Is it the sun?

 

Tonight, after returning to the house from my sundowner in the garden, I spy the sun rising in the east.

But it is 5.30pm!

I look to the west, and see the washed colours of a late autumn sunset.

That is the brightest moon I've ever seen!

Late autumn sky

After a day's work in the garden, it's time for a sundowner.

I sit in my usual spot by the barn, looking out to the south.

I can see beyond the first ridge, beyond Clermont Dessous and St Medard to a distant skyline ... the Pyrenees!

In the crepuscular light, it makes a saw-toothed crease on the far horizon, but close enough to set one dreaming.

Because beyond the Pyrenees lies Spain, and beyond Spain ... Morocco.

While its peaks are normally hidden behind haze or cloud, occasionally, just occasionally, there they are.

Overhead, the thinnest crescent moon appears in the west, above the tops of the Lalandi pines, like a sharp tear in the sky.

A bird of prey hovers above the grass below the fruit trees. He swoops low but then arcs upwards and flies away. Maybe he spotted me sitting here.

I love the calm, approaching night. 

The sky is brushed with horses' tails turned pink by the setting sun.

There's a chill in the air.