Goodnight, Sun!

  There is just something so peaceful about watching the sun set.  The day ending also brings an end to much of the turmoil of our lives. Darkness brings calm and quiet.  If I get the chance to scoot down to the pier and watch the sun slide down behind the pines, I feel that my day has been a success. All of the day's hustle and bustle slides down the horizon with that big, old orange ball.  'Tis time for rest.

  Back when I was a kid, the setting sun had a weird effect on me.  I can remember how I used to imagine that all the world was preparing for slumber.  (Back then, it never occurred to me that it would be a tad difficult for the sun to set at the same time worldwide but in the young, uneducated brain of a five year old..bedtime was bedtime for everyone. I thought of how all of the characters in my storybooks were finishing their porridge and turning back the covers on their beds.  It was great! Perhaps this was some ruse of my folks to get me to sleep but I figured if everyone else was sleeping then it was time for me to go as well. There was simply no use in staying awake if there was no one to play with me.  I would mentally start to prepare for bedtime as soon as the sun was turning the blue sky in to the dark oranges and reds.  If that sun was going to sleep, then so was I!

  So, that said, I will bid you a goodnight and hope that you, too, can leave your worries behind you and have a most peaceful night's sleep.