Steel, Sunsets, and Serenity

Sunset: When the Day Quietly Passes Into the Night [print-me]

I love the end of October and the month of November for it seems that during this season of the year the creator of the universe pauses and takes out his painter’s pallet, pastel acrylics, and His sable hair paint brushes, and with broad strokes begins to paint the western skies. He commences washing the twilight canvas with soft colors of the rainbow. Then with quick punctuated dabs and strokes of his brushes, He randomly scores brighter colors. As the minutes tick down to when the sun silently slips below the rim of the Pacific, the western sky begins to glow in soft, and soothing pastels so surreal, gorgeous, and breathtakingly brilliant that words, when breathlessly uttered, are often singular in one’s description. It is during these moments of calm that words such as: Wow, beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, glorious, magnificent, magical, amazing, breathtaking, extraordinary, pretty, tranquil, and many other descriptors come to mind. Sunsets are often taken for granted in this fast-paced technological age. So commonplace are they, these daily astronomical events, that we forget to pause and enjoy the moment when the day passes into the night: Memories are made of these. 🔨

This first sunset photo was taken (11.28.17) of the construction site on the evening of November 28, 2017, after all of the base isolators had been anchored to the foundation floor. Today, from this angle these iconic towers are obscured from view. 🔨

In this moment in time on the evening of April 23, 2018, the top floors of the existing Medical Center still tower some seven stories above the steel frame of the new hospitals being constructed. As the beautiful sunset accentuates the structures of healing, it will not be long until the height of the new towers overshadows the old.🔨

On the evening of July 17, 2018, the temporary LED lights of the project seem to meld in with the last light of the western sky.  🔨

The Making of a Sunset: From Dark and Gloomy Clouds to Stunning Pastels

Two minutes after sunset (4:52 PM): When this photo was taken, in the evening of November 1, 2018, the clouds to the west looked dark and foreboding. A colorful sunset was doubtful.🔨

Ten minutes later: Imagine, being at the Pageant of the Masters and the scene is of an iconic multistory steel structure towering above the other buildings in the area. The dark clouds in the background made the audience wonder why such a painting was selected. Suddenly, the director orders the stage lights turned off, and the safety lights surrounding the bowl dimmed. A hush comes over the crowd. Momentary darkness. Suddenly the lights. Stage lights. To the crowd’s amazement the painting had been transformed. The dark and foreboding looking clouds had given way to the soft yet brilliant colors from the wheel of pastels. Ahhh… Sunset. Ahhh…a Stunning Sunset: When the day passes quietly into the night.🔨

November 2, 2018: Friday nights sunset was less brilliant yet beautiful with the quiet colors fanning out from both sides of the steel structure. 🔨

November 3, 2018: Broad strokes of brilliant colors saturate the western sky. 🔨

November 4, 2018: Again with broad strokes of kaleidoscopic colors to end the day and close out a restful weekend, the Creator of the Universe bids us good night. 🔨

November 11, 2018: The bright pastels of the twilight have given way to the sweet silver song of the evening sky — DEP. 🔨

November 16, 2018: Fluffy Cirrocumulus Clouds Bid the Day Adieu.

November 28, 2018: Nimbus clouds gather at sunset. Could that mean rain by tomorrow? It is Southern California, you know. I’ll believe it when I feel it! Hey Mable, where is the umbrella? Compare this image with the sunset of November 27, 2017.

Day is Dying in the West

The last of the November, 2018 sunset photos. This image (using the LLU webcam camera 4) is a composite of eight photographs taken over a span of 33 minutes and stacked using photoshop to produce this sunset image.                    November 30, 2018.