Winter Sunset

As I was cooking dinner tonight, I looked out the kitchen window to the most incredible sunset.

The bare trees were just black outlines against a sky that was shaded from tangerine to gold to crimson. Those warm shades of color seemed to start at the horizon and fade at tree top level into dusky shades of purples and indigo. A crescent moon had just started to shimmer and one lonely star was shinning in the distance. The whole scene seemed other worldly. The beauty of it all took my breath away and all I could do was stand there and gaze out the window. Time really did stand still, and there was nothing but the present..........one of winter's best gifts.......sunsets.

I have experienced some pretty fabulous sunrises, but sunsets........there's my weakness.

My favorite sunsets are in the fall and winter, the colors just seem more vivid, more alive. Most days when I am driving from work, I see sunsets that make my heart stop. A good part of the drive home takes place on a mountain plateau and as I began my descent, usually the sun is setting.

Those sunsets are gifts........of rare peaceful beauty. Many times, deer are at the edge of the road and they too appear to be mesmerized by the show of color they see. Sometimes, at the

creek and lakes I see the outline of a crane, poised, ready for flight bathed in those sunset colors.

Each time I am privy to such a show of color, I want to possess it......well at least something that vivid and rich in pigment. When it's cold, as it has been for the past few days, I think of cashmere sweaters in crimson and deep magenta.......trust me, when the day comes that I find

one in those colors, it's coming home with me, no matter the cost!

I hope that all of you see a sunset that beautiful this week, that the vibrancy of the colors, the contrast of the landscape is a gift that you will cherish.........I think those colors are Mother Nature's peace offering when the winter winds howl and the cold bites at your nose.

By the way, a lunar eclipse and meteor showers are on their way in a few days, grab a blanket,

watch the sunset and then catch the rest of the show!