Sunset

Thursday, February 25, 2021

I mentioned sunset is usually my most peaceful time of day. Maybe because after a tired day, I was ready for a good meal and sleep. Maybe because day light changed to star light, more gentle but equally beautiful. Maybe the color of the sunset lying on things gave them strange colors. Maybe just because of the fading horizon. It does not matter. I just know that I enjoyed it every single time, no matter how many times I have seen the same sunset. I feel lucky to be able to enjoy sunset in California.

Even when living near USC campus, I enjoyed sitting on the grass of the "highest hill", watching sunset with people passing underneath. Around USC campus is not a super safe area but I felt safe and relaxed walking back home after sunset. Moving to Irvine area with a car and 15-30 minutes to beaches, I loved it even more. Vast, fresh, colorful, and full of love. Sunset with the sound of crashing waves is perfect for me.

I felt this sunset mood in my hometown in Vinh Phuc, but not in Hanoi. Maybe Hanoi was too busy and noisy. Maybe I was surrounded by buildings. Maybe the dust covered everything. Maybe I just did not spend time for it. I found other peaceful time of day in Hanoi, but not sunset and not so often.

And the sunset here is just way more colorful than any sunset I ever saw in Vinh Phuc or Hanoi. We were often taught that a rainbow as 7 colors, ranging from red to purple. Let's keep it simple that way. During a sunset here, I can see from red in the west to purple in the east with multiple colors in the middle. Adding to that is the mixture of fat-yellow sunlight and colors of grass, trees, flowers, houses, cars, and people. Two photos in Deer Canyon Park below are taken almost at the same time. These photos are taken straight out of the camera without any filter. I tried to keep photos as close to the real scenes as possible because believe me when I say the view is much more beautiful than what these camera can capture. No filter needed.

We are not just chasing the sunset. We tried to enjoy and play with it as much as possible. It is really cool to have dinner or to play sport here, like shuttlecock kicking.

Here are a few more.

And here is one of my favorite. This photo was taken almost at the same time with the first photo in this post.