I woke up this morning to bird songs and cool breezes pinging the wind chimes. The morning was gorgeous with bright warm sunshine and dark blue skies. I walked Penelope and thought about how the sun kisses the earth awake each day as she warms its fertile soil. Saw the first of the wild purple violets blooming in the yard next door. Had to search my brain to remember a quote I had scribbled on the back of a notepad last night. “Just follow the day and reach for the sun,” The Polyphonic Spree. This quote defines my retirement. I follow each day as it goes by and I’m always reaching for the sun, her warmth, her beautiful pageant of sunset.

I got enthralled by a flock of brown headed cowbirds late afternoon and forgot to watch the beginning of the sunset so I have no idea what color the sun was gowned but I did see the beautiful pageant stage Mother Nature painted. Her watercolor layers of peach, aqua and pink were brushed across the golden horizon, gleaming in the dusk’s light. A high stage backdrop of mackerel scale clouds were sun kissed white on their crowns, their bellies washed in baby pink watercolors. As twilight crept across my neighborhood, the sunset sighed and the sun turned off the day’s light. Father Sky kissed the sun goodnight and waked the moon and stars to begin the pageantry of night to be performed on the velvet black sky canvas. Another wondrous day ending with the promise of another glorious tomorrow.

“Sunrise paints the sky with pinks and sunsets with peaches. Cool to warm. So is the progression from childhood to old age,” Vera Nazarian. Been searching for sunset quotes this afternoon and there are so many wonderful ones to choose from. Comparing the sunrise and sunset paintings to our lives intrigues me. Life is so beautiful in its array of colors and yet life is so simple. We begin like the sun waking, warm in our mother’s love like the sunrise ray’s of yellow warming the earth. Shades of colors are added to the layers of our lives as we mature. We start out in pale pinks and pale blues and mature to purples and peaches. There is always darkness but we have the glorious sunrise lighting our path, starting each new day’s journey with her warmth.

I was watching the watercolors of the sunset tonight, so beautiful in their simplistic shades of blue and pink. I watched the colors slowly shade the horizon in pale shades of gold, peach, and huckleberry. As the twilight bloomed across the earth, I then watched the watercolors darken. The deep aqua of the bottom layers, resting on the skyline, symbolize the end of life, the end of a vibrant day; the lighter peach and pink layers, brushed closest to the heavens, symbolized the golden gates of heaven. As we travel through life with our faith in God, we add many wondrous colors to our sunrises and sunsets.

The sun rising and the sun setting are simple gifts from God that help us see that the ending of each day can be as beautiful as the beginning of each day. These magnificent renderings teach us to enjoy life because life quickly disappears just like beautifully painted sunsets and sunrises. We all experience different situations in our lives, both joyful in bright colors and sorrowful in dark colors. These experiences teach us life lessons and show us God’s love is always with us. There will be darkness in our lives but each day we have the glorious sunrise to mark a new day’s journey, a new beginning. Nothing will keep that glowing sun from rising on another new day.

God’s love radiates in the beautiful colors of each sunrise and each sunset. Find time to watch a day’s blooming sunrise or a day’s ending sunset. Let the new day’s beginning be a new opportunity to enjoy life with God’s grace. Live life in the present and be grateful for every blessing.

“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.” – Mahatma Gandhi