Nice day to sit on a bucket on the ice and fish. #DadJoke Don’t sit too long or you may get Polaroids! #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 349/365 December 15 2025
A prolonged period of color preceded the appearance of Helios. Clouds tinged pink and orange fade to cobalt and white when the sun tops the trees. The first hard houses went out on the lake yesterday
The ice towns will grow as we reach midwinter #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 348/365 December 14 2025
-17 doesn’t feel so cold when the wind is calm and the sky is clear. The belt of Venus glows orange like a warm furnace, tricking us to think our lungs won’t freeze with the first breath. Sol bursts over the horizon with flare. A sunny Sunday #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 347/365 December 13 2025
Eight days until Winter Solstice. Sol will move a little bit more right before the journey switches. So does that make the Solstice feel like the beginning of winter? Or the middle? Perspective matters
And a reminder it’s the journey that counts #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 346/365 December 12 2025
Away from the lakes out on the prairie fog and clouds shroud the arrival of Sol. Clouds tinged pink from the white light bent at the horizon float over snow covered fields. Nice to have a splash of color to break the flat grey light at dawn
Not #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 345/365 December 11 2025
An hour before sunrise pre dawn color leaks at the horizon. The glow from Eos will build, painting the cloud bottoms cotton candy pink to begin the day. Such images may have inspired the Darlene Love song “Marshmallow World” Ear worm for today #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 344/365 December 10 2025
Someone shook the snow globe again. Light snow is falling adding to the collection atop the ice. The slush from the fissure is almost covered again. The second picture gives an idea of what’s on top the ice
Use caution when venturing out
always #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 343/365 December 9 2025
A layer of snow on top the ice acts like a blanket to slow ice formation. The added pressure on the surface can force water to seep up through cracks darkening the snow to slush. Here a fissure runs from shore where a spring provides current #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 342/365 December 8 2025
A fresh dusting of snow creates flat light at sunrise. Sol is out there somewhere behind the clouds. The sky and the snow covered ice blend together into one palette hardly showing a horizon where one begins and the other ends
More snow this week #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 341/364 December 7 2025
Clear calm and cold. Sol peers through the trees. Two weeks until Winter Solstice. The rising point will move a bit more to the right before it pauses and begins to move back to the left and longer days. - 8 Fahrenheit this morning
Bright & brisk #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 340/365 December 6 2025
Here comes a grey day same as the old day. Light and shadows provide interest but not warmth. Flat light hides imperfections and tracks. A few intrepid anglers ventured out on the bay
Bitter cold in the forecast should build more ice despite snow #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 339/365 December 5 2025
A fresh dusting of snow shows the whole lake is now iced in. The greyscale days are ahead. There is already a heave along the beach. Sub zero temps make the ice boom and groan. This morning is twenty degrees warmer. Almost feels balmy. Almost! #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 338/365 December 4 2025
Dawn progresses from anticipation to triumphant arrival. A second day of par helion brightness. Subzero overnight temps overnight have likely locked up the rest of the lake. Hoar frost on the surface of existing ice clutters an otherwise mirrror #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025

Day 337/365 December 3 2025
Behold the first parhelion sunrise of the season. Sundog occurs when sunlight is refracted and scattered through ice crystals in high cirrus clouds or “diamond dust” atmosphere. Beauty in bitter cold
The ice was booming last night
Just a bit open #LakeMiltona #sunrise2025