Bermtopia-by-the-Sea: Chasing sunsets

   

True confession. I nearly burned The Miz's artisan bread on Christmas Eve. I'm pretty sure my daughter-in-law would have forgiven me. I had a good excuse. I was out chasing sunsets.

We are here on the Oregon coast, once again, for the holidays. Yes, I know. It's getting to be kind of a habit, isn't it? A good habit, I'd like to think.

This is my view as I type. 

It's been like this since Monday when we got here. In all the years I've been coming to Arch Cape (and I'm talking 55+), I've never experienced the sun in a December like this on the coast. It's magical.

But back to burning bread and chasing sunsets. . . .

An obvious dividend of these clear, sunny December days is the fact that you actually see the sun set each night.

Each one starts out so differently.

Sometimes with a silvery splash. . .

That keeps getting better. . .

and better. . .

It's hard to know when it's perfect. . . because it's pretty much perfect all the time. That's how I managed to almost incinerate our Christmas Eve bread -- standing out on the lawn, trying to get the most perfect of perfect sunset shots instead of attending to a 475 degree oven.

Last night, the late afternoon sky blazed at first . .

Before settling down and dusting the horizon with a soft, shell-pink ribbons of light. . . 

And in the south, the sky was nearly teal. . .

Until darkness fell. . .

Hushing the waves below us.