The sun dipped below the far-away clouds, giving us a taste of the spectacle to come. We were sitting on the beach in Cozumel, Mexico, after a day of diving the sublime reefs off the coast. A few days into a dive vacation, spending all your time in and around the ocean, it’s easy to forget anything else in the world exists. The serene sea, turning a metallic blue in the fading light, the whisper of gentle waves caressing the beach, we were entering the magic hour, the transformation of day to night and the fleeting interchange that is both, neither, and something more.
The sun slipped below the thick band of clouds and painted the sky, an explosion of color radiating out from the burning center.
The dark band of clouds seemed to intensify the glowing red-hot coal of the setting sun.
The sun sizzled into the sea, seeming to to end the show, but the encore was just beginning as clouds farther back in the horizon caught the fading rays.
This cloud formation on the left flamed up like an gasoline thrown on a fire in slow motion. I stood there in awe, transfixed by the magnificence unfolding before me, the indescribable beauty.
The final remnants of color finally faded away.
That’s the wonderful thing about vacation, when you get away from the constant hustle of life and have time to watch an entire sunset evolve in front of your eyes. No distractions, nothing else to do, no where else to be. Time to just watch and absorb the radiance of the natural world.
Nothing is fixed, the world is still a frightening mess, but for awhile, it doesn’t matter. You forget about everything else in the face of overwhelming beauty, and experience peace.
42 Musings 