Alyssa Hei is a photography fanatic from Duluth, Minn. who seizes every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors – even when its 20 below. A self-identified “small town girl,” Hei chases sunsets and sunrises on Lake Superior with a poetic relish. (She refers to sundown as “nature painting its last picture of the day). For My Modern Midwest, she shared some of her favorite shots of the of the sun, rising and setting, up north.
Lemon & Honey Tea – Hiking out onto a frozen Lake Superior to watch the sun reflect off each shard of glass with a sweet, lemony hue.
Cinnamon Spice Tea – Temps dropped to -50 with the wind chill and we still stayed out twice as long as we usually do, drinking in the first beautiful sunset of the New Year, despite needing some major thawing out on the way home.
Chamomile Tea – We trekked out as far as we could past people at the Apostle Island Ice Caves so we could stay out to watch the sunset alone on the ice. It was a sleepy but content drive back to Duluth.
Rose Tea – Calm, perfectly sweetened, pink water.
Peppermint Tea – Letting the wind whip past your face, chilling and cooling you to the bone, just to watch one more second of a perfect sunset.
Green Tea – Moss covered anything makes for a nice cushion while waiting for the sun to set.
Earl Grey Tea – This sunset only stayed around for a few minutes, before the clouds swept in and blotted out the sun.
Peach Iced Tea – Watch the sunset with someone you care about more than anything and it makes for an extra sweet evening.
Pomegranate Oolong Tea – The sun slowly dropped behind the horizon as we left the beach feeling discouraged that the sunset we finally had after weeks of grey weather was so dull, only to look behind us in the car mirror to see this stunner. Deep pomegranate red clouds filling the sky.
Hibiscus Flower Tea – Some days can be more sour than others, but the sunset is always perfectly sweetened.
Ginger Tea – Each sunset leaves me feeling full, like I can accomplish anything, even if my day proves otherwise. Tomorrow is always a new day to let yesterday’s issues wash away with the tide.
Chai Vanilla Tea – No one leaves Duluth without some feeling of hope and happiness. Just be sure to stick around long enough to see the sun set.