bevedog

We have had some pretty extravagant sunsets in Colorado Springs this week. The kind of sunsets that led to Shanon texting me yesterday, “Another amazing sunset tonight” to make sure I didn’t miss it.

Sunsets are photographic cliches, but I grabbed my new compact digital camera and headed to the fourth floor balcony of the library.

As I came on the doors onto the balcony I could see the clouds to the southeast which were gray, but huge and billowing, and I said “oh, shit.”

A student sitting in the shadows said “I know, right?”

I took a few photos. Two more students came out on the balcony to watch the sunset.

We sat for a bit, and then one of those students said “I’m from California, so I’m not usually impressed by the sunsets here, but they have been great this week.” The other student who had just joined us said, “What’s special about the ones in California?” and I replied, “It’s really nice to see the sun just disappear into the Pacific Ocean.” She acknowledged that sounded cool, but also said “I’m from Nebraska and it’s funny there, because it’s so flat and empty, you can be in the most run-down parking lot and then turn around and there is a huge sunset behind you.”

We talked about Colorado Springs parking lots that frame Pikes Peak, and sat and watched the sunset for a bit longer.

The student from California said to me, “you helped me with a research paper earlier this semester and I appreciated it. Next year when I write my thesis I’ll make sure and get in touch.”

“Oh, good!” I said. “Thanks for telling me that. Where are you from in California?”

He said he was from Berkeley, “in the Bay Area.”

“Cool, I’m familiar with Berkeley.”

The three of us talked about the pros and cons of California for a bit as the sun went down further and the clouds darkened. The student from Nebraska cheerfully said, “I’ll say with my whole chest that I think Nebraska is better than California!”

We laughed. I said to the Berkeley student, “how about that, you get a beautiful sunset and a hot take.” I wished them good night and went inside.

But yeah, don’t bother taking photos of sunsets. They are a cliche and never look as good in photographs as they do in real life.