A September afternoon spent moving between Raytown, Lenexa, and back again revealed how dramatically a sky can change with time, direction, and where we stand beneath it.

September 27, 2026 | Raytown, Missouri Today I didn’t take a single picture of the sky. But someone else looked up for me. Around 4:30 this afternoon, my husband was in a grocery store parking lot when he noticed sunlight breaking through a complicated ceiling of gray. He stopped long enough to take a picture…

September 26, 2026 | Independence, Missouri Some days I look up again and again, following the sky from morning into evening. Today gave me only four minutes. As it turned out, four minutes were enough. 11:08 AM | Independence, Missouri The first time I looked up today, the sky seemed undecided about what it wanted…

September 25, 2026 | Kansas City, Missouri Some days the sky gives me the story. Tonight, it was simply part of one. 6:55 PM | Kauffman Stadium We arrived at Kauffman Stadium beneath a heavy blue-gray sky. It had been drizzling and raining, but by the beginning of the Royals game the rain had recently…

From a spectacular field of patterned afternoon clouds to moonlight and twilight, September 24 was a reminder that the sky never holds still.

September 23, 2026 | Kansas City, Missouri I only took one photograph of the sky today. Usually, I have a collection of moments to choose from. A cloud that changed shape. A patch of blue that disappeared. A sunset that made me go back outside. Today, there was just this one. But maybe one was…

September 22, 2026 | Raytown to Independence, Missouri Some days seem to have one mood from beginning to end. September 22 was not one of them. 12:22 PM | Between Raytown and Independence Near midday, the sky had gathered itself into a heavy gray ceiling. The clouds hung low and textured overhead, their darker undersides…

A sunrise from my daughter, an evening sun through the trees, and the Moon: three photographs that remind me how the things we love become something we share.

A September sky, a few moments of looking up, and the unexpected joy of discovering that wonder can be shared.

Some changes are so gradual that we don’t recognize how far we’ve traveled until we look back at where we started. A September 15 sky journal from Raytown, Missouri.