At sunset the vast expanse of the harsh Llano Estacado tablelands quiets frazzled souls with enchanted lullabies. It’s a mellow melody of golden prairie grasses below pinking eastern skies that reaches into hearts, yet pokes inquisitive minds. In order to appreciate the calming rise of night across eastern vistas, I shift my focus of attention away from the fiery main event in western skies.
On this early April evening, I pause on my sojourn across Rockin’ J ranchlands near Broadview, New Mexico just as the sun dips below the westward skyline behind me. Facing east, I marvel at how the curvature of the Earth casts a blue shadow at the base of clouds collected over the range. The shadow rises slowly akin a veil below tinges of reds and yellows painting cloud billows.
I learned years ago that my eyes sense these warm colors at sunsets, because they arise from longer-wavelength light waves of the sun's visible light spectrum. As such they are not readily scattered or removed by air molecules or dust in the atmosphere, even when they travel the long distances from sunset horizons to reach receptive eyes and in turn the warm approval of my heart.
© Ilija Lukić 2024
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