Sunset City
Oh, sunsets! It always feels like such a treat to witness a beautiful sunset. I still remember the first time I fell in love with the beauty of sunsets. I was a school kid coming back from a field trip at the State's capitol. We had fancy buses that had TV's and I remember they were playing 'The Sandlot' which was a very popular movie in my day. But out the window was a beautiful sunset and I was too enthralled with that to pay the movie any mind!
While walking home recently, I saw quite the lovely sunset. One thing I like about sunsets is it is not just that they make the sky beautiful, but the lighting from sunsets makes everything glow with a lovely rosy hue.
A common sailors saying is "Red sky at night, sailors delight! Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning." Sailors are known to have all sorts of interesting superstitions. A sailors life is very unpredictable. While sailing across the turbulent sea, a sailor is at the mercy of unpredictable forces. So superstitions can be a comfort. One sailor superstition that I really like is that black cats are good luck! I wish the world would see black cats as good luck. Black cats have the most difficult time getting adopted because people think they are bad luck.
There may be no proof regarding the superstition of black cats supposed luck or bad luck, but there is proof that red skies at night are indeed a sailors delight. Red skies mean that the sky is full of dust particles that the setting sunlight is streaming through. This means that there is high pressure in the air. High pressure indicates stable air flowing in from the west. Stable air flow means good weather, and the sailor can rest (more) assured that his days of sailing will be less full of danger. Of course good weather can't predict whether or not a sea monster will emerge from the murky depths and gobble up a ship full of sailors.
If the sky is red in the morning, it means that the good weather has already left. It also means there is much water in the air. Watery air means rain! Rain means storms! Storms mean wild rides for sailors!
Where I grew up, we had lots of smog. The smog would sometimes make the sunsets all the more glorious. There is something sad about the very thing killing off the natural world simultaneously increasing the beauty of the natural world. It seems counter intuitive. Sometimes I feel guilty finding smog sunsets beautiful. I know what they are made of, but I can't help to find the blast of colors captivating.
Sources:
"Is the Old Adage “Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight. Red Sky in Morning, Sailor’s Warning” True, or Is It Just an Old Wives’ Tale?"Is Red Sky at Night, Sailor’s Delight,Red Sky in Morning, Sailor’s Warning True? Everyday Mysteries. Library of Congress, 2 Oct. 2014. Web. 31 Aug. 2016. <https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/weather-sailor.html>.