Observation: Sunset colors amidst the Urban clutters...............

It is this magical moment that has been captivating human race with its splendor since ages; inspiring artists, poets, lovers, philosophers; instilling hope in ailing, dolorous, destitute souls..  The flaming orb calling it a day...
But, sunsets in urban areas are hardly inviting, what with the tall buildings, transformer poles, spiderwebs of electric wires, lamp posts, signboards, neon light advertisements etc etc. posing ugly obliterations..When the Western sky turns tangerine I wish to sip the ethereal beauty of the fiery orb sinking down...But, our two-storied apartment does not serve my purpose....Often, I have to enchant myself with whatever comes my way...

Yet, occasionally satisfactory shots come my way...some of them........

Last rays..........

Golden sky.....

Today, I spied the honey-hued sun behind the cedar and carrotwood canopy, preparing to plunge. From another perspective, the silhouette of  of eucalyptus trees were seen gracing the foreground of the amber sky.  However, I loved the final snap portraying the wisp of golden cloud streaking the sky along with the bare trees as well as drooping beech branches complementing the sunscape..

I like the warm, soft orange hues of photographs taken just before sunset. Is not this picture testimonyto my notion? Notice the long, slanting shadows of the sycamores, that end in the shady pine grove.

Winter has arrived, day light saving has ended...cumulative impact is sunset at barely 4.30 PM....
Managed to watch the orb retire for the day behind the silhouette of alder trees...

Spotted a large murder of crows heading for their night shelter....

The sycamores soaking in the faint rays of setting sun display a honey hue...

Theses pictures were captured near our house....

On this occasion, rain had stopped for a moment..gravid clouds were still floating  on the sky...sundown was imminent...I couldn't resist a stroll down the street....

The regular Mission Valley street was looking quite pretty...

Not everyday you get to see such a vivid sky....

As if the sky had caught fire.....

More silhouette...multi-colored clouds...

The Jesus statue against the clouds was looking fabulous...

Tangerine sky.........

It feels nice to witness and capture beauty of sunset in the middle of the city.....

Plant: Coral tree blooms....

I was virtually drawn to this spectacular tree like a moth to the flame....got to know it is the coral tree (Erythrina lysistemon), a native of Africa. 

They create  a nice contrast against the green pine and sycamore and the blue sky...carpet the ground with myriad petals..and its a sight to watch the crows foraging on the buds and bugs on them...

A cluster of flower from up close..

The blazing blossoms in perfect sync with spring ambiance around..

A pair of crows spend spring afternoon among the blazing coral flowers..

Autumn in coral tree..not any shades of red, orange, purple..yet the golden leaves are pleasantly distinct from the regular green ones...

To my pleasant surprise, I find these coral blossoms reminiscent of flame-of-the-forest. 

The genus Erythrina has myriad species........many of them can be seen around South California.......some of which I have come across......

Coast coral tree (E. caffra)...........a common street-side tree in Orange and San Diego County......

Pipal (E. chiapasana)...........Mexican variety...very pretty...planted in my University campus in San Diego..

Cockspur coral tree (E. crista-galli)...........pretty with bigger petals.......

Dwarf coral tree (E. humeana).....

Not sure of this species...but it looks like ripe chillis ....

A green pod..........

The pod with exposed seeds.........