I wasn’t just watching sunsets. I was running a very old, very buggy piece of software in my brain. And it was time for an update.
The sun doesn’t owe me a performance. That was the bug. After that cloudy evening, I sat down and rewrote the code. Chasing Sunsets Version 1.01 isn’t about better photography or more scenic locations. It’s about a complete overhaul of the user experience.
These aren’t bugs. They’re features. They remind you that you are human, and that the sky is a terrible, beautiful, unreliable artist. Tonight, I will walk to the hill at the end of my street. I will not check the weather app. I will not bring a tripod. I will sit on the cold grass, and I will watch the sun do what it has done for four billion years.
I am chasing sunsets to be changed by them. Chasing Sunsets Version 1.01
Here are the official patch notes.
But last Tuesday, standing on a ridge with my shoes filled with gravel and my phone battery at 2%, I realized I was wrong.
I am no longer chasing sunsets to catch them. I wasn’t just watching sunsets
What version are you running? Let me know in the comments—or better yet, ignore the comments and go watch the sky.
Chasing Sunsets Version 1.01: Patch Notes for the Wanderer
There is a specific kind of magic that happens about forty-five minutes before the sun dips below the horizon. The light turns gold, then amber, then a bruised purple. For years, I called this “hobby.” I called it “relaxation.” I called it “getting some fresh air.” The sun doesn’t owe me a performance
October 26, 2023 Reading Time: 4 minutes
Then, I laughed.