9.28.2004

Sunset on the Bluff

This is a 15 minute free-writing exercise I had to do last week for my composition class. The prompt I chose to write about was to describe the special place you go for rest and relaxation. I thought it turned out pretty well, and I haven’t posted anything here in a long time, so here it is.

Just two blocks from my house is a steep bluff that overlooks a bay on Lake Erie made by the Presque Isle peninsula. A street goes along its length, but back from the bluff far enough to provide a small, pleasant grassy area to stroll along, gazing at dandelions, or chase lightning bugs, or quietly watch the sunset. The face of the bluff is covered with trees, their tall, stately trunks reaching straight up to the sky for every last ray of sunshine. As you look across the water of the bay, the peninsula stretches its long arm across the horizon, a demarcation line between water and sky.

The most relaxing time to come to the bluff is fifteen or twenty minutes before sunset, so you can watch as it slowly sinks down from its perch in the sky. The sun by this time is a glowing, golden orb, and the sky around it is splashed with colors. Deep red, majestic purple, pink and orange are spilling from the sun into the sky. It is a performance more emotionally powerful than any fireworks or laser show a person could dream of. Seeing this play of light is most restful and relaxing.

© 2004 phaedrus220 (a pseudonym)