Went to watch the sky yesterday in the hills just south of town. It was mostly blue with scattered clouds. It was going on evening and the sun was moderately low to the horizon. I turned my back on the sun for a bit and watched the terminator line approach in the eastern sky. That’s the little fuzzy spot between daylight and dark. The colors off the clouds are softer there, and hard to focus on, but nice to watch and peaceful.

Then I turned my attention west. There was a band of three clouds that I knew would see the last rays of the days sun and when they did, they’d turn purple or gold and sure enough it happened, and the clouds turned colors all the way along their length. As they did, I walked down the hill so that they were almost over the top of me. My very own sunset. I took pictures, but they’re never big enough to replicate what it’s like to stand there beneath the open sky and watch the clouds change colors.

When it was over, I went home. Ate dinner, talked to a friend on the phone. Played a little music. Thought how nice it was to have a spot where I could watch the sun go down, see the last light of day turn the grass to gold and the sky to rose, then pack the memory away for a day when it might be darker, and I needed a little color to lighten the mood and chase away the gray.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale