the sun almost sets

This was not last night's sunset.

I shot it on Tuesday. And it is not even a sunset.

I was having dinner with friends at a restaurant in San Patricio a block off of the ocean. When I arrived, I could see enough of the sky to know that the evening was about to offer up one of better-than-average winter sunsets.

Winter is not sunset season in these parts. To have a good sunset, you need clouds near the horizon. Winter clouds are rare compared to our summer skies when storms roll through. And, if the clouds are scattered and layered, some spectacular sunsets are on offer.

It was the odd cloud structure that caught my eye on Tuesday. So, I trundled over to a sister restaurant on the beach to get a better view. You can see the result. This one is going into my file as Possible Best Pre-Sunset of 2019.

I had every intention of returning once the sun slipped a little further behind the hills. But you know what T.S. Eliot said about good intentions. Though I am not certain he got it entirely right.

Because I am who I am, I became so engrossed in our conversation about some topic or other that I completely forgot about the show that was happening outside. When I looked out, there was a tinge of rose and purple in the clouds. The parade had passed me by.

But I can share this shot with you. For all I know, it might be just as impressive as the show I did not see -- just like the proverbial falling tree in the forest.