Sunset over the Med…

In my previous post I mentioned the beautiful sunset I had witnessed while crossing the Mediterranean from Cyprus to Turkey…

Here are a few photos I managed to take of the event… And what an event it was…!!

The sun is obscured by a bank of clouds... Something told me that we were in for something special...

While up on the deck, I noticed banks of clouds scudding across the sky, and looking out at the sun that was beginning to hang lower, I figured that the ingredients for a great sunset were falling into place…!!

I put my spare battery into the camera and positioned myself near the railing, leaning against the cold steel of the funnel… I stood there for the next hour or so, rooted to the spot by the beauty above and in front of me…

As it sinks lower, the Sun floods the sky with a burst of bright light...

Down a notch, and the fireball is revealed in all it's glory...

A shaft of gold streaked across the water towards me…as if pointing me out…!! I felt my throat constrict and a pinprick behind my eyes… Even though the air was getting colder, I felt the warmth of the suns dying rays on my face…

Then, as if in a last show of defiance, the sky was set ablaze…

Painting the sky with red, orange and gold...

Then I caught that special moment between night and day… Up above me the sky was still blue, and yet far out over the water the sun was retreating, like a fireball into the sea, turning my world upside down…

Was this a sunrise or a sunset…?? It could have been either…!!

Heaven in two halves...

A few of the truck drivers had noticed the awestruck look on my face, and got up off their benches to come and see what had captivated me… I remember feeling so small and insignificant in the face of this magnificent display, and at the same time so privileged to be witnessing it… For perhaps five full minutes we stood together, staring out to the west… Not a word was spoken… We all felt the power, and saw the glory…

Only the Great Artist in the sky could have thrown all these colours together onto one canvas...!!

The sun sinks beneath the horizon leaving the bellies of the clouds tinted with gold...

I felt as though I had been holding my breath for ages… Watching while the battle between night and day was fought out in the heavens above me…

And then it was gone... And the sky finally gave itself up to the night...

I have always wondered why we more often than not rush to witness a sunset, but hardly ever get up to watch it rise again… Sunrise seems to come in a rush, eager to to light up the sky and begin a new day… Sunset seems to take it’s time… Forcing us to look longer, perhaps to make us reflect on the day that has just passed…

Or perhaps it is to remind us of the beauty that is all around, urging us to take the time to see it all…

Either way, sunsets have always had a special effect on Man, and today, for me, the one I just witnessed, is tattooed on the inside of my skull…

It was simply magnificent…!!

©GBWT 2010