Take Every Sunset

I finally figured out the only reason to be alive is to enjoy it."
--Rita Mae Brown, American writer

Tonight the clouds finally began to clear and the rain stopped for a couple of hours. It's been so wet and dreary here in Zhongshan this week, that when Chris pointed out the night sky this evening, I immediately ran and got my camera. OK, it's not the striking sunsets in the Malaysian skies over Langkawi Island or the long shadows on the lawn in Corning, nor does it compare to the breathtaking desert skies in Arizona or the incredible blazing evenings we've experienced in Hawaii. But for Southern China, this is pretty good.

You would think with all the dust and particles in the air here that the sunsets would be magnificent. On the contrary, most evenings in Southern China just fade into dusk, and dark descends without even a flicker of brilliance. So on nights like tonight, we take notice. And, as Chris says, we take the positives when and where we can get them.

It's so easy, as we're going through the paces of everyday life here, to focus on how different it is than in the West and how difficult it can be. Perspective can be a tough thing to manage, and whether it's the challenges of work for Chris or the hassles of everyday life for me, there are many times we're simply not anxious to focus on the positives. Then, merely for the sake of sanity, you just force your mind go to that place of positive perspective, and scenes like tonight make the journey all the easier.

All things considered, our little compound here in Zhongshan is a positive place to be. We wake up to frogs croaking in the garden and birds chirping loudly in the trees. We go to sleep to the sound of crickets and know that usually means we'll wake up to blue sunny skies in the morning. Even in the rain, we can listen to water splattering on the palms or splashing in the pond. For many years in Fuzhou we lived in apartments where you couldn't even open a window, and having a terrace was a luxury we only dreamed of. Now we leave the door to the terrace open all day every day, simply because we can! Having working windows and a door that opens out onto a garden filled with flowers and plants is something we will never take for granted, and we very much enjoy and appreciate it every day. It's these things, simple as they may be, that help us realize we're not all that far away from home, and here is a place we might actually want to be.

We look forward to a time when our lives will take us to other places far away, or even those closer to home, where the evening skies will light up with a blaze of orange and yellow brilliance, and we'll once again be awestruck by what nature can accomplish. But for now, on evenings like this, looking out across our back garden, with its illuminated paths and shimmering pond, to the gym and pool complex behind the trees and the apartment buildings just beyond, we'll stop for a moment and focus on the positives right here. The beauty that's been constructed in our own back yard is quite breathtaking, and the intricate and careful combining of nature and man-made structures is impressive. That being said, while we appreciate the brilliance that comes from the man-made lighting and shimmering LED ropes, we'll continue to keep a watchful eye on the night sky over the gym, and take in every sunset we can get.