Ate a bowl of fruit for breakfast this morning sitting in the swing and soaking up another beautiful sultry summer morning. The baby blue sky was so pretty, covered in mackerel scale clouds, rippling and undulating across the horizon. Really looked like waves of clouds, slapping the sky. The cicadas are singing so loud they’re interrupting my pondering. Hope those guys find a mate soon!

I had to retreat to my reading chair at 11 AM because it was just too hot and too humid, even with a box fan blowing on me and Penelope, to ponder in the swing. Nothing but cardinals and one lone chickadee came to the feeders. Guess it was just too hot. Birds don’t sweat so they do have trouble in the heat. Saw a beautiful cow bird when I got up to come in the house. So pretty with all his gray and black featherings. When he flicked his tail you could see his rusty red feathers underneath. I love their glossy black intelligent eyes. He loves to feast on the suet feeders.

Came back to my favorite swing perch at 7:30 PM to watch the sun color the clouds as she lay her head down for the night. She did not disappoint tonight! She composed the most beautiful sunset with orange and yellow and pink and purple clouds. These breathtaking clouds are so brief but I captured some photos. All the beautiful hues make me yearn for the big classic box of 96 Crayola crayons. I know the colors Mother Nature and Father Sky use won’t be in the box of crayons. The colors are too splendiferous to be man made.

I decided to pretend I’m a child and my father works at Crayola so I have every color of crayon Crayola makes. I’ve picked out my crayons to color a sunset. Painters and poets have all tried to capture a sunset and so am I. Here are my Crayola crayons I chose — Jazzberry Jam, Tickle Me Pink, Radical Red, Wild Watermelon, Purple Heart, Indigo, Violet, Purple Mountain’s Majesty, Purple Pizzazz, Sunset Orange, and Sunglow Yellow. The words really sound too trite for the beauty of the sun’s painting. The colors on a ripening peach match the sunset colors perfectly tonight. Maybe I should study a peach for inspiration.

Maybe I can paint the sunset with words. The sun lowered her head tonight with a halo of orange and pearly pink clouds surrounding her radiance like a crown. Paint brushed strokes of yellow, red and watermelon clouds highlighted a yellow sky canvas and gravitated toward the setting sun. Turquoise and violet clouds floated slowly across the horizon and melded into the vibrant purple of the thunderheads. When all was quiet and the sun was down, Father Sky hung a few twinkling stars. Dark manatee colored clouds are keeping watch over the night sky.

We all see different sunsets and we all try to experience the beauty and truth of the day’s end. We know the sun will rise on another day and we’ll add colors to our lives. Our lives are layered with experiences like the colors of the sunset. Sunsets are daily reminders to live each day in the moment, to use our time well. Sunsets show us that no matter what happens the day can end beautifully. The only sure thing we know is the sun will rise again and we’ll be given another day to live and experience all life offers. And maybe a sunset shows us that the ending can be beautiful. We shouldn’t fear death but think of it as a beautiful sunset that unites us with our loved ones in heaven.

“Sunsets, like childhood, are viewed with wonder not just because they are beautiful but because they are fleeting.” – Richard Paul Evans