What sunset?

We've all heard the old saying that a "red sky at night is a sailor's delight!" Well, don't tell anybody about our red sky here in the Northwest or we'll end up with the entire Navy here!

What I find interesting after all these years are the many different reasons people give for a red sky. Some say you should never gamble on a night with a red sky sunset. Some say it's going to rain after a red sky.

My grandmother was, among other things, first and foremost a gardener. Her flowers and especially her dahlias were always spectacular to say the least. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother in her garden because that's where she was most of the time. I still remember the one summer night when she had taken me out to the backyard with her to roll up the garden hose. The sky was red. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before even at my young age. I was scared. I didn't know what to think. Was our world ending? I didn't know!

I said, "Gramma, why is our sky so red?" She stopped what she was doing and stood there with me watching this phenomenon. She may not have known the real answer herself but what she said was something I've never forgotten! She said, "Patty, you never have to be afraid of the sky and especially a red sky. That only means we are going to have a cold winter!"

Some say a red sky means summer is almost over. Some say a red sky in the morning sunrise means it's going to be a hot day. I'm a Bible illiterate but even the Bible makes mention of a red sky, but it was my dad who I listened to, and he always said a red sky at night meant it would be good fishing the next morning. He was seldom wrong about the good fishing the next day 'cause those would be the days he would bring the fish home!

Obviously a red sky is a more important factor in our lives than most people realize. Interestingly what I've found is that seniors in the final chapter of their lives watch more sunsets than most people and if they happen to sit in on a red sky sunset they see it as just that..a red sky..a sunset they sit in awe of because it is so unique and a sunset they usually feel fortunate to have witnessed because of it's beauty.

Oftentimes I will still be so excited about the sunset I've seen the night before that the next day I will ask people, "Did you watch the sunset last night?" It's not that these people don't realize sunsets exist because they know they do, but sadly their answers are usually similar. "What sunset," or "Are you kidding me? I watched American Idol on TV last night. I couldn't miss that!"

I can only hope that when these people reach the final chapter of their lives that they don't miss out on the sunset of their lives too!