Early March Days Watching the Gulf Water

The condo sits high enough that the bay reads like a map — mangrove islands scattered below, a white water tower on the far shore, the Gulf a flat line behind everything. Most evenings ended on the screened balcony in the chaise lounges, watching the sun come down over the barrier island and staying until it was gone. Through the screen the whole thing goes soft, which suits it.

One of the days we went out on the water instead. The channel at the start was full of moored sailboats, and farther out the color turned to that green-blue that doesn't look real. We passed a small island packed edge to edge with palms and white houses, a short pier sticking off its rocks, then open water in every direction. We were still out there when the sun set — pink, half swallowed by a low band of gray sitting right on the horizon, and then just gone.

Back at the condo the islands below had gone dark before the sky did.