Sunsets at IRRI.

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March hails the arrival of longer days and glorious afternoon skies. This was also a signal for me to get my butt of my chair and start walking in the afternoons (since arriving from the US, I had to catch up on a lot of things so I didn't really have the time to enjoy the outdoors... I decided to make time for it). 

I didn't make a mistake because each time I went outside, I saw pomelo-pink twilights, purple-grey clouds, and yellow-orange skies. 

And because the landscape is always breath-taking at this golden hour and because I'd like to slow down and grasp the view while I had it, I decided to do walks rather than runs. I'll need to return to weight training and cardiovascular exercises in the gym... but with these sunset views, I prefer to do hour-long walks in the meantime. I do achieve my step goals but I accept that weight loss will be a lot slower. The trade-offs, however, are these photos... all taken in different days using my mobile phone. One day, I'll bring my Canon Powershot along so I can get even better photos.

Sunshine breaking through the cloud cover of Mount Makiling. Photo taken outside the NC Brady Lab.

The clouds block the view of Mt Banahaw. Photo taken on the road going to the Zeigler Experiment Station.

The clouds taking on a pink glow as the sun sets. Photo taken at the Zeigler Experiment Station. 

Golden hour splashing a pinking glow over the green rice fields at the Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE). 

The silhouette of Mount Makiling captured (again) just outside the NC Brady Lab. 

I couldn't help but think of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" each time I walk along IRRI fields at sunset. How could I not, with these words?

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The discomfort brought about by changes are temporarily muted when I see the day turn into night. It's that calmness that allows me to decompress and to process, readying myself for the next day.

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