An Imperfect Sunrise

I'm not an early bird so you'll rarely see sunrise images on my blog.  But this particular morning, I was out the door at 6:15 a.m. on my way to pick up a friend and then head downstate for the wedding of two very dear friends.  Because it was forecast to be a clear morning, I had my camera ready to catch the sunrise as we drove along the bay. 

We pulled into the boat launch just south of Suttons Bay and could see the first blush of the sunrise beginning to paint the sky.

The boat launch was actually quite busy with one boat after another heading out into the bay at what appeared to be a prime time for fishing.

As we neared Traverse City, I began to wonder if there was going to be the perfect sunrise that I'd been expecting.  The colors were diffuse across the whole sky versus concentrated in one location where the sunrise was supposed to be.

And sure enough, the expected time of the sunrise of 7:34 a.m. came and went without seeing the sun actually rise.  Bummer.

So my focus shifted to the drive out of town.  But as we climbed the last big hill on M-37 heading past the buffalo farm, I caught sight of the sun rising behind some trees.  We quickly shifted gears and headed down a dirt road we'd never traveled before.  It was an idyllic scene.  A gorgeous orangey pink sky.  Buffalo grazing along the hillside.  A flock of birds crossing the sky in formation.  Perfect, except for the power lines and barbed wire fencing that crisscrossed the entire scene!  I drove back and forth trying to find a perspective without wires.  Sometimes trying to take the perfect picture reminds me of how hard it is to make it into the playoffs for a baseball team.  A lot of things have to come together and some of them are beyond your control.  It just doesn't always work out the way you want it to.