chasing down the sunset

“hey babe! grab your camera!  we’ve got five minutes til the sun goes down.  it’s gonna be a good one!”

these were tripp’s words as he hollered from the front door sunday evening.

please…i know…i could just die sometimes this man is so sweet to me.

i happened to be upstairs working on some pictures from earlier that day, but i’ve come to learn that when tripp says i don’t want to miss something, i’m going to grab my camera and come running.

sorry babe…i’m going to pass on that gigantic garden spider currently residing in the basement window well.  {{shudder}}

anyway, i grabbed my camera and the SD card out of my computer.  i slipped on my flip-flops and hurried down the stairs to meet tripp at the front door.

the minute i got outside, i could tell from the soft peach tones of the sky that it would be a pretty sunset. and as we pulled out onto the main road i could see the sun, glowing bright gold off in the horizon.

as we drove down to the river, the sun was sinking fast.  and about the time we got down to the parking area, it had already gone behind the bridge.

i walked to the edge of the river trail.  through the bridge, i could see the sun just barely hovering over the horizon and all i could think was, ‘man i wish i could get down there’.

i looked back up at tripp sitting in the truck checking his phone.  and then i looked down the embankment.  and it just so happened that because of the construction in the area, there was a ramp that led right down to the river.  yes.

and it was there at the bottom of the ramp i caught a glimpse of the sun as it slipped below the trees.

now i’ve photographed enough sunsets to know that real magic happens in the few minutes after the sun actually sets.  so i stood there for a minute waiting for the magnificent colors that would set the sky on fire. and just as i knew it would, the sky turned a million shades of coral and magenta.  with the added bonus of the river water there to reflect all the glory.

the only problem was that the bridge was in my way.

so i stood there with my camera. i looked back up towards the river bank….then looked in all directions to check for anything that looked really dangerous.  and i decided that i would see if i could traipse through the construction paths to get a better shot of the water.

so i set out in my flip-flops through the mostly-empty riverbed.  under the bridges, through the pylons.

so clearly….flip-flops were not the wisest choice in footwear.  but then again, i didn’t expect to find myself in what felt like a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic movie scene either.  but you know – go big or go home right?  and i was sooooo close.

so i kept on going, squishing my way across the mud.  with one eye looking out for suspicious characters and the other for rusty nails.  laughing to myself.  thinking, ‘oh my God my mother would kill me if she saw me doing this.’

i know you might be thinking…why all trouble for a sunset picture?

well here’s why.  this is what i knew was waiting for me on the other side.

#worthit

so next thing was to try to retrace my path back up to the river bank.  which thankfully i was able to do with no harm to life or limb.  and about that time, here comes tripp…wondering what in the world i could have been taking pictures of down there.

oh you know…nothing major…just a little glimpse of God’s glory is all.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship. ~Psalm 19:1

amen.

love, kelly