Sunset Problems

At sixty-seven years of age, I've seen many sunsets,
and perhaps even more pictures of sunsets. So many pictures, 
that I've long asked "why bother" when faced with a vibrant sky,
begging to be photographed by me. 
Does the world really need another to add to the uncountable numbers?

The answer lies in the remembering. 
The moment in time.
In the car, 70 MPH, little traffic, and wide open fields,
with only rows of windbreaks to alter the flat horizon.
With Charlie and Brooke to visit a Farm Aid Advocate in Granite Falls.
"I've been to her place before," I say.
All of us jabbering at once. Stories, pieces of information, 
"look at that" outbursts.
And the sky, alive and blinding, moving gracefully from electric to muted. 

Walking near Granite Falls

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Walking near Granite Falls, Minnesota, 2015

High overhead it's bright sun.
Flattening the already flattened landscape.
So subtle a rise just ahead. For an instant,
it's enough to cut off the distant horizon.
1/250th of a second worth. 
I'm more interested in the landscape than I used to be. 
For years it was always people. 
People doing this, people doing that.
But lately, it's the land that has caught my eye.
And held it.