i've spent a lot of time in the desert. it's one of my favorite environments. panamint, escalante, black rock, sonora, yp, bisti, yuma but i have loved the desert here in west texas ever since my first trip in 1973. i say "a lot" and i know it's relative - edward abbey would probably roll over in his grave.
i'm now lucky enough to live in between big bend national park and big bend state park. every day is different. every day is beautiful. 106 degrees or 32. rain or not. snow or not. noon or 7 in the evening. days like today i'm on sensory overload.
tonight i went out to feed the goats a little early - in between thunderstorms. i looked up at one of the mountains by which we're sandwiched and just could not believe how beautiful it looked with the rain having soaked it - it was as alive as you and me. i turned around to see that two of the dogs had followed me out and played with them a bit then turned back around to see the mountain one more time and i was absolutely blown away. clouds. clouds everywhere. trying to find their way into every crack and crevice. like a blanket you could just pull up and over and in between. i was locked to the ground - like i'd inhaled an 'oh my god' and it created some sort of vacuum lock with the mud.
i've walked in clouds before. in alaska. on whitney. but never where it was unexpected and took my breath away by total surprise. i wish everyone in the world could see it. everyone would lay down their arms. i wish cory maluski or andi parker or john grubbs or rodney bursiel - someone who really knows how to use a camera - were here to capture it with their camera. i wish someone who really knows how to write like craig childs or jim harrison or butch hancock, or paul curreri or ellen meloy (RIP) were here to paint it with their words.
i know there are too many photos here. too many words trying to share the gift that was mine this evening. i hope that for those who choose to look, you'll be touched by that gift as well. just know they don't begin to capture the magnificence of it all.
i got as close as i could to the actual mountain - i felt like a zombie or a cloud in my own right. then reality struck by way of lightning. i only felt a little current - like a buzz - but what a trip. not sure where it really hit but it seemed to stay in the sky as if neither end of the bolt wanted to let go. so i headed back to the house and turned around one last time and the clouds left as quickly as they came. like the song - with urgency but not with haste.
fed the goats. got herded back to the house by peaches and shadow. splashed in a puddle or two just because i could. and now, the sunset. grey and purple and blue and white like a sigh on the green, wet ground.
and now, i think i should be a good texan and go watch the spurs, if i can figure out how to turn on the t.v.
