I'm in
Death Valley
now.
So,
once again,
I'll have to
interrupt
this blog...
for
current
action...
Later,
I'll get
back...
...to
the
Indiana
ice storm.
As for today,
Feb 21,
I wake
to dark rain
in Indiana.
It's a day
of travel
a day
of
suitcase
and
airport
Flying
over
snow
Stopover
in
Salt Lake City...
Then
flying over
Lake Mead....
...drying
to it's death
in today's world.
What will
Las Vegas
do with
no
water?
Landing
in Las Vegas...
a rental car...
and I'm outta there!
(I'm not
a Las Vegas
person)
I feel
scrunched
in a city...
lifeless
soulless
separated from
all that matters.
Quick
A rental bike!
Not that one...
This one!
But as soon
as the Prius
spins out
from the crowds...
I gasp
in
wonder!
This is
the most
amazing landscape
I have ever seen.
No wonder
they say
it's like being
on another planet.
The quality
of the light
is so
real...
...like you've
never
seen light
before...
The sky
looks
higher
deeper
mightier!
You really
have a sense
that that sky
reaches
up into
the edges
of space.
And the land...
Muscular
Powerful
Naked
This is
the world
the way
God first created.
Not dressed
with grass
trees
plants
Raw
Wild
Dangerous
This is
a place
my soul
can expand...
and breathe!
I go 75 miles
seeing
only
one
restroom
only
one
truck
I try
to drive
straight
through...
...but I can't...
I need
analogy.
Sawtooth mountains?
Like
in Idaho?
Camelback?
Round
like the mountain
I climbed
in Phoenix.
How about
Stegosaurus
Spine?
The mountains
remind me
of muscle,
of bone.
They are
the world
unfleshed.
at the
Valley of Death.
Hottest
Driest
Lowest
I have
to stop!
The sun
hangs low.
Shadows
etch
black.
This is
a popular
sunset spot.
Families
posing
for memories.
Couples
in love
in a strange land.
I hear
German
and French.
People
come from
far places.
to see
mortality.
The raw
beauty
of a land
carved
from the heart
of the earth.
I watch
the sun sink.
The horizon
blinks.
This
is a place
I belong.
