When my sister got married a few years ago, she announced that her colors were cobalt blue and black. Being the maid of honor, I researched that color! Blue has so many shades, but cobalt is really a lovely, deep, rich blue. I thought of that particular color this morning as I awoke before dawn to walk up to the skytrain. By the time I reached the very cold outdoors, I could see but a faint lightening in the sky, yet it was still a canvas of stars against various blues, with cobalt being the major color until the eastern sky began to reach through. By the time I got on the train, the deeper cobalt had faded and in came a cerulean blue.
From Wikipedia:
Cobalt blue is a blue pigment made by sinteringcobalt(II) oxide with alumina at 1200 °C. Chemically, cobalt blue pigment is cobalt(II) oxide-aluminium oxide, or cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4. Cobalt blue is lighter and less intense than the (iron-cyanide based) pigment Prussian blue. It is extremely stable and has historically been used as a coloring agent in ceramics (especially Chinese porcelain), jewelry, and paint. Transparent glasses are tinted with the silica-based cobalt pigment smalt.
It had begun to warm up some around here, above freezing, and I was dreaming of cherry trees blooming and getting back on Maple Creek with the Streamkeepers (and running in not so freezing weather), but now we are dipping back into sub-freezing temps at night, with some mixed precipitation predicted for this week and early next. I dreamed last night about what I would do this year in the garden, but it is still too early to plan for that.
My last few runs have been very nice. Of course, easy too. Due to some downtime late last year I am retraining. I run again today, but sometimes have a little difficulty breathing when it’s this cold. I may wait until after lunch when hopefully it has warmed up some, and then run to Deer Lake and back. The sidewalks are mostly all clear again, which is great–no hesitation when running!
The featured image is copyright by Wilson Hui and used in accordance with the Creative Commons attrition license. It is a photo of the Prince of Wales Waterton sunrise. The darker blue in the very top-left side of the photo is similar to the color of this morning’s dawn.