Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Sunset Chaser, Seattle Edition



Last night, I went to the final Seattle Sounders game of the 2013 Major League Soccer regular season. There were somewhere upwards of 66,000 folks on hand to watch our hometown team take on the Los Angeles Galaxy, and the atmosphere was giddy. Big game, beautiful night, huge crowd - my two elder daughters and I were excited to be there, among the good-natured and faithful fans. 

As we made our way into the stadium and up toward our upper deck seats, we wandered here and there, snapping photos, enjoying the revelry, and getting pumped for the big game.

Caught up in the excitement, I spontaneously splurged on a team scarf. Normally, sports apparel is not my thing, so you know if I'm supporting a team to that degree, I must be all in.

While we were waiting in line at the scarf stand, my second-born took a phone call from work and leaned against this fabulously grey wall with the red alarm box overhead. You know I'm a sucker for a portrait in front of a good wall,


So, with our adrenalin pumping and about ten minutes left till kick-off, we jumped in an elevator to ride up to the third tier. The doors opened, we stepped out onto an open-air landing, and immediately froze in our tracks.

The sun was setting over Puget Sound and the effect was indescribably beautiful.

Now, it's fair to point out that up here in the Pacific Northwest, we haven't seen much of the sun in the past few weeks. It's been fog, fog, and more fog for days on end. So to suddenly gaze upon that fiery orb in a clear blue sky was a bit like seeing a long-lost loved one, and we responded by rushing to the railing of the balcony and taking a billion pictures each.

We didn't even have to talk about it. Our sunset-starved instincts led us to the edge of the cliff, just like crazed lemmings. Only taller. And less furry.
 

Despite my feverish excitement, I remembered to take my Sunday selfie.


After we drank our fill of the evening beauty, we turned and walking into the cavernous stadium, where the shadows already darkened the corners and upper rows of seats, and enjoyed a rowdy, fun-filled match. We had a blast.

But if you ask me my favorite part of the whole evening, I might have to say the sunset.

* * * * *

Sunset chaser: A traveler who spies a gorgeous display on the evening horizon, and, throwing all other thoughts aside, pursues a prime viewing location from which to photograph the sky. 

I am a sunset chaser and here are just a few of the stories of my adventures:


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