Thursday, July 7, 2011

Watching the Sun Set

The campfire was burning and it was the easiest fire I have ever started as the wood burst into flames from the previous campers still glowing coals,(with all the wildfire stories how could someone leave a still smoldering fire)? The lake was still after the thunderstorm  had passed and we viewed two seperate  rainbows to the south and east.
The sun set below Black Butte and the crimson color reminded me of the crimson petals of the Indian Paintbrush. As the colors faded to darker reds and then purple I thought of how lucky we were to have left the crowded campground behind.
Our nearest neighbor was a good quarter mile away and they had left their fifth wheel and driven back to town. There were others on our lakes stretch but most had also left as it was the evening of the fourth and tomorrows work called.
The night hawks came out and started their erratic dives as they chased the miller moths which were still feeding on the flowers of the Red Desert. The moths should be in the high county but the snow was still deep and its still winter there. Will the bears find enough feed to fattenup  for their winter nap? The moths are such an important fat source.
It was so quiet here, probably the only place where fireworks weren't bursting from every yard and city park. Our neaest city is Manilla, Utah, about ten miles away from our desert campsite. No howls from coyotes or wolfs, they are still too far north near Yellowstone, but two doe antelope feed near us.
Their kids stayed close to their mothers and one had twins, somewhat unusal for antelope.
It was too cloudy for the stars to come out but that would have been too much for one day, storms, rainbows, a sunset across the Red Desert. What more could ones senses take in. I though of our artist friends Alan and Sharon and how they would color their canvas with pastels giving their impressions of the deserts clouds and sky. If only I had some dark red carnelian, I do have lots of purple lepidolite, hmmmm .......Clear skies

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