MARCH 23, 2006
The
beauty of the sun setting in the west, especially when the sky changes color and the pink and purple make us stand back in awe, is an inner joy that only each one of us can describe for ourselves. However, sunsets are not the same as in days of old, and the sailors saying 'red sky at night, sailor's delight - red sky in the morning, sailor take warning' is no longer always accurate. One month ago tonight, after the California rains, the sunset over Sunset Boulevard was spectacular, because the rains had a cleansing effect on the air.
However, red sky at night may signal everything is not just right over the horizon.
Red sky at night may be the result of pollution. Sunsets are filtered through the air we breathe and if that air is polluted the sunsets colors are artificial, though occasionally a beautiful blood-orange in color. As we are quick to admit, you can not judge a book by its cover, you can no longer judge a sunset by its color.
Our living room window faces south so we do not see sunsets on a daily basis, but we often go down to the beach at the time of the sunset because its setting has great appeal. We have always tried to see the green flash, and we are still not convinced that it exists, thought there is a greenish hue that appears as the sun sinks into the sea, but we keep looking for that little flash that people swear by as the sun disappears into the Pacific Ocean.
Over time we have witnessed hundreds of sunsets and hope to witness hundreds more. A sunset after an off shore wind differs from a sunset after a rain or during an on shore wind. Los Angeles is a collection of almost 200 communities and 17 million call it home. The air quality, though better today than 30 years ago, is still the 2nd or 3rd worst in the nation. When the wind blows the polluted air towards the Pacific Ocean the color of the sky changes and the sun is filtered to a different hue and color. Few people probably know the subtle difference, but once again nature is telling us to keep working for fuel efficient alternative vehicles and more sustainable buildings in the LA basin so that the air is cleaner.
I love to point out the cloud patterns and colors associated with a setting sun, especially to children, and the beauty of tomorrow's sunset will depend on our choices today - it is a fact that the sunset's colors are a direct result of the quality of the air we breathe.
--Peter