WinterSpell

Winters can be ferocious in the San Luis Valley, although this year was unusual because of the massive amounts of snow. Always there is the wind, but this year there were epic snowstorms as well. Many roads were un-passable or had snow piled on either side that reached above the tops of cars. One lane. I never encountered anyone driving the other way, luckily.

The Sangre de Cristos mountain range still blossom into blood rose colors at sunrise and sunset. I never get inured to the daily glory. The openness has the loneliness and expansive power I would imagine in the tundra of Mongolia. Perhaps I should take up eagle hunting.

There were a couple of nights when a blizzard blew horizontally all night and I wondered what I would do with no visibility, no cell service and probably no road passage should I get caught in it driving. A friend advised me to hunker down and put something tall outside my car so the snowplows wouldn’t bury me in the morning. Good advice. I guess.

Still, we have lots of wood, two wood burning stoves plus propane. The night sky has a clarity, a crisp precision. The days, no matter the temperature or of time of year, have long hours of sunlight more often than not. Sunshine. In winter. Yes.