Life just keeps on pushing its way to the front, and what a good thing!
Here in the terrible high desert, Sunday came and went. The day saw glorious a transition from a creative morning working on the new site to an inspiring trip just 15 miles away to the canyon of the Rio Grande River north of Pilar. It was sunny and almost 50 degrees, the water was blue, and there were lots of birds. We saw a bald eagle and numerous ducks, ring-necked and mallards, mostly, plus a few unidentifiables. Driving along the road through the BLM Orilla Verde Recreation Area just a few feet above the river was a little intimidating, because the Rio Grande was full and blue and deep — deep for the Rio Grande, at any rate — although the picture below was taken at a very narrow stretch and doesn’t show all that. (Check out the new FotoFeed series beginning today for a wider view.)
Colors of the canyon
Totally uplifting. So much so that later, after sex and dinner, I went to bed at 7:00 p.m.! (Writing this now at 4:00 a.m., BTW.) Maybe that was due to “juniper fever,” the numbing effect of heavy pollen in the warmer canyon micro-climate, or maybe my bio-regional burrito from Antonito, Colorado. One never knows. I mention sex because I’m happy we still get excited after almost 30 years, and I don’t remember love was ever better. (Besides, with all the other crap going on in the world, we damn well need it!) This is just as important in the scheme of things as the eagle we watched for almost 20 minutes, soaring and then roosting in a solitary tall piñon, one of the biggest I’ve ever seen, while the impossibly blue water flowed by 30 feet away…
This is what it comes down to, ultimately, and I mourn for everyone who has to fill in his alloted time by living in an artificial world.
Have you ever seen a ring-necked duck? They’re very common, apparently, although in over six decades on the planet, I’d never encountered one before. Unlike mallards or the heavier geese we used to see on the Eastern Shore, the ring-necks shoot straight up from the water. They must have ferociously powerful little wings: I saw a flock of 20 or so rise up and disappear with whistling feathers, black-and-white living jewels in the sparkling clean air. Couldn’t get a picture, because they’re awfully shy and wary as hell, but I could see their pointy heads go by as they turned and rocketed away.
4:12 a.m. now, and back to bed. Monday morning (today!) will have an unorthodox beginning.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
mourn for me, john.
still trapped in The Village.
“I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered! My life is my own…”
Duly noted. You’re mourned for!
Except, you live in San Francisco, right? Geez, you’re really close to all KINDS of nature.
and if i could actually get out of the house that might be a good thing (primary caregiver for both terminally ill parents, remember). the other day i was realizing it’s been over a decade since i even saw the ocean!! (only about a half-hour’s drive over the hills to the coast and i can’t even manage that)
i do live in fairly green suburbia down the peninsula (it could be much worse and “urban”), and we’ve managed to create a small pocket of reasonably dense nature in our own yard (complete with goldfish pond), but it’s still very *confined* green nature (in that semi-artificial, over-managed suburban kind of way), not the capital-R Real, raw, unblemished soul-scouring totality you get to live in the middle of (lucky bastard! ^_^ ).
close, yes, but no cigar for the time being. guess i’ll have to try and just absorb the vibe by proxy (proximity?) as best i can….
This pic is so beautiful.
It’s so full of color.
I love all the reflected color in the water.
It moves me watercolor it.
Gorgeous!!
Carol
I hope you’re following the current series on FotoFeed…
OH, I am !!
I love the land in which you abode….so full of color and texture….not everyone apperciates desert terrain.