Yesterday was the last day of Daylight Savings Time for 2025. By the time DST ends, I’m generally happy to see it go. Sunset is early enough that you’re not gaining all that much by extending it an hour, and sunrises have become late enough that you’re getting up in the dark.
This late sunrise does make it easier to be up and about for it, and so, for the past few years, I’ve tried to view it from the ocean. Generally, I don’t bother setting an alarm; if I oversleep, I figure I needed to. But the intention is usually enough to get me up. The past few years I’ve done it from Castle Island; this year, I was a little more confident I could get down to Nantasket in time.
I got down there around ten minutes of seven — the sky was glowing, but actual sunrise was about 20 minutes away. We’re far enough after the equinox that the sun was rising quite south of east, over a point of land in the distance. I had both the Nikon with tripod and the iPhone with me. The parking lot was deserted and I made my way to the beach. I set up and took a few pictures from the ramp to the beach, in order to get some elevation. Far out, I noticed a lighthouse; I assume it was Scituate Light.
As I waited, a couple came down the ramp and went into the water for a few minutes. They were braver than me; my hands were getting very cold and I was having trouble with the camera controls. I kept snapping away as I waited, and went down to the beach. I noticed a container ship in the distance directly to the east; a couple hundred years ago, all you would see of a distant ship were its masts and sails; now all you could see were the containers stacked on it
And then the sun rose. It was gorgeous, but fleeting. It always amazes me how fast the pinks and reds of dawn disappear after the sun actually rises. I spent a little time watching the wind blowing back the curling tops of the waves, before heading to the northern tip of Hull, Point Allerton. From there, the scarps of Peddocks Island looked especially close in the warm light of sunrise, as did George’s Island, and Boston in the distance.
