Another Sunset

 

I need to recharge my batteries.  I am not up to par so will just add this bit of fluff until I am able to post on an interesting subject.  

I am in what is termed the 'sunset' of my life.  Perhaps that is why I am fascinated with sunsets.  We have been having lovely ones nearly every night and I am drawn outside when I notice something like the lone pink cloud floating above the others.  (See photo at the bottom of the page.)

The cloud may appear to be lonesome, but it is getting all the glory of the sun's rays while the clouds below are dark and ominous.  I see it as a metaphor for life.  The dark days are overcome by rising above them.

I have been spending much of my time reminiscing about the past.  It all started with a dream.  I was back in Colorado in my childhood home and my mother was giving me advice.  In reality, this is something she rarely did.  She had a wonderful way of getting her point across.  I will tell you a story to illustrate that.

When I was a Senior in High School my step sister (2 years younger than I) and I had friends who lived across the street.  They had moved to Colorado Springs a few months before we met them.   Their parents left the sisters and younger brother alone for days at a time to return to their old home residence in another town.  I don't know why the parents went back to their old home so often - perhaps business. Their absence left the girls free to do as they wished.   Naturally, this meant that they did things they wouldn't do if their parents were there to supervise.  The girls had access to a car when their parents were gone and this was a rare thing for teenagers in my time.

They were the same age as my SS and me so it was a good fit.  And their access to wheels was an irresistible temptation to make friends with them.  That sounds rather mercenary, but being self absorbed and selfish is a teenage failing. 

The sisters smoked and my SS, who spent more time with them than I did, took up the habit.

One day I joined them for a ride and, since they were all smoking.   I didn't want to be left out so I tried to smoke a cigarette.  When I got home my mother was sewing and I leaned down to kiss her.  She looked up at me and said, "Darlene, I thought you were different."  End of lecture, but it was powerful.  I never joined the girls again in their smelly habit.  The point was well taken and I learned that you can't hide from your mother's nose.

And now, back to another sunset and the time of day for nostalgia.