"Sunset"...By Langston Hughes

 Last night, I found myself in our backyard looking skyward. I took a picture of the sunset. Humanity has expressed their thoughts and feelings about sunsets for as long as there have been humans to see them. Below is one man's thoughts.

"Sunset"

O, great god Sun-

Wrap me in your golden hues-

As the day fades, our souls unite-

In your fiery embrace, we find solace.

Langston Hughes

Seeing More Than The Big Picture...

I was looking for a Pic Of The Day last night. Usually something pops up and if all else fails, I can find something around the house--decades-old pictures are always pretty good. I pulled my car into the driveway, killed the engine, and looked west.

Another sunset over the Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island unfolded before me so I grabbed my camera.

Over the years I've witnessed and photographed some amazing sunsets. Last night's was nice, but I wouldn't call it one of the best. Still, I thought maybe I could get something out of it. I usually have my zoom lens on the camera and when I focused on the brightest section of the sky, what I saw was very nice. I caught an orange sky through some trees with a the light reflecting off Farmington Bay.

Looks like I found my Pic Of The Day.

I took another picture, just for the fun of it. I pulled back to get the most sky possible with my zoom lens. It turned out to be not the worst picture I've taken. But that second picture got me thinking. If I were shown the big picture, would I see the gem buried in the middle of the shot? How many times have I looked at a picture or a scene and missed something amazing?

I don't know if this little experience will change the way I look at pictures or take them, for that matter. But it did make me think.

The View At The End Of The Day...

I take a lot of pictures of sunsets. I take a lot of pictures around my house. If you check out this blog with any regularity, or if you follow me on social media, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

I grew up across the street from where I now live. My father designed that house, a structure he never got to see finished. But he was a man ahead of his time when it came to creating a home for his wife and three kids. One thing he did which was unusual in the early 1970s was he designed the main room of the house with floor-to-ceiling windows. I never talked to him about why, but I would imagine one of the main reasons for having those big-for-their-day windows was to enjoy the view. I mean, why else live on the side of a mountain?

Unfortunately, window technology in the early 1970s was extremely inadequate when it came to insulation. That room was almost uninhabitable during the summer months. The home faces due west and, though not the warmest place to live, Utah along the Wasatch Front can get hot. We never really had the resources to upgrade those windows while my mom was alive. Basically, we just avoided the room altogether. Winters weren't much better, but you could use blankets or a space heater to help.

My family moved into our house thirteen years ago this month--almost to the day. It's very modern compared to my parent's home we lived in all those years. The windows in our new(ish) house were the most advanced at the time. I'm sure they make better ones now. But as the sun sets over our inland sea, I still look out a window to check out the evening sky. Tonight, one might argue that there wasn't much up there. But as it's wont to do in summer, the smoke from fires distant and near filter the dying rays of the sun so that even when there's not the spectacular oranges and reds, pinks and purples, it's still beautiful.

And because of that, I'll take another picture.

End Of The Day; End Of The World...

After an eleven-hour work day I came home and took a few pictures of tonight's sunset. It was another beautiful sunset, one created to be captured forever as digital images and as memories for those who happened to look west just after dusk.

It was a strange day. I'm one of those people who work directly with the changes that took place today. Fortunately, I was not furloughed. In fact, had the government not taken the actions it took today, I would be doing something different for work. The day was not crazy, as I suspected it might be, and things went well.

Occasionally at work I'll check in on social media and the responses to the events of the day made me sick. People who consider themselves educated spewed unfounded statements based on things other people said, not on truth or researched information. And the greatest travesty of this entire fiasco is that both political parties want this to happen. They're using our rage to their benefit. Just my opinion, of course. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am.

So, I'm done venting. There's more I could write, but why? When facts and historical evidence won't change opinions, what's a simple blog post supposed to accomplish? But what I can do is share some photos of another incredible sunset, also as if it's a message from God telling us stupid humans that no matter what mistakes we're making, He's still there creating beauty and letting us know that Father knows best. Goodnight, everyone.

Some Random Photos Of Flowers And Sunsets...

Today was one of those days where I didn't know if I was going to shoot any good pictures. On a day like today, I go to work (now it's dark when I catch my morning bus...), stay in the office for a 10-hour shift, come home on the bus, then do some writing. Sometimes interesting pictures happen along the way. Other times I've got to go find them.

For lunch I bought a burrito at the Taco Cart on the corner. I stopped by a beautiful garden that's close by and I snapped some shots. It was overcast so I wasn't sure how the lighting would be. Plus, there's so many bees buzzing around which makes me not want to linger. 

Overcast skies oftentimes leads to incredible sunsets. Tonight's was localized, but it was nice. So, on a day when I didn't know if I would find anything to shoot, I think it turned out pretty good.

Mordor

Sunsets from my back porch can be breathtaking. Sometimes, we're fortunate not only catch a brilliant sunset, but record it in digital pictures.

I grew up across the street from where I now live (I'll have to dig up one of those past pictures in my digital shoebox and show you my childhood home...). My father built the house--a home he never finished--and the structure was ahead of it's time. It was ahead of it's time in many respects, but one aspect of the house greatly affected the way we lived. My dad designed the house with huge west-facing windows. And since the house was built in the early 1970's, the windows did a poor job in keeping out the heat in the summers and cold in the winters. So when we had the opportunity to design the house in which we now live, we put hardly any windows facing west.

Tonight while looking out our smallish kitchen window, the bright reds and yellows caught my attention and I thought, "Mordor!" I quickly grabbed the small Kodak and snapped a few shots.

For those of us blessed enough to live on the other side of the highest peak on Antelope Island that is surrounded by an inland sea of salt, on most nights we're given a celestial show as God tells his children goodnight and tucks them in with a blanket of beautiful colors. I love seeing the sunsets from my back porch.