Melissa’s Soapbox

Sunsets at Sea

The funny part of being on a boat with no sight of land for days at a time is the monotony. Every morning, the crew members emerge from the cabin below, take a 360-degree look around, and conclude that there’s nothing to look at and nothing happening.

At one point, the crew saw a rather large log floating in the water. We talked about that stupid log for an hour … Where had it come from? How long had it been in the water? What direction was it going? Other people emerged from below to see the log and contribute to the conversation.

Ironically, we were constantly inundated with amazing views, and it was easy to take such beauty for granted.

One notable example of this is sunsets. I read an account of two sailors who at landfall, happened upon a group of locals intently gazing and pointing at the horizon. The two sailors looked and looked trying to figure out what the group found so noteworthy. Finally, they realized that the group was simply admiring the sunset.

Sunsets are filled with nautical lore … red skies at night, etc., but the green flash may be the most elusive. Evidently, the green flash is real, but I suspect it’s a product of staring at the sun for too long, groupthink, or Captain’s Hour!