Sunsets

The sun setting on a perfect long weekend

At our cottage, every sunset is celebrated like it is the first and the last.

The celebration usually starts with the family crowded on any available chair around the dinner table with glasses of wine and barbecued treats consumed over laughter and memories. Then someone will notice a glow off their glass or reflection in the window - double check to make sure it isn't the fire roaring out of control - and interrupt all the chatter to let everyone know that tonight, like every night, the sun is setting.

Firey light bouncing off the needles of pine trees and the ripples of a quiet lake.

No matter where we are in the meal or a great game of 21, this announcement is met with honest enthusiasm. All who are able leap from their seats to grab the nearest camera and crowd onto the dock. We remark on what the sunset is telling us about the weather the next day and how it has shifted setting points from nights before. We contemplate a late night swim that we know will never happen and make note in our minds about how much better we all look in the glow of a sunset.

It is always the perfect closure to a cottage day.

Happy Friday.