A Spellbinding Sunset

 

Song:  Journey to the Magical Kingdom

Group:  Future World Music

Today...

just as the sun was beginning to set...

I decided to go to Safeway to stock up on groceries.

Little did I know that what would be in store for me...

would be one of the grandest sunsets I have ever seen

(I always try to time my drives into town around sunset).

I was just pulling out of my driveway onto the mountain road.

I was on my way down the mountain.

As there were a plentiful amount of clouds in the sky...

I knew there would be the possibility of a nice sunset.

I was nearing the bottom of the mountain.

I was nearing the country turn off...

however...

as it was still light...

I decided to take the longer and more scenic route...

especially with the possibility of capturing a nice sunset

(the country turn off places the sunset to my back...

while the scenic route lies perpendicular to the sunset

until I reach the town of Florissant).

As I was almost to the town of Florissant...

I looked over at the setting sun and the way the clouds were arranged...

and I knew it would be a sunset to remember.

And so...

I pulled off the road and waited for the colors to emerge.

The temperature was in the mid 40s F (7.22 C)...

the wind was between 5-10 MPH (8 - 16 KPH)...

and so...

the cool and country fresh breeze provided the setting for a magical scene to come.

The clouds were in multilayers throughout the sky...

and so...

they had captured the light in different ways...

not just in the hues and tones...

but in texture

(You can see that some of the clouds had a ghostly glow).

I looked behind me to see Pikes Peak being lit up by the setting sun.

The mountains to the North contrasted with the clouds above.

The clouds began to turn from a slightly orange to a brilliant amber...

and all in contrast with a range of blues of the sky...

the clouds of which then once again turned more of an orange...

and back again as the sun played upon the clouds from different angles

as it continued to set.

The clouds to the South.

I was completely surrounded by colors...

from horizon to horizon.

As the sun continued to set...

the differing altitudes and types of clouds refracted the light in different ways.

Even in the widest angle lens possible...

there was just so much sky I could capture.

The colors were everywhere...

all the way left...

to all the way right..above me...

and with some behind me as well.

Violets would emerge momentarily through the clouds as the sky peered through.

Some of the colors of the Eastern sky behind me.

It was so strange that the sky kept undulating in its color palette...

from darker orange...

and back to brilliant yellows.

When the brilliant yellows emerged once again...

so would the sky appear to be more violet.

The rays of red extended far to my right...

...and far to my left.

The colors began to darken and deeply richen.

Each color seemed to blend into one another seamlessly.

The mixture of the reds, yellows, and blues were just mesmerizing.

This sunset was one of the longest I have ever seen.

It must have been over half an hour long...

with new and deepening colors continually emerging.

This is what it means to be country...

having a deep love of all the great simple pleasures in life.

I just so love my life here in Colorado.

It is the full color palette in every season...

and in almost every night in beautiful sunsets...

and in the morning sunrises.

It is in the mild four seasons...

each of which brings in new colors and flavors.

It is in the simple and beautiful life that mountain and country living brings.

It is in the crisp air that fills your whole being with freshness.

It is in the epitome of simplicity, serenity, and freedom...

and so...

it is a deep and ever present happiness.

In this sunset with the pleasurable caresses of the wind upon my face...

my inner child...

who is normally jumping up and down with joy...

stood next to me...

transfixed by the beauty of it all.

We both just stood...

spellbound by what was before our eyes...

and with the knowledge that this would be remembered for a lifetime.

-------------------

After the colors subsided...

I continued on to Woodland Park to grocery shop at Safeway

(I decided that I needed some things not normally found at Walmart).

After grocery shopping at Safeway...

I stopped into one of my favorite pizza places...

AJ's in Woodland Park.

I don't know why...

but I frequently have a deep craving for pizza.

And...

I don't care.

That is the beauty of retirement.

I want...

I get  :)