Counting Sunsets

My wife called out to me from the other side of the house, remarking on how beautiful the sunset was. I picked up my camera and walked towards the bedroom window. I would have to move quickly, or I would miss the chance to freeze the moment. It was already 6:12 p.m. Friday – the setting sun doesn’t wait for the unprepared.

Since tropical storm Noël carried with it a solid, cloud-covered sky as it brushed past us from the east today, this would be the penultimate sunset before the last full day of daylight savings time.

Beautiful as sunsets are, we don’t always pay much attention to them when we spot them, sometimes while on vacation, from our backyards at home, or at other times while driving home from work.

Although quotidian, sunsets are quite extraordinary occurrences and for most of us, young or old, they can be spellbinding. They faithfully recur with daily precision and regularity, like a metronome marking off the days. During our lifetimes though, young or old, there will be only a relatively few: The next time that your child or loved one points one of these out to you, pause and marvel at this brilliant phenomenon of creation.