Magnificent sun dog

Today I saw my first sun dog!

If you are in Minnesota, you are probably shaking your head in disbelief and wondering how this could be true. This cold, snowy, long winter has been exceptional for sun dogs, which basically involve sunlight passing through ice crystals when the sun is low on the horizon. (You can read lots more about this phenomenon on today's MPR weather blog.)

Periodically through the winter, my Twitter feed has exploded with content about sun dogs, and every time, I've been out and about either too early or too late to see a sun dog. You can guess that this greatly displeased me.

Today, I looked at Twitter before taking Wish out for his morning walk, and once again, Minnesota was on sun dog alert. I wondered if today would be the day that I finally saw one and if I would even be able to spot it.

We trotted outside, and there was no mistaking it. I gasped.

We strolled around the neighborhood for a few brisk minutes (it was -10) and I couldn't take my eyes off it. It was a magnificent sight to start the day.