Comes The End Of The Day

I've always tried to get good sunset pictures. I was looking at a post of some beautiful sunset pics the other day and thought that a page for these pics might be really nice. I hope that they convey to you some bit of the beauty that they had when the picture was taken.

This may seem a bit meloncholy, but it should considering when it was written. Still, I think it's one of the best things I've written and it is appropriate to the page. It is from the essay Back To San Nic. I hope you like it, but that it doesn't hit too close to home. That first thumbnail shown leads to a picture taken that day.

It's time to hang suits, put away gear and go for a dive in the hottub. There is no south swell, so things stayed calm as we left the island. People talk and then head for the bunks. After a few hours they start to show up on deck again for the evenings finale. The water is incredibly smooth and clear. Jellyfish can be seen as we pass. Porpoises come flying towards the boat from the sides and then go for a ride on the bow waves. Baitfish fly from the water as the porpoise come upon them.
The club members are starting to get silly and try to take group pictures of the club. I watch, always an outsider. No one speaks of the regrets about the end of the trip or the creeping hand of time that has changed us all through the years of diving together. Still, the days diving has made us all so aware of our life and memories of the past dives that have defined so much of our life, that we cannot deny or ignore its passage. We will do this as long as we can and we will remember this magic as long as we live.
The sun sets with a wonderous show of soft colors as we pass the east end of Anacapa Island. The night falls gently. We all feel cold in the wind of the boat's passage, but no one wants to leave, for the moment and the beauty are something special that will surely be gone before we can come back. Perhaps, the cold was from more than the wind.