晨读美文
For my money, a good sunset is the cheapest shot of wonder out there.Think of it —bursts of incandescent energy that can curl your toes,warm your soul, and prove cost effective all at the same time.The iciest hearts on the planet can be thawed by the heaven’s burnished flame.Countries sitting down for peace talks ought to begin with a joint viewing of rose-dipped hues and golden halos merging into growing flowers of light. And for romance, this daily dose of celestial seduction is just what the love doctor ordered.When first meeting the incredible woman who is now my wife,I quickly caught what Bonnie was about when I asked the age-worn question, “So, what do you do?”“I chase sunsets,” she replied. I was a goner.I’m not sure if that was the exact moment when I fell in love,but it was, at least, the start of my descent.Cut to our honeymoon and one of my favorite settings in the world—Ireland, the Emerald Isle.One day we were traveling from the city of Galway toward the Ring of Kerry.Late in the afternoon we discovered that a boat up ahead could ferry us across a tributary and save some four hours’ driving time.I made for the last launch, a mere ten minutes and eighteen kilometers away.With luck, and no livestock crossings, we would just make it.All of a sudden Bonnie called out, “Stop!”Dutifully, I pulled over.Bonnie pointed to the sky.It was the sunset.Not just any sunset.This clearly was a masterpiece.Getting out, we drank deep of a heavenly show of amber and golden hues,rose finger clouds painting the broad canvas of sky.The bridge would wait another day.The Ring of Kerry wasn’t going anywhere.Bonnie and I inhaled the magnificent sunset like ambrosia.Sunsets, and sunrises for that matter, are gifts served up in plentiful procession.It’s one of life’s ways of taking a simple pause, marking the day.If we’re too busy, caught in the whirlwind of our own manufacturing, we miss the magic.What is required in order to drink the heady miracle of morning or evening lightis a consciousness of how we use the time allotted to us each day.Pausing for a moment, we willingly open our spirits to the gifts of the universe.These are indeed the gifts that help make life this good.