Isn't this a splendid sunset?

Sitting here on the balcony with Bao and Johnny (neither of whom share my appreciation of celestial events, but both of whom are important parts of my life) I'm thinking about how seldom most of us pay any attention at all to the sky, or the weather -- except, of course, to complain about it.

My husband used to say that we are the first advanced civilization that does not look to the sky. (We read our horoscopes, but that's as far as it goes for most of us) Here, people still pay attention to the sky, and the tides. Right now, the tide is full and the first fishing boats are setting off from the port. It doesn't matter that it's dusk. Fishermen don't punch time clocks. They fish when the schools of fish feed, and the fish feed at high tide. What must it be like, I wonder, to live according to the rhythms of the planet?

Now that we're moving towards the shortest day of the year, I tend to wake up before sunrise. I don't turn on the lights. Instead, I come out here, and look up at the stars. Millions and billions and trillions of them, twinkling against the velvet night sky. Like Tucson, Puerto Penasco has few street lights.

The sun, the stars, the sea. Superb.