I was looking out the window, across the water, toward Vashon Island at the close of day.

The light was fading, the sun going down, the sky getting darker, and suddenly, here and there in the distance, on the island, lights were going on in scattered houses. A Golden Light, strong enough to startle the eyes, but only from those houses angled just right to reflect the parallel rays of the sinking sun.

It’s always a magic golden moment, and then the sky darkens, the sun disappears, the golden light is gone, other lights come on here and there, but weaker, paler, and it’s just not the same.

The Sun is the Great Source of Light, even by reflection. I didn’t want to succumb to those feelings of sadness when you lose the light. I chose to savor those moments when the light is there, to cherish the memory of the light of former days, to hold fast to the knowledge that the light will return.

I said something about this to Chaz, and he relayed the story he had read as a child.

I’ll try to replay it.

It was about a young boy who lived in a house on the side of a hill looking across a valley to the houses on the other side. Every evening as the sun was going down, he noticed a light come on in one of the houses over there, a Golden Door glowing beautifully, drawing the eye. Then they turned off the light and went to sleep.

The next evening he saw the House with the Golden Door, and then again the next evening, and the next.

He said, “It’s so beautiful, I wonder who lives there.”

The next day he decided to find out. He went down the hill and crossed the valley. He climbed the other hill and came to the House. He knocked on the door. A young girl answered.

She was pretty and friendly, and asked why he had knocked on her door.

He replied, “Every evening as I look across the valley, I see you turn your light on.”

She asked, “Where do you live?”

He pointed. “I live just over there. You can see my house from here.”

She said excitedly, “Oh yes, every morning when I look across I see your house. You live in the House with the Golden Door!”


It’s a sweet story. I may actually have read it when I was young. We need more stories like that. They teach you to be nice, and at the same time you learn some geoastrophysics.

You’re never too young to learn.