Peace and Quiet

I am convinced that just about everyone everywhere enjoys watching winter take its leave each year. 

Everyday this week between 7 and 8pm I have noticed something. It's been a happy feeling. I can compare it to the feeling I used to get just before the school bell rang to signal  lunch time or better yet, the end of the school day. 

Even now that I haven't sat in a classroom for nearly 10 years, I tend to think of 3:30 as my favorite time of day. 

This week may have changed that. These quiet moments as the sun is setting, I have been looking out of the window to see its final rays peaking through the trees. The street lights begin to come on, the sounds of civilization begin to quiet down, and the wind dies down. 

Before I know it, the sky is dark and filled with stars. 

What I have been enjoying isn't the sunset itself - I can't see that from my window. What I have been enjoying is the light that it casts. It's a different light, surely, you know the one that I mean. A light that reminds me of warm summer nights and lightning bugs and porch swings.


The difference between this...

Cape Cod © Victoria 2010

and this.

Cape Cod © Victoria 2010

These pictures were taken on the same day, at the same beach, just moments apart. 

I love how something so common, something so familiar, can be so beautiful!