1. Just Before Sunset
The day had been hot. But now the sun was going down behind a thunderhead in the west, lighting up the margins of the great towering cloud silver agains a blue sky. And a cool breeze was blowing.
Storms were approaching from the east, with flashing bolts of lightning against the grey/blue clouds and rumbling thunder coming from far away. And rays from the setting sun behind that thunderhead behind me in the west was shining on those storm clouds in the east, and a pastel rainbow revealed a distant rain.
Guinness came up beside me from some sniffing expedition at a favorite spot along the fence at the edge of the field. He saw me gazing eastward toward a grove of Flameleaf Sumacs at the edge of the woods, and he trotted off to where I was looking—straight toward the rainbow.
2. Just After Sunset
After our walk, I sat down in a chair in the driveway—a spot I’ve found that is safe from mosquitos for a while in the evening. A wind out of the east brought the smell of rain and cool air.
From beyond the western horizon, the just-set sun illuminated the undersides of the clouds overhead, and the sky was glowing, and the leaves of the Monterey Oak and Texas Persimmon radiated a deep hue of green that haven’t seen for a long time.
And as I sat there watching the green leaves and pink clouds, four Screech Owls came gliding silently into the branches of the Ash tree above me and sat motionless in the branches. I whistled my A-song to them, and they bobbled their heads, trying to get a better fix on that thing sitting in the chair on the ground below them. And then they flew off.
The sky was no longer pink and the green of the leaves was gone.
And then the mosquitos found me.