For the most part, what we as humans have created is a bit rubbish. The majority product of our civilisation seems to be concrete. Admittedly, the Romans were at it way before the rest of us, but they did it with, well, a bit more class...
However, this morning I was reminded that sometimes, and quite by luck, we as human beings create something truly majestic. It's transient, and you have to be up early to see it, but it is a wonder which never ceases to lift my spirits.
I refer, though you may never have guessed it, to pre-sunrise contrails. Blazing across the sky in a dash to burn as many hydrocarbons as they can, aeroplanes leave trails of hot exhaust fumes, which condense as they cool and lead to the creation of long, thin clouds in the upper atmosphere. Unless you are blind, or have never seen the sky, you will be familiar with the lattice-work of trails criss-crossing most of the sky on a clear day.
Pre-sunrise, though, these tracks take on a new aspect, as the sun - already risen for those in the upper atmosphere - sets the trails alight, tingeing the edges golden, and if the conditions are right casting massive shadows on cloud layers above.
It shouldn't be underestimated quite how beautiful this spectacle is. Yes, it's the product of an activity which fills our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, but to paraphrase slightly, every contrail has a silver lining.
However, this morning I was reminded that sometimes, and quite by luck, we as human beings create something truly majestic. It's transient, and you have to be up early to see it, but it is a wonder which never ceases to lift my spirits.
I refer, though you may never have guessed it, to pre-sunrise contrails. Blazing across the sky in a dash to burn as many hydrocarbons as they can, aeroplanes leave trails of hot exhaust fumes, which condense as they cool and lead to the creation of long, thin clouds in the upper atmosphere. Unless you are blind, or have never seen the sky, you will be familiar with the lattice-work of trails criss-crossing most of the sky on a clear day.
Pre-sunrise, though, these tracks take on a new aspect, as the sun - already risen for those in the upper atmosphere - sets the trails alight, tingeing the edges golden, and if the conditions are right casting massive shadows on cloud layers above.
It shouldn't be underestimated quite how beautiful this spectacle is. Yes, it's the product of an activity which fills our atmosphere with greenhouse gases, but to paraphrase slightly, every contrail has a silver lining.
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