Evening flames

Evening skies can be boring or beautiful. This one was just too lovely to pass up and though the shot is blurry, you get the idea of the glorious sky that suddenly appeared, turning the countryside black against what appears to be a flaming backdrop and making me run for my camera.

Sunsets mean so many different things to people, some see them as beautiful but melancholy if they dislike the dark. Others see them as a time for reverie, romance and   reflection.

And some hardly notice them.

From Wikipedia: The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west. Due to refraction of light in the atmosphere, the ray path of the setting sun is highly distorted near the horizon making the apparent astronomical sunset occur when the sun’s disk is already about one diameter below the horizon. Sunset should not be confused with dusk, which is the moment at which darkness falls, when the sun is about eighteen degrees below the horizon. The period between the astronomical sunset and dusk is called twilight.

Sunsets have always bee important in my family - when we are all together we often gather to raise a glass to departed members other relatives or friends. Sometimes we just stand or sit without speaking, but watching with a feeling of peace as the sun sinks below the horizon, leaving the sky for another day.

What do sunsets mean to you and yours I wonder?