July 12, 2019
Dear Diary: The sunsets have not been very good this week. This was our last night of vacation on Washington Island so we decided to build a fire on the beach, roast some marshmallows, and see if tonight’s sunset would be any better than the others have been.
The sky did not look very hopeful. I started a fire and, as the flames moved from tinder to kindling to fuel, I watched a stubborn cloud hanging over the western horizon. The sky was clear to the north and to the south but this cloud just crossed its arms and sat there. Kathy brought some supersized marshmallows to make those old Girl Scout favorites, S’mores! While I grumbled a bit about the boring sky, she and Eric started to prepare to roast them.
Instead of moving to the east to reveal the horizon as I had hoped, that belligerent cloud just stretched out overhead while remaining glued to the horizon. Some color began to show up along its northern edge but the sun remained well hidden.
The fire had reached perfect roasting temperature. I kept my watch on the sky while Kathy and Eric prepared their campfire treats. I’m not a big fan of roasted marshmallows and, besides, it’s not very good for your camera when you try to take pictures with marshmallow-covered fingers.
Finally, just about when the first s’mores were done, the sun started to peek out from under the clouds. It looked like there might be enough room for it to show up before it bid us adieu.
The sky was not dramatically colorful, but the sun did eventually show its face just before it dipped below the horizon.
To capture more color I dutifully put on my telephoto lens and focused on the last of the sunlit sky.
The sky over the shore to the south was not very colorful, of course, but the formerly white clouds took on warmer, softer shades in preparation for the evening.
Then, with the sun below the horizon, it was free to cast its color to higher elevations where it created a backdrop for the clouds while they finished their final scene.
Even though I had owned a box of 64 crayons in grade school, I still had trouble naming colors other than the most common ones. But, as I focused on the orange tones higher in the sky, I remembered an old Mercury that my father had once owned. People said it was salmon colored. So, maybe part of the sky was salmon colored.
As the sky darkened, thunder created a soundtrack for the closing of the day. Our cottage sat on a limestone cliff that required following a long boardwalk and climbimg up 37 steps to reach, so I decided to return my camera gear to the cottage in case we had to grab the rest of our supplies and make a run for it. Lightning started to flash but the time between the flash and the rumble indicated it was quite far away so we kept watching. I finally regretted having put my camera away so I went back to get it. I took only a few photos before the lightning stopped as quickly as if someone had flipped a switch. With the light show done, Eric used his iPhone to light our way back up the very dark stairway to the cabin.
The evening program had gone from 7:45 to 10:45. It was a great way to end the vacation, but now it’s time to pack.