7. (Sunrise, over my shoulder.)

I know I've written about it elsewhere, but again I've been touched by just how lovely the skies here in Oklahoma are at the beginnings and ending of the day.

I think what when I leave (and I will, I hate it here), the one thing (not including people) that I'll truly miss is the sky. I've seen some pretty impressive dawns in my time here. Roses and oranges and vanillas and violets. Streaks and blankets and puffs. Glows so glorious that I've nearly crashed my car, so awed I was. Sunsets, too, are excellent around here. My friend Richard and I have come to an appreciation of the way the autumn sun sets over the marching band practice field. The sky just light up brilliant colors that one might believe to only be possible in an artificial sky.

He sees God. I just see the beauty.

In any case, I've never been able to find a sky to match it. Not over the deserts of Nevada, or over the aborted mountains through California, or over the Pacific Ocean. Only here.

Maybe that's what I'll do, if I live to be an old man. I'll wander the world, looking for sunrises and sunsets to outdo the truly wondrous ones I've seen in my own home.

I'm sure, though, that I'll never actually find anything that'll make the cut.