Rite of Spring

After nearly a week of snow and freezing temperatures, all of Sierra County greeted the return of sunshine over the weekend with relief and euphoria. This photograph documents the moment when the sun forcefully announced its reappearance as a harbinger of spring. Even the birds burst into song.

This image is quite remarkable in its portrayal of the brilliance of our solar system’s beneficent star. It miraculously captures both the sun’s halo of streaking rays of visible light and their refraction by the river waters into dazzling, dancing orbs. The muted landscape serves to emphasize the intensity of the sun’s embrace of the still-slumbering earth. You can almost hear the trumpet overture to the music of the spheres.

—Commentary by Tom Hinson, editor, Photograph of the Week

Editor’s Note: Click on the photograph to view it in a light box for even greater clarity.

Professional, amateur and phone-camera photographers alike are invited to submit images to the Sierra County Sun for possible publication in the Sun’s “Photograph of the Week” feature. The deadline for consideration is every Friday at 5 p.m. For further information, click on the Help Us Report button on our home page and then check the box labeled “I want to submit a photo to Photograph of the Week.”