A Senior Citizen Sunset

 

Song:  Into Dust

Group:  Mazzy Star

Bandi and I took a walk to Sunset Point just a short while ago.

As you can see...

my driveway is still coated in ice...

even though the road is mostly free from it.

Bandi and I are setting out to view the sunset here.

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I've had several large deliveries over the past few days.

I am setting up my home gym...

and several hundred pounds of equipment arrived...

and on Monday...

even more equipment is to arrive.

I had the delivery service just drop off the equipment up near 

the beginning of the driveway as I didn't want any of the personnel to slip on the ice... 

as my driveway declines to the garage doors where I took the equipment.

Don't worry...

I just backed my car up and put the equipment into the back and drove it down into the garage.

I broke down the packages into many trips into the home gym area...

and I then tore up the many boxes and bagged the pieces into a total of eight garbage bags...

and one long cardboard tube.

I will be posting pictures of the equipment in a couple of days...

as the major piece of equipment is arriving on Monday.

It will take me a few hours to set everything up once I get the rest of the packages.

As most of my days are behind me...

and yet, some of the most beautiful ones still lie ahead...

this sunset represents my point in life now.

As I am now a Senior Citizen (65 years old)...

and the sun is setting on life...

each day is proving to be more and more colorful and serene.

The bright ambers have transformed into light pinks and cherry reds...

and so, the colors are even more deeply felt.

Without the dark clouds of approaching night...

there would not be the contrast from which the beauty of the setting sun would reverberate.

Sorry...

I do not wish to sound morbid or morose...

for I am quite the opposite.

I love life so much...

and I feel so fortunate to be where I am now.

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It is not that I have only recently discovered beauty in life...

only that I have always deeply appreciated so many things in life...

and now...

it is even more magnified.

I have always been deeply happy inside...

music and colors have always been so beautiful to me...

have always reverberated inside...

and so, have always led me to deeply love music, sunrises, and sunsets.

Being alone while feeling the deepening colors of a sunset

has always been some of my personally happiest times.

Of course...

life takes on the meaning we give it...

but those times spent in introspection during a grand sunset...

or just staring at the stars...

puts all of life into perspective for me.

I know of our very limited time spent alive...

and of how fragile it sometimes is.

That is why I have never taken life for granted.

It is just now...

more than ever...

that as certain doors are closing in life...

especially with some loved ones...

I, at least, have no regrets for my time with them...

for I had never put other things before them.

I had always appreciated my time with them.

We each must live our lives with the knowledge 

that death is the night of our lives...

and that we only have one sunrise...

and so...

only one sunset.

 I am living life with full knowledge of the coming night...

but that is why my sunset is so beautiful and serene.

I have lived with deferred gratification...

always building for the future...

always striving to appreciate...

at least...

some part of each day...

no matter the negative surroundings each of us at times...

finds ourselves.

I have always had music and sunsets as my refuge.

In them...

I find great beauty.

In them...

I have a sacred time of deep reflection.

In them...

the mind goes on a flight of fancy where the subconscious reveals itself

through the movies of the mind...

and where our most desired paths in life are illustrated.

And...

it is through them that serenity is reached.

A deep inner happiness then prevails.

For those of us in the sunset of life...

this is for what we have prepared...

the most serene and beautiful portion of our lives.

Get rid of the negative and the unnecessary.

Fully feel music...

the colors of sunsets...

that of great meals...

and with those of whom truly deserve to be a part of our lives.

Simply live life fully...

and as night approaches...

even the twinkling stars will bring great joy...

for we will have no regrets...

but only the lingering beauty and serenity of our sunset.

Today's Project - Dehydrate Veggies

 

Song:  O Grand Amor

Artist:  Antonio Carlos Jobim

Today...

I harvested the first batch of sprouts.

This glass container is really quite large.

I just put it into the fridge for consumption over the following 2-3 days as a salad.

I brought out the green onions and the habaneros.

I sliced off the bottoms of the green onions...

and then diced them.

This was half the green onions (15 bunches).

As the dehydrator is in the garage...

I walked this batch down to fill up some of the trays.

This dehydrator has 20 trays.

I spread out the onions a little better before placing the tray into the dehydrator.

The first batch of diced green onions filled five trays.

After going back up and dicing the rest of the onions...

I took down the final batch to fill another five trays.

I then set to work on the habaneros.

I topped and halved each habanero.

This was the result of all of the habaneros.

I spaced out the habaneros rather sparsely as to allow greater air flow.

I also double spaced the habanero trays.

With the dehydrator filled with all of the veggies I had...

I set the temperature and the time (24 hours at a time - max).

I will check on them once each day.

I am assuming it will take at least 3-4 days of drying time...

perhaps more.

The drier I get them...

the longer they will last.

After starting the dehydrator...

I closed both of the garage doors.

Later that night...

I had a craving for Somen.

It is one of my favorite noodle dishes

(I had used all of the green onions dehydrating them).

I had them with shrimp dipped into a delicious cocktail sauce.

This is an excellent cocktail sauce.

It has just the right amount of zing and heat.

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I am thinking that my project tomorrow will be to work on my trike.

On the drive over from Verdi, NV...

I took the battery out...

and upon arrival here...

the electronics didn't work.

It wasn't the battery...

so...

most likely it is the connector.

Perhaps it had gotten dirty...

or perhaps some of the electronics had gotten wet and jostled around...

but one thing for sure...

I cannot ride it on my mountain without the power assist.

I will have to see tomorrow.

I really want to start riding it...

so long as there is not a lot of snow or ice on the road.

I would just hate sliding off the side of the mountain  :)

Veggie Run - Sunset Drive Home

 

Song:  Midnight Oil

Harp / Alto Flute / Composer:  Luke Pickman

(I had transcribed this song in my 

Bass Flute Transpositions blog).

This evening...

I went to the grocery store...

just half an hour away in the town of Woodland Park.

I went specifically to buy green onions and habaneros to dehydrate...

and I picked up other groceries as well.

I am heading home here.

I love to try to time my runs into town so I may see the sunset all the way home.

As the western skies were turning amber...

the eastern mountains were turning pink.

I drove with the windows down for Bandi.

She loves the fresh air...

and often sticks her head out the window.

Bandi loves our country drives more than about anything.

She gets so excited when she see me getting dressed...

as I take her almost everywhere I go.

As I am driving...

I just raise up my camera and point shoot without taking my eyes off of the road...

usually out the front windshield.

The feeling I get while driving with the fresh crisp air blowing through the car

as I drive into a magnificent sunset...

 is almost indescribable.

On top of this...

I see in my sideview mirror how much Bandi is enjoying the sights

and the brisk air in her face...

with my favorite music playing on my car speakers...

well...

I just love these times so much.

The nearer I get to home...

the more mountainous it becomes.

Within a few minutes...

I arrived home.

I bought 30 bunches of green onions...

and all the habaneros they had at Safeway...

but these should last me quite a while dehydrated.

Tomorrow...

I will slice and dice these and put them in my dehydrator for a few days.

When I got home...

just outside my front door...

I took this last shot...

the moon and a planet saying goodnight.

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I cannot express enough how important it is

to reap the grand beauty and serenity of all the great simple pleasures in life.

Just breathing in the fresh air...

fully experiencing a grand sunset...

feeling music and letting your mind free on a flight of fancy...

letting it flow as it depicts what truly makes you deeply happy inside.

Most of our happiness in life...

is free.

Take a sunset drive...

open the windows and let your hair fly...

and sing along with your favorite songs.

Nothing exists in that moment in time...

but your happiness.