Sunrise & Sunset

It's that time of year in these parts when the sun is low in the sky and creates these beautiful views in the sky. Normally I love a sunset with clear skies, but autumn sunsets are way more spectacular with patchy clouds. Where I live, I could never see a clear sunrise or sunset. The view is obscured by buildings in both directions.

I call it the indirect sunset. You know that somewhere, someone is observing a very nice view of the sun ducking behind the horizon. A friend of mine that lives in a high-rise building in East London, who also has the good fortune of a north-facing balcony, observes both the sunrise and sunset totally without obstruction from the comfort of her living room (or balcony).

It made me think how many people have never seen a proper sunrise or sunset! That's got to be millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people! Imagine, there are people living in highly dense cities, or in mountainous or hilly towns, e.t.c, that have never had the privilege of going up a mountain, high-rise building or a coast where one could observe an eastern or western horizon. They'd also have to be there at the right time and on a non-cloudy day.

It got me thinking of how many sunsets and sunrises I've witnessed in my lifetime. Actually, not that many! A lot of the ones I've seen have been in photographs or videos. I've seen some on night flights. I've seen one from my friend's 11th floor flat. I saw quite a few on the Canary Islands but bizarre clouds would often move in just in time to deny me the pleasure.

I'm willing to bet I've seen fewer than 50 in real life.

What I've seen an awful lot of, however, are these indirect ones - the suggestive reflections in the clouds, and even the moon. The dark gold hues reflected from the top part of the towers of concrete in the City of London while I'm having a late evening walk or meeting a friend. I've seen thousands of those.

Peace & Love,

Adé