A sunset is where you find it .... is it not?

Sunrise, and a new beginning. The day is new. Life is new. So, then, what is sunset? The end of something? Most certainly. The end of another day .... another day without you. But, might the sunset signal not only an ending, but a beginning? Sunset signals the arrival of darkness, and darkness offers the opportunity to fade away within it .... to disappear .... to vanish. Darkness offers the opportunity for stealth and for invisibility. It is like the myth of the American cowboy: To ride off into the sunset. (Interpretations welcome.) By the way, this sunset was captured on the South Dakota/Nebraska border -- sort of in cowboy country. As for the music, ladies and gentlemen, tonight we offer Don Dokken and associates. The initial piece is from way back when (1987) and the second performance is sort of from now (2002) .... hmmm .... now? .... well, what is a decade among friends? Anyway, the songs pretty much play into the theme of my words and the photograph. Or, am I wrong?

 

In which direction to run, that is the question

In November 2010, an acquaintance of mine was told that he had cancer and, in all probability, his days were numbered. Count the months between then and now. A bit fewer than thirty-two months. About two years, eight months. Roughly one hundred, thirty-seven weeks. That is how long he lived after learning his likely fate.

Quite naturally in light of this, I have been absorbed in thoughts about how I have spent the past two years, eight months -- considering the things I have done, thinking about the places I have been, wondering about what I have accomplished and failed to accomplish.

I have complained that the last two years have been among the least satisfying in my life and that, in some ways, I have felt as though I have been bound in chains and carried an albatross around my neck. Melodramatic? Maybe, but that has been my mood and my sense of myself since the autumn of 2010.

So, how am I going to spend the next two years? As one element of it, I have been building up to making another "run" in September or October. A "run" is my way of saying another plunge into a manner of life different from/different than my usual style of existence. If the "run" lasts for a year or longer, in my personal vocabulary I define it as an "incarnation." Anyway, terminology aside .... my initial thought for the destination of my next "run" is once again Europe, but ....

But. There always is a "but" or a "maybe" .... there always is a bit of indecisiveness before leaping off any cliff into any sea.

And, besides that, no matter how quickly one "runs," there never is enough time to "run" everywhere, and ....

Everywhere and anywhere are constantly undergoing change. Even if you or I could reach everywhere tomorrow, the next day it (or they) would be different in many ways. Some people would be gone and others would have arrived. Buildings and landscapes would have changed even as the seasons change. So, how does one choose wisely?

Never enough time, never enough sunsets ....

What if some term of time -- two to three years -- was all there was left for you and you knew it? How would you live your life? Where would you go? What would you do? And, even if this were not the situation, if you have the freedom and the ability to do so, why not live like your tomorrows are numbered?

So, where to go .... where to "run".... where to search for possibly the next "incarnation" .... any thoughts? Any suggestions? Any advice?