Wondrous Sunset Reflects Family Visit

Sunset September 25, 2011, Marlowe, OK

My son, grandson, and I drove home to Oklahoma from the World Championship Horse Show in Ft. Worth to their  home in OK. My son helped me set up living quarters in the camper outside their house. This visit was a rare occasion, one I have been wanting to do. I miss connecting with family, even envy friends who get to spend time with their children and grandchildren often.

 After my grandson was in bed, I made my way out to the camper, excited to be sleeping outside under the stars - another thing I enjoy and haven't done for years . The luxurious pop out camper has a metal roof and zipper flaps to open to a screened in view of the vast night sky.

I had left an overhead light on and when I opened the camper door and stepped inside, I inhaled a swarm of "noseeums", a southern colloquialism for tiny fruit fly like bugs named so because they are not necessarily visible to the average eye. I went back to the house to get a wet towel to swish them away, did so, then found my way in the dark but bugless air, to bed, a bit leery now of this venture.

Exhausted from a pricelessly precious weekend with family, I fell right to sleep.

The next day, accustomed to living in Florida where bugs are a way of life, I cleaned out all the nooks and crannies of the camper - anywhere a bug might hide. I was determined to enjoy this chance to breathe the fresh air and feel it on my skin.
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The rest of the day was a whirlwind day with the rest of the family returning, unpacking, and grandson's soccer game. Delightfully exhausted again, at the end of the day, yet really unable to sleep from the miracle of spending time with family, I sat in the bed  watching the sun set and listening to the coyote's howl and cows moo in the near distance - and the practice bombs exploding on the Army base.

All day, hot and sunny as it was, the skies held a shapely array of cumulus clouds.  As I watched the sun set, I realized that I was watching an extraordinary sight. The combination of the atmosphere and the now distant clouds in the west were painting a marvelous art form in the sky.

I grabbed my camera and shot until the sky was totally dark and the stars appeared at the top of the sky through the screened in camper.

I rested on my back and stared at the stars, reflecting on the visit so far, eagerly anticipating an upcoming tomorrow.

Will it be wonderful?  The sunset said it all.

When is a time you felt the beauty of the dance of nature painting a reflection of your Soul?