I believe the best way to finish off a beautiful day on the boardwalk is to watch the sun set gloriously into the Pacific Ocean. Watching the burning ball of fire descend into the sea, ending another day in North America, is a fitting finale to a great afternoon. Recently, as I watched the sunset with my friend, Paul, he exclaimed, “Did you see that? Wow that was a good one!” I didn’t know what Paul was talking about, but he informed me that we had just witnessed a terrific green flash. So what is a green flash you ask? Well, according to www.wikipedia.org, “green flashes and green rays are optical phenomena that occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, when a green spot is visible, usually for no more than a second or two, above the sun, or a green ray shoots up from the sunset point.” Paul, who has lived in this area for a very long time, said the green flash we had witnessed was a particularly good one because it morphed from a dark to a light green. Unfortunately, on this day I happened to be taking pictures and wasn’t fully prepared for the flash. I said, “I didn’t see it,” to which he replied, “Are you color blind?” No, I’m not color blind, but I did have my heavy-duty sunglasses on, so I wasn’t able to distinguish the green color. I was further disappointed at my near miss because green flashes are not a common occurrence. Whether one sees the elusive green flash or not, watching the sunset is really all about soaking in the moment. People giddily line the boardwalk on a nightly basis to observe the natural beauty the sunset offers us and there is a unique sense of community that goes with that. It’s not everywhere that strangers gather for a common purpose. This impromptu congregation is another reason the boardwalk is such a special place. Next time you’re down by the beach around sunset, put a smile on your face, give a friendly nod to your neighbor and don’t forget to look for the green flash.