Sunsets

I have a confession: I have never stayed up all night to watch the sun rise. I know it is a quintessential adolescent thing to do; movies are chocked full of scenes of youth partying all night, watching the sun rise from a hill top and then sneaking in the back door to hopefully avoid tipping the parents off that you didn't come home the night before.

I am certainly not rebellious. I have however, taken early morning flights (think 5 am departure times to attend conferences and travel to visit friends) and have seen the sun rise while on a plane. Given my sleep and work schedule though, it seems more realistic to pencil in plans to watch the sun set rather than rise.

I relish sunsets. As Edmonton is quite far north, the sun hasn't been setting until after 9 pm lately. Last night, my mom and I caught a stunning sunset that washed the high rises of downtown in a flaming orange light. The sky was streaked with pinks, reds and oranges. The skyscrapers looked something like this:

Photo via Eyebex.

I am making myself a promise to pay more attention to sunsets. They're a beautiful facet of life on the prairie. I would love to watch a sunset over the glacier in Banff National Park at Glacier View Inn or on a hot air balloon. Sunsets will have to make up for the fact that I still haven't seen the Northern Lights.