Setting

Tonight I appreciated the sun at the end of the day, as it appears to fall in the sky, off the edge of the earth. Travelling west, towards the grand Texas Hill Country, I encountered the most wonderful panorama surrounding the ball of fire as it slowly made its way through the feathery, waterflow-shaped clouds. The road took me down, through the valley of Bee Creek, and then winded up to a plateau at the top of the canyon, viewing the grand sky and a much larger vista, allowing miles and miles of scenic views.

My first observation of the gorgeous sight was at the top of the first descent, where little evidence of population exists. The golden orb was slightly masked by sheets of clouds at the bottom, but they were transparent enough to see a faint outline of the bottom of the circle. While the tiny water droplets floating in the sky were tinted by the apparent color of the sun and its refraction off the earth, they took on a more rosy glow as the landscape extended around it. The sun was a lighter, brighter, whiter circle in the sky that was pasted onto the background with the tissue-paper like clouds upon it. The very blue sky of springtime contrasted and merged with the pomegranate red, orange sweet potato and yellow mango of the color wheel, with wisps of white and other white daring to cross the spectrum. The distraction was great, as I wanted to keep my eyes on the perceived movement of the sun, as opposed to the swiftly moving cars around me.

The power and heat of the sun was upon me as I squinted behind my sunglasses, and failed at adjusting the visor to cover its brightness. I gave in to the beauty of the sky, flipped up the shade, and considered pulling over to take a photo, but knew that it was futile to capture the beauty, and the feeling of peace and awe that the picture had upon me at that instant. I wanted to stay in that inspiring moment for as long as possible, but alas, I descended into the valley of the river and as the earth turned, the panorama was obstructed by yet another bump in the landscape, and the elusive sunset, and view of it, escaped me.

I do hope to capture the setting sun, and the pleasure of its beauty, again tomorrow.