Port Aransas Sunrises, Alma & the Puget Sound

That is sunrise at Port Aransas, this morning, sent by Alma, the Songbird of the South Texas Gulf Coast.

I have not seen the sun rise or set on saltwater in a long time. I do not remember the last time. I did see saltwater last summer, that being Puget Sound, but you do not see the sun rise or set on Puget Sound.

In Western Washington, the sun rises over the Cascade Mountains, not Puget Sound. And when the sun sets, it sets over the Olympic Mountains, not Puget Sound.

It is still spectacularly scenic, though. I remember being in a bar/restaurant in Pike Place Market in Seattle, while the sun was setting over the Olympics, with the barkeeper leading the bar patrons in a series of ooooohs, awwwhs and the sunset becoming ever more spectacular.

My best sunset ever was not a sunset. It was a moonset. On Lake Powell. The night is very dark on Lake Powell, the stars very bright. My first night on Lake Powell the moon slowly set, dropping behind the canyon wall. The instant it totally disappeared an eerie purple glow lit up the top of the canyon. It lasted for at least a minute. I had never seen anything like it.

I am hoping to go down to Port Aransas this spring, to see Alma and a sunrise or two. And to have some real seafood. I have never been further down the Texas Gulf Coast than Galveston. I loved Galveston, pre-Hurricane Ike.