Long story short, I am an opacarophile—a lover of sunsets. 

You can bet that anytime the sky paints itself into something even remotely pretty, I’ll have my phone out, ready to capture the moment. Currently, my photo album titled “sky” has seventy-three photos of nothing else but the times I’ve looked up and thought, wow. 

It mostly consists of marvelous sunsets, but those lucky mornings when I wake up with the sky also have a special place among the others in the aesthetically pleasing album. 

If you are one of the lucky people who have been around me when I stop to admire the atmosphere, you’ll know that I cannot simply ignore it. I generally interrupt whatever I’m doing and blurt something along the lines of, “Ooh, look at the sky.” No other commentary is necessary. 

And even if you really couldn’t care less about the workings of the sky above us like I do, thank you for at least pretending to humor me and my neophilia—cloud-loving—nature. 

Though I could most definitely be impressed simply by an arrangement of crystal white clouds, the times when the whole sky erupts in hues of magenta, periwinkle, and gold are something that should not be ignored. 

I wish so badly that the richness of the color palette could stay longer, but I guess the sun is in a hurry to do its diurnal duty of transitioning the world from light to dark. 

This is okay, though. It gives me something to look for each morning or night as I’m driving to school or finishing up my homework. 

The swirling sensations of the sky and all its influence brings me peace and, in a way, lets me know everything will be okay. A simple sunrise can turn my day around for the better.

Electric pinks, deep purples, and smoky blues blend to create the rolling colors of gradient clouds. 

I’m far from being a harsh critic; it could be puffy rain clouds or thin streaks of airplane trails that catch my attention as I glance up at the ever-changing sky. 

From minute to minute, the vibrant pigments thrown across the canvas are never ever the same. The colors are ever-blending, ever-fading, and ever-evolving as the sky is. It’s incredible to see how the sun hides behind the clouds but lets its glow peek around the edges, outlining the rolling shape of the clouds, and making them glow among all the rest—a literal silver lining in the clouds. 

The fact that you can never see the same sky twice is astounding to me. That’s why I never get tired of being there for the masterpiece that makes its continuous appearance. 

Maybe I hold so much fondness for the sky because of it being one of the few constant elements in life. No matter what, the sky is present, doing whatever it pleases. Not every day has to have an exceptional cloud display—sometimes the staggered element of surprise is just as fantabulous as the skyscape itself.