Written by One of life’s simplest pleasures is enjoying the beauty of the sun as it rises and sets. During the summer months, the sun tends to rise before I do, but as the latter part of the year approaches, the days get shorter, giving me the ability to enjoy both each day. Here in Kansas City, there’s usually a bit more pink, but I only grabbed a few colors for today’s doodlewash. Although I enjoy the sunrise, the sunset is usually more memorable. Perhaps it’s the memory of those days spent on vacation when the setting sun signaled the end of a lovely adventure and the promise of a fresh new day of discoveries ahead. Most likely accompanied with a lovely glass of wine. I used to be an avid photographer, and the time shortly after sunrise and just before sunset is referred to as the “golden hour.” That period of the day where the fierce light of the sun was softer, making a gorgeous glow that rendered everything in its path just a bit more beautiful. If one was just leaving work, this period of time is also referred to Happy Hour and produces more flattering pics to post on Facebook.
Today, we traveled a bit to go to an annual family reunion about an hour and a half south of here. Between our city and our destination, there are only rolling fields of hay bales and the occasional clustering of cows and sometimes goats. I’m not one who actually enjoys driving long distances. I appreciate the change in scenery, but don’t wish to be in a car while enjoy it. I far prefer traveling by train, where someone else is in charge of those things. The roads seem to stretch endlessly in rural areas, so it feels like you’re making no progress at all. On a train, I’m perfectly content, but for some reason when I’m behind the wheel and responsible for moving forward, I become restless. Perhaps, I’m still that little kid wondering “are we there yet?” even though I’m now driving and know the answer is an emphatic “No!” But, even as my restless side gets irritated, there’s another side of me that finds it all rather peaceful. The steady repetition and the gloriously expansive scenery is really quite fabulous. Life can get so incredibly tense at times, that those moments of nothing much at all are a bit of a treasure.
Now, we’re back home again and having a quiet little evening with a bit of ratatouille and wine. Outside the day has just moved into the “golden hour” and everything is peaceful and almost magical. The cicadas are singing that song they always sing that nobody quite understands, and the light is slowly fading. This moment, is absolutely perfect. It’s a feeling of being suspended without care. I’ve no idea what I have to do later, or certainly tomorrow. For now, I’m content with just being in the moment I’m in right now. It strikes me that this is the feeling I should seek more often. One without worry or preconceived notions. A ridiculously simple feeling of knowing that no matter what is happening in the world, in this particular moment, everything is perfectly awesome. The golden rays of the sun are slowly beginning to disappear and the night will soon take everything over from here. I guess it’s no wonder why people feel such pleasure in that most amazing thrill of watching sunrises and sunsets.
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Da Vinci Yellow, Hansa Yellow Deep, Cobalt Turquoise, and Payne’s Gray. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. |
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Your writing makes me feel as though I’m right there with you. A beautiful post. Enjoy!
What a lovely compliment!! Thank you so much, Sharon!! Glad you enjoyed this! 😃💕
What a wonderful way to convey today’s theme. Thank you again Charlie.
So pleased you liked it! Thanks so much, Laura! 😃💕
This is an ingenious idea. The glasses are perfect with the scenery in the lenses. You did an awesone job of both, the painting and the story.
Thanks so much, June! 😃💕 hehe… sunsets are not really what I usually paint, so this felt a bit more my style!
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This was such a cool read – thank you- and a really interesting view of the sunset. I can just imagine: Charlie says, “Are we there yet?” and Also-Charlie says, “No, I’ll you know when we get there.” Phineas rolls his eyes.
Thanks, Sharon! 😃💕 Lol… yeah, talking or especially arguing with yourself is really the first sign of senility. And Phineas rolls his eyes a lot actually. I wasn’t even aware dogs could do that! hehe
We were out on the deck this evening and I thought, wow, I haven’t heard the bugs this loud in years!
Isn’t it cool? I love the sound of them! 😃💕But yeah… they can get really loud sometimes!
We live on a barrier island in Florida with the ocean on our east and the river (intercoastal waterway) on our west. The sunrises and especially the sunsets are incredible and impossible to recreate by paint because of the unreal colors that change in the blink of the eye. There must be millions of artists living in the beyond.
Wow! That sounds like a perfectly magical spot, Kaye!! 😃💕How beautiful and inspiring! But true… photos and paintings have trouble capturing the true feeling of actually witnessing a glorious sunset.
LOVE your composition! Who woulda thought?!
Aww thanks so much, Elsie!! 😃💕
“Outside the day has just moved into the “golden hour” and everything is peaceful and almost magical. The cicadas are singing that song they always sing that nobody quite understands, and the light is slowly fading. This moment, is absolutely perfect.”
There are poems budding there!
Aww what a wonderful thing to say!! Thanks so much! 😃💕 I used to write poetry in high school, but haven’t done so since. 😊
😀 brilliant concept and composition. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed this! 😃💕
Charlie you always make my days with your lovely memories and beautiful positive outlook on life. I think I want to be you when I grow up, only I don’t really want to grow up just yet. 🙂
Aww thanks, Sandra! 😃💕 Well, you’re in luck then… hehe… being like me requires one never quite grows up! 😉
Awesome, I’m sooo on it then. 😛
Charlie, after reading this post I feel so relaxed and peaceful. I love how your writings are always a soft place to land. We traveled this week to Glacier National Park and had difficulty seeing the sunrises and sunsets through the smoke. Praying for all those affected by the fires, floods, and hurricanes. Our next stop is Yellowstone and I am hopeful it will be clear there! Whenever life makes too much stress, I can count on coming here to read your reassuring blog posts, which remind me to be thankful for the little things in life, like reflections in sunglasses, a stack of good books, and watching the birds 😘
Aww that’s such a wonderful thing to hear, Carol! 😃💕 I’m so thrilled you find this site a nice way to get away and relax. That’s the best compliment of all!
Oh, mister. This is such an evocative post. I’m almost feeling the golden light and hearing the cicada song.
(We don’t seem to have those out here in the northwest. Or at least not around here. It’s such a quintessential summer sound, coming from the midwest….) 🙂
Thanks, Elizabeth! 😃💕 Yeah… that sound is such a sign of summer here!!