Sunrises and Sunsets

I would venture to say that I have witnessed more sunrises and sunsets than anyone I have ever met.  The main reason for this claim is the fact that I was brought up by a mother in a wheelchair who's world was most notabley the one she saw from her windows.  Yes, there were many times she escaped from her small space into my father's gardens and even beyond, on occasion, to Redwoods of the north-west mountains and the raging surf along the south-west coastline,.  Always more than willing to share her excitement of natures best with her first daughter and constant companion, lucky me.

Clarence, my father whom I called by name from my earliest memory, loved the outdoors surely a gift given to my Mother, who insisted on that name alone until I became a mother than she requested I call her Viola which seemed most natural to me.  Although my father worked his 40 hour week and brought home his meager paycheck as a 'stone-cutter-artist' even throughout the Great Depression, he always found time on weekends to work in his garden and take Mother outside her otherwise limited world. She never complained.  Actually, when I became an adult she did say:  "Sometimes I wish I could walk thru that door and slam it hard just once."  The only time I even gave it a thought that her world was so different than mine.

I can say:  "I love all critters large and small" and actually mean it.  Mother made sure I learned how spiders made their webs and bundled their 'catch' for a later meal.  She taught me to catch a small critter that entered the house without being invited in a small jar and let it go outside "where it belongs."  Together, my parents taught me the names of various clouds, made sure I never missed the 'falling stars' or watching the tiny green tumble from the ground where it had been a mere seed such a short time before.  I knew the names of trees and flowers before beginning school right along with my alphabet and reading putting me well ahead of other children.  Probably my main reason for being generally bored with the slow method of teaching once I entered the 'halls of learning' things I already seemed to know.

As I have traveled throughout this amazing planet on which we live, I make sure I am awake early enough to witness every possible sunrise and making sure I'm in the best position to observe every possible sunset. 
So often, I find that I'm the only one on a foreign shore taking the time to watch a sunset.  I want to stop the nearby traffic and remind them they are missing so very much by ignoring such a beautiful gift both morning and night, and it's free for anyone willing to take the time to enjoy.