Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise and sunset are two of our most favorite times of day. We could stand on top of Fort Jefferson and watch the sun rise out of the ocean and go back to the same spot and watch it set in the ocean. However, we found sitting in our camp chairs, drinking a little "gatoraide" to be the most relaxing.

The first sunset on Monday was very subdued with pale pinks and blues.

The next morning, Tuesday, brought clear and cloudless skies.

Tuesday night we climbed to the top of Fort Jefferson and watched the sun set with two other campers, Toni and Jim. We got to talking about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and forgot to take a picture of the sunset.  Oh, well, there were no clouds and it wasn't very impressive.

However, the next morning, we were up bright and early in time to catch the sunrise over Bird Key as the Sooty Terns were getting ready to head out to do some fishing.

Our last sunset on Wednesday was probably the most spectacular!  Here Mr. Pelican takes a break from fishing to enjoy the show.  Our friend Jane, an avid photographer, loves to capture crepuscular rays, also known as God's rays or the fingers of God. We took this photo just for her.

Wikipedia says:  "Crepuscular rays in atmospheric optics, are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky, specifically, where the sun is. These rays, which stream through gaps in clouds (particularly stratocumulus) or between other objects, are columns of sunlit air separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. The name comes from their frequent occurrences during crepuscular hours (those around dawn and dusk), when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious. Crepuscular comes from the Latin word "crepusculum," meaning twilight."

I don't know if there is much more to say after that.  We ended up staying on the beach until the stars came out.  While this wasn't the last sunset we'll ever see, it was the last one for this trip.  We just didn't want to leave until the very last ray of light was no longer visible.