The one where each color was more beautiful than the last.... the one where you couldn't help but find yourself grateful, for once, for pollution and the way it made the colors ten times more beautiful...the one you knew you shouldn't stare at for so long because it was bad for your eyes and you knew you'd be suffering a throbbing headache later....the one you wish you could have kicked into slow motion because the person watching it with you wouldn't be there for the next one...the one that gave you a sliver of beauty and hope while driving a long and mournful roadtrip... the one that made Iron and Wine's "Such Great Heights" make so much more sense... the one your camera didn't do justice... the one your plane chased down while flying across the country.
I had a dear friend visit me a few days ago and even though we both were exhausted from a busy week, the first thing I did was take him to the beach. I feel obligated to take "non-west-coast-ians" to the beach first thing. I also feel selfish, because I love the people-watching opportunities at the beach almost as much as I love the sunset; hence, I take my guests with cheerful obligation. We walked the pier, talked, people-watched, and allowed the sunset to mesmerize our tired eyes.
We took a playful stroll down the beach and aside from too many couples making out in the sand, we saw something that didn't strike me as beautiful until now... a week later. A man was walking down the beach, drawing the same phrase in the sand every few feet: "I love...". He never finished the phrase. We stole a glance at him and he caught our eyes. He had a snicker of a gleam in his eye... as if he expected us to finish the sentence for him. We didn't, but I wish we would have.
In todays world, I think everyone would have a loss as to what goes after the "i love...". I have at times. Sometimes I busy up life so much I don't even know what I love anymore. Who I love. What dreams I love. Why I love. What I love about myself. Who I should love. Why I don't love.
So often we're searchinig for what we love, yet we don't separate ourselves from the world long enough- not even a walk down the beach- to draw in the sand or settle deep within ourselves what it is we love. Who we love. What dreams we love. Why we love. Why we don't love.
Today I choose to fill in the blank.
Because sunsets and I have quietly accompanied each other during some of the most sacred and beautiful moments in my life.
Here's to filling in the blank...
...I love sunsets.
