Recently I read a blog post about that time of the day when the sun has dipped below the horizon, but it is not quite dark yet. ‘What is that called?’ the author asked the fellowship who follow her blog. ‘Twilight’ my mind thought softly, and I noticed others said the same. Twilight. Ephemeral word and… state of being and… sky to behold. A memory worthy of shivers, recalling the many twilights, both morning and evening, I have seen.
Near Cincinnati, Ohio.
Someone volunteered another word– ‘gloaming’. An old English word kept alive by the Scots, to glorify either end of the day. I couldn’t stay awake late enough for a gloaming photo in July, in Scotland, when the sun would barely set before sunrise again. Shivers shoot up my back with fingers extending across my shoulders at recognition of something I want to remember. Is it a piece to the puzzle of the Universe? I always ask this question. I know that it must be, and yet I have no idea the significance. Perhaps it is just the Universe showing us its majesty.
glowing gloaming at home in Alice
Another contribution offered the French word, ‘le crépuscule’. Wouldn’t you know the French would have a beautiful word too? Again the chills ran up my spine. I found a resource online so that I could be certain of the pronunciation. The Italian word is very similar ‘crepuscolo’ –equally poetic. What a marvel the internet is, when one is enlightened and inspired by it.
It seemed to me this illumination of the Earth’s lower atmosphere fell perfectly into the theme of ‘enlightened,’ inspired by another blogger, Ailsa, who writes about some of the darkness in our world and her efforts to share positivity and love to counter it. See what Ailsa and others have written on the topic here. Join in. Illumination is the opposite of darkness. There is darkness in our world, but we can choose to light the way, if we try.
Be enlightened.
ardysez 
Amazing photos capturing the light, those from the light chaser, and a fitting response to Ailsa’s theme this week. we can choose light: let’s hope others do also.
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Yes, Francesca, the more of us that strive for tolerance and kindness, and even love, the less room there is for depravity. Thank you for your kind comments. xx
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I love the Scottish word gloaming. If you do stay up in summer in Scotland, around 11 pm, there is no other way to describe the light and atmosphere. Thanks also for the French and Italian terms… I love all your dusk (and dawn) photos. You have captured the theme beautifully. Very inspirational!
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I made it to 10.30 one night and took a photo but the sun still had not set so I couldn’t use it for this post. We were there another time of the year and there were incredible evening skies. Love Scotland. Thanks so much for your nice comments Debi.
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I always think of it as ‘the blue hour’. Guerlain tried to capture it in a divine perfume:
“The sun has set, but night has not yet fallen. It’s the suspended hour… The hour when one finally finds oneself in renewed harmony with the world and the light,” Jacques Guerlain liked to say. He was referring to his favourite moment, when “the night has not yet found its star”. It was this fleeting sensation that he tried to express in 1912 with L’Heure Bleue. (http://www.guerlain.com/int/en-int/fragrance/womens-fragrances/lheure-bleue)
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That’s beautiful. Thank you Pip. I think the blue hour refers to the later part of twilight, though anytime after the sun sets is all considered twilight. Can’t wait to go off and read the link you’ve given us, thanks so much.
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Beautifully written ! Have a gorgeous day. c
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Thank you so much Celi, much appreciated. Thank you, also, for the inspiration! xx
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Either end of the day like this reminds me of that moment where a drip from a tap stretches to its very limit before the water tension snaps and it free falls.
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What a lovely, mesmerising analogy… thank you Charley.
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Lovely images Ardys. We have had some outstanding golden clouds illuminating the western skies the last evenings. So many things of the Universe we try to explain but sometimes I don’t need to know. I just marvel at the moment.
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So right, Lori. Thank you for visiting.
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It is such a privilege to see both the beginning and the ending of a day, gorgeous photos, thank you Ardys xo
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I never realised how much of a privilege until we moved someplace where I could see it every day. You would think seeing it every day might make me complacent, but I marvel at it every day. Thank you Sara. ox
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Ah, now that is the true gift – to see something every day and not take it for granted!
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Beautiful photos and lovely thoughts. That moment when the sun has just dipped behind the horizon in the winter but it is not yet dark is called the sininen hetki or “blue moment” here in Finland as everything has a blue hue to it.
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Thank you, Laila, for giving us another term for twilight. Since writing this piece I have learned there are officially three parts to twilight, depending on how far below the horizon the sun has gone. Who knew? It’s interesting to note that everything in Finland has a blue hue, while everything here has a more golden hue.
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Both my favourite colour & time of day is that blue interval before daylight goes out. I remember still, clearly, the first time & place I noticed it. I was walking north towards home at the time of day the lights in the houses and on the streets were switching on in the small country town I grew up in, looking up at the mountains. There it was… an aegis of colour -luminous, deep, velvety blue. And has remained faithfully a touchstone of my days.
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Wow, what a fabulous memory to have attached to this special time of the day, and so well described. Thank you so much for sharing it Dale.
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