The Alchemy of Evening

After my evening supper, I decided to walk down along the seawall from Howe, to view the sunset.

By the time I reached Burrard Street the sun had disappeared and the sky had darkened with purple hued clouds, the precursor for the forecast rain showers I was sure. The temperature had also dropped.

I was already putting on my jacket but when I reached Sunset Beach, a miraculous change had developed. The setting sun, still obscured by dark clouds, but low on the horizon, had begun to filigree the horizon. The brilliant rays, shining through the dark clouds, formed a golden etched serpentine calligraphy that grew brighter with every passing moment.

I could not tell how far down the sun had set, but the hieroglyphic lines appearing in the sky seemed to me to be the very essence of art in every sense of the word.

A gray haired man in elegant blue dress shirt and lavender tie passed me and asked, with a slight English accent: “May I offer you something positive to read?” It was a copy of the Jehovah Witness magazine Awake. I refused and didn’t wish to insult him by what was on my mind, but what more positive and inspiring thing could I possibly read than nature’s own news article appearing in the evening sky?

To give him due credit he smiled back and said, “Enjoy this beautiful evening.”

An elderly tourist passing by with his wife and friends and seeing my smile put it perfectly, saying in an Aussie accent, “And it’s all FREE!”

“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” I responded, smiling back at them.

But in my thoughts I added the words, “Yes, and free in every sense of the word”.

Just when it seemed the sky could not get more beautiful, the sun emerged into the small clear space between clouds and ocean, at first like a small tear of molten gold that grew into a spendid shining mirror and finally acheived the radiance of a crimson dragon, cloaking the landscape for an unbelievable moment in purples and golds.