Drifting westward

I love to drive westward. The concept of chasing the sunset is enormously attractive.Is there a better sunset than one experienced on the horizon, over water? I think not.

In contrast, can there be anything more ridiculous than seeing the old men in Miami, turning their lawn chairs to the west to attempt to experience the sunset as it sets over the pink and turqouise buildings of Miami Beach. Don't they know the darkness of evening is catching them by the shoulders and dropping them back on their pillows, while the young ones play the night away?

It is true sometimes that a sunset over a grassy nothingness can be alluring. I remember watching the sun drift down below the horizon over the grassy fields outside Crescent Beach, near Cowboy's Seafood Restaurant. It gave the illusion of watching the sun over the savannah in Africa.

But that is just illusion. It demands creativity to appreciate. But the sunset over the sea is a different animal. One can feel the tug on one's heart as one looks out over the ocean. There is a race memory, feeling your being pushed out and away from land to some new place. Is this a predominately American feeling? Do we all feel the push across the sea toward the foreign sunsets? Do we follow our ancestors as we yearn for the calling toward the west?

The gold of the sunset over the gulf or ocean or any body of water is magic. It calls to us. It draws us out of ourselves to a place we do not know. It promises new lives for each of us. It is golden.