There was a lot that needed to be done today, some of it pretty important, so I knew I needed to be up early. So why not get an even earlier start to the day and catch the sunrise, too. I haven’t seen a nice sunrise since I left my job about three weeks ago, so I decided today was the day. It wasn’t the greatest sunrise ever since there were no clouds in the sky to reflect the colors as the sun came up, but it was still nice. It was also nice that since I wasn’t on my way to work I could take my dogs with me and I didn’t have to worry too much about the time. Since time wasn’t a huge issue, after the sunrise, I also went over to the Bailey Trails in Gothe State Forest and wandered around there watching the sun come up over the tree tops. The sun can do some pretty interesting things as it gets filtered through the trees and vegetation and this morning was no exception. One effect that I liked a lot from an artistic perspective was the way the soft morning light was spotlighting some of the bark on the larger trees. I was especially taken with the contrast on this larger old oak. There were several of these sun spots scattered along the trunk. What was so nice about them was that they were much more subtle with much softer edges than normal thanks to the softer light. Oak bark isn’t quite as colorful as is rougher than pine bark, but it still has a beauty that can’t be denied.