Sunsets

I will never forget the following incident. It was about 30 years ago, when I was in the depths of depression and in between the worlds of the living and the dead.  I somehow managed to get out of the house, and on this occasion, I had made my way to a local KFC, I believe it was.  Numb as I was, I was still not unable to appreciate the beauty in the world.   A beautiful winter sunset blazed in the sky that early evening, and as I was in line to order, another customer, who had noticed the sunset also, turned and said, "How can you not believe in God when you see a sunset like that?"  I was not sure what my response was, but when you are in the state of mind that consumes you in depression, statements like that shake something deep within you, and you are, for short periods of time, able to perceive reality with crystal clarity.  

I had been mesmerized by sunsets before, of course, but since that time they have taken on a special meaning.   Each one is so different, so spectacular in its own way.  That’s why I love to photograph them every night there are clouds at Colonial Lake near where I live.   When I observe with awe the sky, clouds and light and color of those sunsets, I think of how truly miraculous they are.   How can something of such  seeming otherworldly beauty and magnificence be just an accident of physics and natural law?    That we can contemplate such thoughts and be aware of such feelings as sunsets inspire, is in itself inexplicable, as mysterious as the human mind itself.

Some of the sunset pictures I have taken at Colonial Lake during the past week of so:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camas/sets/72157627181388807/