The Sunset and the Clouds

A dark blue and stormy cloud swallowed the plane. Then we rose above it and left the city lights behind. Then we sank and were next to it, the tops of the clouds loomed above us like the peaks of mountains. The sunset was gold and once we came above the cloud again I could almost believe that the cloud was something I could walk on, that it was the land and I could almost forget the land below. Every so often a small hole would open up in the cloud and I could see the city lights like stars except that they shone below me.

I could almost believe I was above the stars but I could not.

I have seen some of the most beautiful things while in planes. Things that I would die to take a photo of, but the window is always too small and too dirty and the light too dim for my camera. High above the cumulous clouds that were below the plane and on the horizon where they met the sunset there was another cloud, a stratus cloud, a quilt that almost covered the sunset but it did not.

Far far below I could still see the Dallas lights and knew there were millions of people there ignorant of the profound beauty that was above them all. It is a beauty that is reserved to travelers who experience it as special because it is not ordinary to them, and so it is beautiful. I am one of those travelers.

I had not taken seriously what my father had said that a change of scenery would be so good for my writing. I realize now that before even arriving in San Diego I already feel that my creativity has been refreshed and I shall be happy to describe the great valley that is Yosemite. I hope to write not only journalism but also fiction while I am there, though I am having fun with my entries on this trip.