Sunset

I have always loved sunsets. Don't get me wrong, sunrises are great. I just usually don't take the time to enjoy them (or I sleep through them!) But sunsets are beautiful...and they arrive at the perfect time of the day.

Tom  and I have been fortunate enough to do more traveling in the last 5 years. We have tens of thousands of pictures of our trips, along with all the other pictures we take throughout the year. Fall leaves, mountains, the lake, deer, loons, family. We take pictures of everything. But I'm guessing a thousand of those pictures (at least!) are of sunsets. 

Perhaps it's because we've traveled to spots where the sunsets are so visible: Florida's Gulf Coast, Mexico, Alaska, California, Canada...we've usually been able to catch a gorgeous sunset or two. 

It's funny how, when you photograph a sunset, you keep taking pictures every minute or less. You get every angle: kneel down, pose a couple in silhouette, try to take a selfie. You snap the beginnings of the sunset, each step as the sun inches to the horizon, every time a seagull, pelican or sailboat enters into view, just as it touches the horizon, and then, sometimes for an hour or more, the sky and clouds and stars, as the glow from the sun casts its light and color.

A sunset is a way of saying "Today is done. Tomorrow will be better." It's like my mom used to say: "Go to bed. Sleep. Things will look better in the morning."

On a particularly cloudy, rainy day, we often skip our pause to enjoy the sunset and just move on with our evening. And I remember very clearly the days we were stunned to see the sun peak out just as it hit the horizon, or not even see the sun, but be overwhelmed by gorgeous colors all across the sky. 

Sunsets are hope. Hope for a better tomorrow. We can't always see it, but the sun does set every day. It closes that chapter in our lives. It sets the stage for a new day.

Go to bed. Sleep. Things will look better in the morning.