Ominous red and orange skies had Capitol Hill take notice as shutdown loomed

“The sky is burnin’” – Burnin’ Sky by Bad Company, 1977

Humans have looked for omens since the days when they wore loin cloths and watched shadows dance on cave walls from a crudely constructed fire.

Ancient peoples believed celestial events like an eclipse, a full moon or even a violent storm augur signs of a looming disaster.

But let’s face it. Contemporary humans really aren’t that much different from our ancestors.

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That’s why much of official Washington took note of the dramatic sunset visible from the U.S. Capitol and National Mall last Monday evening, just one day before the government shutdown.

On that night, as Paul Rodgers of Bad Company would sing, “The sky is burnin.’”

The bluff which doubles as Capitol Hill offers a vista to view stunning sunsets. The setting sun frequently backlights ridges of clouds, It coats them with shades of magenta, plum and lilac. It’s all visible as you stare westward from the Capitol, toward the horizon, stretching beyond the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Potomac River.

I’ve witnessed some breathtaking sunsets from Capitol Hill over the years. But last Monday’s sunset was different.

This was a confident sunset. It knew it was a good one, producing hues I’ve never before observed from my perch on Capitol Hill. This sunset didn’t just feature bands of orange light, diffused through the clouds like an oversized laser tag display. The colors on this one simply drenched the cloud bank with a palette of dark pink, radiant strawberry and dragon fruit.

The chalky obelisk of the Washington Monument punctured the sky midway down the National Mall. The Monument in the foreground completed the tableau. The spiky tower served as a contrast to the soft glow of the clouds, heated by the sun, 93 million miles in the distance.

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This sunset was a bombshell. One that you see only few times in a lifetime – if you’re lucky. This sunset outclassed regularly gems which are seen on Capitol Hill in the fall and winter.

But there was something else about this sunset.

Despite its elegance and swagger, there was something foreboding. It was the warm reds and oranges. The sunsets here are never quite that color. And perhaps the fact that one rarely sees a display as striking as this one was all that was needed to make the entire production disturbing.

Frankly, contemporary humans aren’t that much more sophisticated than the cavemen trying to decode what a full moon or a solar eclipse foretell. Many inside the Beltway who witnessed the special sunset. divined meaning into it. They knew that a government shutdown loomed on Tuesday night heading into Wednesday. And so, such a fascinating, yet ominous sky presaged what fate would befall Congress and the federal workforce.

It would be hard to rival Monday night’s sunset. But believe it or not, Tuesday’s sunset lapped its predecessor. Reporters and photographers were assembled in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery awaiting separate press conferences by Republican and Democratic leaders – just hours before the scheduled government shutdown. One story below in the Capitol, the Senate blocked two competing plans to avert a shutdown. That’s right when the Tuesday sunset raised the curtain on its show.

This sunset wasn’t as red as its predecessor. But more tangelo. There was a presence of creamsicle with a dash of peach parfait. The clouds separated in the west, just barely allowing a hint of blue sky and white clouds to sneak through. But everything close to the surface was an orange foam. Softer than the one before. Kind of like a whipped dessert or mousse.

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Surely a sunset as fulfilling as this one would also envisage what’s ahead in Washington – even though everyone knew the government was about to shut down in a matter of hours.

But Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., suggested there was no soothsaying in the sunset.

“There is nothing like the simplicity of a sunset,” said Thune as he began his press conference.

Sometimes the evening wonder of a sunset is just that: a sunset. No need to read prophecy about government shutdowns into something which happens nightly, spectacular or not.

In fact, there are meteorological reasons for the recent dynamic sunsets in Washington. They have nothing to do with a lapse in appropriations, Obamacare subsidies or Budget Director Russ Vought.

Hurricane Imelda was a Category 2 storm spinning through the empty Atlantic. The cyclone was hundreds of miles off the eastern seaboard. But Imelda played a role in the special sunsets.

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High clouds from Imelda drifted well north of the storm in the mid-Atlantic. These are clouds which reach 20,000 feet or higher. They carry ice crystals instead of water, thanks to their altitude.

The clouds refract the sunlight, scattering shorter wavelength colors like blue, green and purple. But the ice crystals expand longer color wavelengths like orange, yellow and red. That’s the phenomenon which triggers these exceptional sunsets. Not lapses in appropriations, arguing about spending or the government shutdown.

But perhaps there’s something even more influential when it comes to these electrifying sunsets and their pops of orange: Taylor Swift.

Yep.

Taylor Swift just dropped her new album “Life of a Showgirl.” Symbolism and metaphor are the quintessence of Swift. And the so-called “Portofino orange glitter” shade is what defines the record as Swift enters her “orange” phase – leaving behind the “Eras” era.

Don’t forget that on the Eras Tour, Swift would always exit the stage through an orange door.

Hmm.

Since the album came out, retailers see spikes in the sales of orange blouses, skirts, sweaters and handbags – thanks to Swift’s sway. This is why Dunkin’ Donuts and United Airlines tried to appeal to Swifties by throwing a dollop of orange onto their social media feeds.

“We looked like fire,” Swift sings in the track Eldest Daughter on the new album.

Just like the recent sunsets.

Few on the planet are as influential as Swift. But that’s with culture. But surely Swift – as powerful as she is – couldn’t have something to do with the sunsets, right? These are all about ice crystals and hurricanes, right?

You never know.

But if Taylor Swift is so formidable presiding over the colors of a sunset, perhaps she’s the only one who could end the government shutdown.

And if she does, she’ll likely escort it out through an orange door.

Just like the burnin’ sky sunsets visible lately in Washington.