Welcome to my world and beyond...

A collection of snippets of the books I write and, occasionally, my life and the things that inspire my writing...

Friday, April 20, 2012

A to Z "S" is for Sunsets and Stars

All of the trouble I had with the letter "Q"...and here I am with about a dozen things I could blog about for the letter "S". Perhaps I should have just called it "My S Universe".  All in all, I couldn't choose between the sunset and the stars.

When I was a child, living on a hillside in the hollow...when I had one leg longer than the other so I could stand straight...   Oh! I can't go on with that part; it was a lie.  My legs are pretty much the same length. Always  have been.  But...I DO write fiction ;-)

Let me start again...with just the non-fiction this time :-)  When I was a small child, living in the hollow (valley) I never got to see sunsets.  The hill rising sharply to the west hid  all but the most extraordinary--high reaching, flame-red sunsets.  We saw a sort of glow and oft I wondered how the setting sun must look to have turned the world pink like it had.  But, that was beyond the known universe of the hollow in which I lived.

And up above us, on black-dark summer nights, the stars shone--far away, cold and mysterious.  We learned where the "big Dipper" was.  But much of the year, even it was obscured by the tall hilltops surrounding our universe.

So, we turned our eyes toward the earth and chased fireflies, filling mason jars with their flashing wonder.  Back in the 1960s, we really didn't know how that worked. We didn't have encyclopedias (or Google search) at our house ;-)

Now, looking back, it was a prime example of Clarke's third law.  "Any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  There you have it, by geez.  To us--a pack of country bumpkin farm kids running barefoot, chasing magic...there was no explanation needed.  Magic was explanation enough.

When I got to be a grown up and rented my first little home, it was on "high ground". But, there was a woods full of tall trees between me and the view of the sunset.

Still, I knew when what preceded the speckles of light in the black velvet sky must have been astounding.  But, nothing compares to finding a place where you can watch the setting sun on a regular basis.

So, tonight-- like most nights, we walked up the lane to a place where the hedgerow breaks open and exposes this vista.  Then we sat and relaxed, talked about the day, and...yes...talked about the sunset.  We rated it, dissecting it--colors, clouds, rays above and below, contrails, and how long the color lasted. And we included things like how far around the horizon the setting sun affected the colors in the clouds.

We lost ourselves in the sunset.

Here is the sunset from this evening:

...and a zoomed in view a few minutes later. 


And then we watched the stars come out.  Have you done that lately? It is fascinating and humbling at once.

I took this photo one evening at our "sunset spot" and then added the stars later using "Paint".


In my "S" universe... I am humbled on a regular basis.  The setting sun reminds me that all things have an end.  The day, the season, and me.  And then, when that first star arrives, as I make my wish, I wonder how many other people are wishing on it.  And...I can't help but wonder if any of their wishes are the same as mine. (Shhh...don't tell. Or it won't come true.)

The Ss keep me deeply human and connected with other humans. Even in those solitary moments when I gaze at the heavens, and just listen...I hear the song of humanity...maybe I feel it more than hear it. But, it is a complex piece of music.  We are more than this moment.  In some way, we are all of yesterday and part of tomorrow, and bound together by tenuous strings in this very moment.  Our voices fade...our passions crumble...and the universe continues to spin its slow swirl...

All the rat-race, competition, love, hate, violence, wars, goodness and kindness will be washed away by time...marked by a sun-rising...setting, the stars shining...the sun rising...setting...the stars...the sun...

The "S"s remind me of my place in the grand scheme... blessed for the moment at hand.

How about you? :-)

20 comments:

  1. Before we moved back home to Colorado we lived at the base of some mountains in Arizona. So, we too, didn't have opportunity to see the full range of a beautiful sunset. It's nice now to be back home with nothing to obstruct our view.
    Good to 'meet' you and thanks for stopping by.

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    1. It's nice to "meet" you, too, Brenda. I had no idea how much we missed while living in that valley. For a decade we have been up on the hill. We don't miss many sunsets now, and love the moon-rises as well. So glad that you are back home getting to see nature's light show. :-) Thank you so much for visiting :-)

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  2. Always a star gazer and a sunset dreamer! It gives me great peace and connectedness :-)

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    1. Yes... It is a sweet way to unwind and relax! Peace...when we find a source for it, we have to hang on. Thanks for visiting! :-)

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  3. We live on a ridge in the woods, so we don't see the sun set on the horizon, but we see it through the trees. I love that golden light just before it turns pink. Do you know the work of the artist Maxfield Parrish? He totally GETS it! :)

    Marian Allen
    Fantasies, mysteries, comedies, recipes

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    1. HI Marian. Neat! When we stay at the house, we get the glow through the trees. This time of year, we could see the setting sun from the front porch, but but when the leaves unfurl, we will be back to just a glow. The walking up the lane is part of the ritual. Our two dogs know it and get excited when the time nears. They are leashed, but derive great pleasure from the walk--and the treats we carry with us ;-) I had not heard of Maxfield Parrish, so I googled. Oh my! Lovely stuff. "Riverbank Autumn" might need to hang on my wall :-) http://www.ioffer.com/i/-Riverbank-Autumn-BIG-Maxfield-Parrish-Art-Deco-Print-89136941 Thank you so much for visiting and commenting. :-)

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  4. I'm lucky to have grown up where we could always see the sunset - with a west-facing beach you can see the sun right down to the horizon.

    These days, my wife & I regularly stargaze from the comfort of a hot tub. It's also a bit of a competition to see who can spot the most satellites :)

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    1. Hello, Botanist! Oh, you lucky duck! Growing up on the beach :-) I have been fortunate to get to see several sunrises over the Atlantic--and one sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. :-) Mallory Square is on my bucket list. I think you have the perfect stargazing arrangement now! A hot tub shared with the one you love. I don't know if it can better than that-- except maybe a hot tub at the beach :-) Thank you for visiting and commenting!

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  5. This is beautifully-written. I felt myself transported and lived with these sunsets. Well done. :)

    -Barb the French Bean

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    1. Awe...thank you, Barb! Now I feel successful :-) Thank you for visiting and commenting! :-)

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  6. Beautiful post! I'm glad I stumbled upon your blog tonight. :)

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    1. Thank you, Dana! I am glad that you stumbled upon it too...and then left a comment! :-)

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  7. This is a lovely meditation. You really captured the present mindedness of observation; a poets voice really. Thanks for the beautiful view.

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    1. Wow...your words are so kind! Thank you for sharing them, and for visiting. You are welcome for the beautiful view :-)

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  8. Your beautiful, evocative post brought back memories of my own childhood lover affair with the stars and the night sky. This was a pleasure to read, an absolute honey-on-the-tongue pleasure. I'll be coming back for more during the challenge and beyond.

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    1. Thanks, Kern! *blushing* Such a sweet thing to say :-) And thank you for visiting! On my way to check out your blog :-)

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  9. Magical
    the traverse from child to adult and there is still awe and wonder

    thanks so for your visit to the Moon while you were amidst the stars

    my favorite part of A to Z is finding the jewels - people we might never have met

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  10. Thank you, Leslie! I am glad you felt the awe and wonder. A to Z has been quite the experience...and I couldn't agree more about finding the jewels. :-) Thanks for visiting! :-)

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  11. And there I was, feeling sorry for you about your gimpy leg. Thank you for letting me off the hook :-)

    Lucy

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    1. haha! Lucy--you are welcome. And thank you for visiting! :-)

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