Tag: dusk

Posted in color, memories

Glowing orange skies

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After yesterday’s post, the evening sky called and demanded equal time.

I’ve written about the colors of dusk before, awed as the sun painted the bottom of the clouds one final time before retiring for the night. No shade of orange was left behind at the end of this day.

While pink greets me at the beginning a new day, orange won’t let go when that day comes to a close. It hangs on like the embers in the fire pit that glow long after everyone has closed their eyes for the night.

Once again, before I passed two utility poles, the colors had faded, stars appeared, and darkness punched in for the overnight shift.

This picture reminds me of a moment twenty-seven years ago when wild fires burned out of control in our county. A day before we were told to evacuate, we could see the glow on the horizon, wondering if the flames would consume our home. Thankfully, the fire came no closer than half a mile. But the memory is seared into my mind, reawakened when the day ends drenched in every shade of orange you can imagine.

Posted in Life

A fiery evening sky

Posted on by William Douthwaite

At certain times of the year, as the sun sets, it almost looks like the sky is on fire.

I usually have my phone in my pocket while I am driving. But on this occasion I placed it on the center console so I could plug it in to charge it. So when I turned onto this road and saw the fiery sky, I could quickly get a picture.

A photo can’t capture the palette of colors on the horizon. Who knew there could be so many oranges, reds, and yellows? If kept driving west, would I eventually reach a blazing fire lighting up the sky? Would I reach an active volcano, glowing with molten lava? Is someone smelting steel in a giant blast furnace off in the distance?

It’s a good thing I got the picture when I did. Those colors only last a moment. By the time I crossed the intersection, they had faded. The clouds had moved. The moment was gone forever, except in my mind and in my phone.

New crayons are essential at the beginning of an elementary school year. A box of twenty-four is all you really need. There’s a box of forty-eight that doubles down on all the different colors. But the best is the box of sixty-four. The assortment of oranges, yellows, and reds challenges all you thought you knew about color. Who knew that orange-red was different than red-orange? With hues like tangerine, pumpkin, and carrot in your hand, your sunset sky might look just like this one!