Sunset every day on Malory Dock

When I first went to spend some winter time in the Florida Keys, I discovered the evening ritual at Malory Dock in Key West. There's a party there every day of the year, with stalls laid out selling hand crafted produce, jugglers (which then included one with a performing acrobatic cat), kiosks selling food or ice-cream, and beer. People look out to sea at the boats plying their way past. Sometimes one of the big cruise liners will noisily set sail for its next port of call.

People are there to see the sunset. As the time nears, and it might be about 5.45 pm in late December, the sun is an orange ball, low in the sky, with long reflected rays streaking across the water. People watch as the lower perimeter of the sun enters the water.  Gradually the orb descends into the sea.  For several years as I watched it, a kilted piper would strike up "Amazing Grace" on his bagpipes.  Finally, the last gleam of the sun dips below the waves and a great cheer goes up from the watching crowd.

This happens every day of the year, and I still visit it for at least one sunset when I stay in the Keys over New Year.  The piper is gone, as is the Cookie Lady who plied her bicycle up and down the promenade calling "Get your cookies here" in a nasal New York accent. But new acts have taken their place.