Beauty

Sep 03, 2004 16:12

I wish I had a digital camera right here right now - it's in J's briefcase with him at his office - because I would snap a photo and post it of this incredible scene just to the east of our house (which is the side of our house that faces the river, the city and the mountains) - out our picture windows right now I can see that a storm is building overhead. Watching thunderstorms unfold here is an unparalleled experience - then just east of the desert is the bosque - the line of cottonwood trees that follows the Rio Grande - and on this side of the bosque is a small access road - the wind is whipping up right now, so each time a truck drives across there are swirls of dust left in its wake - truly swirls - turning and curving and floating up into the atmosphere. Now the thunder is starting to rumble - but what makes this even MORE beautiful is that where the clouds are still parted in the expanse of sky over the mountains, the sky is brilliant blue - intense blue - not the kind of skies you ever see on the east coast - it's unlike anything I've ever seen before I lived in Albuquerque. The expanse of sky here is monumental - this is true big sky country. Now that I have had this - for my eyes and my soul to drink in - I think I would die of thirst elsewhere - which is funny, considering that the one thing I missed so desperately when I first arrived in New Mexico, was water - oceans, lakes, blue and green - I felt so deprived - but no longer. I love my desert home. I love the monsoons of late summer. I drink them in with the sky above me and wish for nothing else. Now it is raining - quenching rains - and still I see the sun cascading down the mountains in the east and that deep, intense blue over them - perfection.

Something else that is so amazing about this place is that in a single afternoon you can experience such a wide array of atmosphere - from the feeling of living in the old west, the dustbowl dreariness even, to the retro-modern feel of art deco and art nouveau on so many of the downtown buildings, and then the communing with nature you feel with the mountains, the cloud-dotted blue skies and the sway of the cottonwood trees, the horse ranches that are nestled in the nearby community of Corrales, just north of here, is cowgirl heaven, and then a short drive to Santa Fe with it's rich cultural heritage, museums, galleries, gourmet cuisine, opera, ballet - how incredible. There is so much of this place that I have not tapped into yet - it will take a lifetime - and that is what I intend to spend my lifetime doing, too - taking my kids along for the ride, of course - with Jonathan by my side.
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