Sunset at Yorktown Battlefield
Every beginning has an ending. Every ending has a beginning.
I took this picture at Yorktown Battlefield in Yorktown, Virginia this week. My wife and I were driving around the Colonial Parkway which had quite a few detours due to construction, and I decided to make a right turn instead of a left, initially passing by the center of Yorktown that we had been to several times before. I could see the sun was setting behind me, and followed some cars to a parking area with a parking loop near the battlefield. When I saw the sun already disappearing on the horizon, I parked our car, jumped out quickly and took three quick pictures, hoping I would catch some of the magic of the bright red sun I saw as I was pulling up to the parking area. I had no idea how the pictures came out until I looked the next day.
This picture is unlike most of the sunset pictures I take, which usually involve some body of water (ocean, lake or river). There is something about the trees here that I find mesmerizing. The two trees look like they form a single tree. One bends to allow the other some space. They form a beautiful union of branches and leaves.
I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do. This photo has the memory of 243 years since a battle that was fought in September — October, 1781 that would help determine the future of 334 million plus Americans today. 88 Americans voted in this battle in 1781 with their lives, so that we may have a future as a nation. An estimated one percent of Americans would lose their lives during the Revolutionary War. Many others have voted with their hearts, souls, lives, and families since then to protect and provide for our future. We remember and honor the lives of all Americans who have come before us, helping build and protect this great nation, by using the right they defended for us, to vote in free and fair elections.
Vote. The trees are standing and watching us grow, just as they do, together. When we bend, we see new, beautiful perspectives, and make space for others to enjoy the view of freedom along with us. Freedom is a sunset on the horizon. It can be there every day for us, but we have to take the time to enjoy it, together.
