ABOUT TIME

Last night the sunset took us by surprise as it exploded into streaks of pink orange across the horizon. The blazing sun furiously hurled brilliant red light as if it understood its near, inevitable demise while steadily sinking into the shadows of Whidbey Island. The emanating colors leaned low across Gardner Bay as if stretching their wing span like a heron seeking to roost on the hospital towers in town miles away to the East.

Lighter hues filtered up to the lowest clouds. And the sun pierced through our living room blinds seeking to incorporate us into the process for a few minutes. Then the sunset faded to common evening blues. The process was an unanticipated gift we accepted with appreciative sounds even after it left us. 

It was time for reverie and near silence. Mundane tasks we thought essential twenty minutes before, faded in the shadow of the brilliant sunset. For too brief a time everyone in our home simply lived in the moment of celestial grandeur.

 
Memory held the colors in our minds for a bit longer after the sun’s reflection in the clouds faded and the grey of evening rapidly focused our vision indoors and back on the activity of getting ready for sleep. And the sleep following glorious respite beyond our control was sweet. As if beyond time.