Ever hear of something called The Green Flash? Mary and I have been looking for it for years, but the elusive atmospheric phenomenon has…well…eluded us. Until this week…I think.

The Green Flash has something to do with the amount of moisture in the air as the sun is setting. In order to see it, you need a crystal clear atmosphere and a view of the horizon that is unfettered by land or clouds. At the exact moment that the last little tip of the sun slips over the horizon, you are supposed to be able to see a split-second flash of green.

Every night that we have been in Bonaire for the last twenty years, we have searched in vain for it.

And then, three nights ago, on a clear and cloudless evening, I was sitting here on our balcony overlooking the Caribbean Sea. I watched intently as the sun slowly sank into the ocean…and then, as the last tiny piece of the orb disappeared, there was a just a little dot of green at the very tip! Just a dot. But it was bright green, and in deep contrast to the yellows, pinks, purples and oranges that surrounded it.

Was that The Green Flash? I don’t know. I always envisioned The Green Flash as a brilliant bolt of light that seared the horizon for a split second. This was more like a blip. If I was the first to see this, I wouldn’t call it a flash. (Although, it WAS rather reminiscent of the old time magnesium-filament flashbulbs in cameras.)  I would have called it The Green Blip.

I was a little disappointed by it. But that doesn’t mean a thing.

Some things live up to their reputations, like the aurora borealis and sharks when scuba diving. The first time I saw both of those things, I was awestruck by their magnificience and their beauty.

But there were the major disappointments too.

Back when I was a teenager, there was a mystique surrounding Coors Beer (probably Madison-Avenue manufactured, now that I think about it), because it was not supposed to be sold East of the Rockies. (Wasn’t that the cargo that Smokey was carrying in Smokey and the Bandit?) When I finally got my trembling hands on a can of the stuff, I raised it to my lips, swallowed…and I thought it tasted like crap. (Still do.)

Sex for the first time was also a let-down. That was it? Yeah, it was fun and it felt GREAT, but it wasn’t the end-all and be-all that everybody said that it was.

So, was that The Green Flash or not?

I don’t know. Whaddaya think?

(The two photos below are of the Caribbean Sea taken from our balcony by Mary Ellen.)