Giant's Causeway

The sun lingers late, this far north, during the summer months.

Which afforded us the opportunity for a bonus post-dinner excursion to a very special place—the Giant's Causeway—a UNESCO World Heritage site.

I saw my first volcanic basalt columns last year, when I visited Yellowstone National Park. Here, they were more varied and accessible ... and particularly striking at dusk.

Looking at the landscape now, I can't imagine the volcanic violence that formed these towering columns (about 60 million years ago).

Even more so, given that despite the work of waves and weather over the millennia, some 40,000 columns remain.

Wildflowers find their footing in the crevices and hint at the size of these rocks.

The perspective is much more clear at human scale.

Before it finished setting over the North Atlantic, the sun tinted sea and sky in shades of gold and pink and lavender.

How very fortunate were we, to bask in this place and time.