The music of the skies

Jon Hammond.

A winter sunset turned this cloud a beautiful pinkish red against the blue sky.

French composer Claude Debussy once said "There is nothing more musical than a sunset," and with that sentiment in mind, the Tehachapi Mountains enjoy the lingering notes, the pleasant melodies, of many beautiful sunsets.

One requirement for a colorful sunset is some high clouds that catch the sun's rays as it lowers, and that is why mountains like ours are often conducive to great sunsets – mountains tend to have clouds.

Even on mostly clear days, where the sky overhead is an infinite blue, some scattered clouds can form late in the day. These white or light gray cloud shapes, sometimes smooth, sometimes irregular like torn paper, provide a canvas for the reds, yellows, oranges, pinks and purples of a glowing sunset.

While those with a passing curiosity about clouds are probably well aware of three main types of clouds – stratus, cumulus and cirrus – there are dozens and dozens of Latin-named variations with assorted specific features and appearances. Clouds have been described and categorized, akin to the genus and species designations of plants and animals.

Whether you use scientific nomenclature, or the more informal terms like mare's tails, mackerel sky, scud, anvil clouds, virga, roll cloud, turrets and the like, clouds are some of the most beautiful and ephemeral of natural phenomena. They can also have much to tell about the weather at that moment, since specific conditions lead to the formation of identifiable cloud patterns.

Regardless of the cloud shape, they all get even more lovely when the fading evening light paints them red or golden, like the glowing embers of the day. If the setting sun is obscured by a cloud, we can sometimes see "crepuscular rays," the heavenly beams that radiate upward or downward from a backlit cloud.

Another interesting effect is the bright, liquid gold upper edge of clouds to the west, after the sun has gone down. The cloud itself may be darker, like a duller grayish red, but along the upper edge is a glowing line that lasts for just a few minutes, before the sun dips farther down and saves its light for another part of the Earth.

Jon Hammond.

The golden orange of an early spring sunset.

The Tehachapi Mountains also experience a phenomenon called alpenglow, which is the pinkish glow seen on mountains after the sun has already set. If there are clouds, airborne precipitation, particulates or ice crystals high in the sky, these can reflect some of the sun's rays back down onto mountains and hills, so that they are bathed in a soft pinkish light, while the valleys below are already in shadow.

Cuddeback Ridge, or Jameson Mountain, where the limestone quarry at Monolith has been operating for more than 100 years, is bathed from time to time in the rosy light of alpenglow after the sun has dropped behind Togowakahni (Black Mountain).

In the most rigid definition of alpenglow, it is the reddish light that appears only when the sun itself is below the horizon and not visible. It can occur both before sunrise and after sunset.

Colorful sunsets are one of the perks of living here, among the mountains of Southern California. They can occur year-round, from the languid, more slow-moving sunsets that bring an end to a long hot summer day, to the intense, startlingly bright winter sunsets that punctuate a cold winter afternoon.

Whatever time of year they occur, sunsets are source of a fleeting, ephemeral beauty. To fully enjoy them, it is best to stop whatever you're doing, and just immerse yourself in the moment and savor their charm. The colors and hues change by the minute, and they don't last long.

The novelist John D. McDonald suggested imagining if sunsets only occurred once every 10 years or so. People would stop their cars, or come out of their houses, and stand transfixed, alone or with loved ones, admiring the spectacle. It is only because sunsets occur more frequently, McDonald wrote, that people don't appreciate them as much as they should.

Happily, we get to enjoy lots of colorful sunsets living here in the mountains. They are a form of joyful sky music, solos and symphonies of changing light to end our days. . .

Keep enjoying the beauty of life in the Tehachapi Mountains.

Jon Hammond is a fourth generation Kern County resident who has photographed and written about the Tehachapi Mountains for 38 years. He lives on a farm his family started in 1921, and is a speaker of Nuwä, the Tehachapi Indian language. He can be reached at [email protected].

Jon Hammond.

The sun slips below the western horizon, its light starting to scatter on the clouds around it.