At the beginning of March, I was contacted by Peter Rowland who’d stumbled on this site while looking up my uncle, Lyall Watson.
Peter lived in Camps Bay, in the same complex that Lyall lived in for a number of years.
Lyall invited Peter to drop in for a drink one evening. It was winter but a pleasant evening and they sat on Lyall’s stoep and looked out across the bay. The following is Peter’s account of their conversation.
‘Lyall asked if I had ever heard of the green flash in the sky. I hadn’t and he then told me about Jules Verne and the green flash [this is a reference to Jules Verne’s book ‘The Green Ray, about two people searching for the elusive green flash at sunset]. There was a point at his house, that if you climbed onto his garden wall, you could get onto the roof. So, drinks in hand we climbed up. We sat on the ridge, looking west. The sun was still above the horizon, but as we sat there, he said he could see whale spouts from the whales in the bay. I said rubbish, or a word to that effect! But he knew what he was talking about and after a while, there they were.
‘He told me that there were two types of whales and if I watched carefully, I could see the different sprays coming from the blowholes. Then, as the sun was going down to the horizon, he told me to watch. Lo and behold, as it slipped below the horizon, just as it went and disappeared, there was the green flash! He told me that it only occurs over the sea. I have NEVER been able to see a sunset without watching for the “flash” and thinking of him. We did that a number of times.’
Thank you for sharing this memory with me, Peter. It’s given me great joy to imagine the two of you sitting on his roof, drinks in hand, looking out at the whales and watching for the green flash.
The Green Flash explained
Green flashes or rays occur at sunset or sunrise when a green spot appears for a couple of seconds above the sun or is visible as a ray shooting up from the sunset point. It usually only lasts a second or two and is caused by atmospheric refraction. Apparently it is best seen with a clear view to the horizon and in an area without pollution.
I can’t see any story here, only an ad.
I don’t know what’s happened to it, Roz. I had a whole post here and it’s vanished.
I think it’s fixed now. Let me know if it still doesn’t work for you.
That’s lovely. Will share far and wide. 🙂 Thanks Katherine!
I am so envious of Peter’s time on the roof with Lyall. Katherine, you provide a very nice exposition of the green flash, but one need not be at sea to witness a green flash. I am uncomfortable disagreeing with Lyall, so I will believe the quote was accidentally altered as it was passed from Lyall to your blog. I have seen a green flash as the sun dipped below an island, and I have seen a green flash in the Mojave Desert as the sun dipped behind a distant mountain range. Optimum conditions include clear air, the right weather conditions and a sharp, horizontal boundary between air and earth/water; the sea provides these most frequently.
I have also managed to see two green flashes from the same sunset while anchored off Puerto Vallarta. The first flash occurred while we were in the trough of a wave; then the crest of the next wave lifted our boat enough that a tiny bit of the sun was back above the horizon for the second green flash.
Robert Steinbach, San Diego, California
Katherine…my good friend, DonnaLee turned me on to Lyall Watson a couple years ago…she calls him, “our dear Watson”…and even though we live across the continent from one another, we are constantly sharing perspectives and concepts that we acquire reading yet another of your uncle’s books. I love his mind. Reading his “observations” has changed my life forever!!!
Thank you for sharing Peter Rowlands memory of a shared moment with Lyall. It is quite comforting to know Lyall is so very appreciated!!!
We had the experience many years (30+) ago of seeing the green flash from the top of Table Mountain. We had gone up by cable car late one afternoon, and it was one of those calm days that magically occur. We always quoted PG Wodehouse under those conditions – “It was so still you could hear a snail clear his throat half a mile away.” Anyway, we were prepared for the flash and duly saw it. It left us affected in some way, but in a way that’s hard to explain. I suspect that the feeling of the event rather than merely experiencing it would have been approved by LW.