Dummy goes to Delicate Arch. Moab, Utah

jacobts (65)in #travel • 6 years ago

He wakes before sunrise and drove to Delicate Arch.
Took a mile and a half hike to view upfront. He was surrounded by tourists, different languages, different dress. Everyone in line for a picture. Some ask for help. Some want the selfie. All want the photo near the dummy sucking water from his bag against the wall. Or so he thinks, and so he scoots around the bowl filling with visitors.

The children play like monkeys on the rocks. Mothers remind their children not to die. Father's remind everyone to get in the shot. Some brought snacks, some brought sticks, some bring babies in backpacks. Everyone gets in line at some point to get a picture under the arch. Except dummy, he's scootched up close to just sit and look at the arch cause his phone ran out of juice like an idiot.

Large black Ravens and little blue sparrows float and dart overhead the gathering below. The clouds that once shaded dawn begin to break and the sun charges the rocks below with different colors of red, tan, and distant blues. The people soon realize the dummy is in a good spot for a photo so they start asking him to take their photos under the arch. One by one they hand him their cameras and phones while he takes their posing pictures.

A young scared son and his dad shared a moment in the shadows. The cabin at the trail head housed a father and son prospecters for ten years late 1800s. The two from Ohio lived in solitude with First Nation neighbors and only the surrounding colors of swirling red earth and cloud freckled blue skies. The dummy made it back to the parking lot having been passed by everyone whose picture he took. He passed a snake that only moved out his way. He watched the Ravens pay him no mind. He called his mother and wished her Happy Birthday then got a coffee in town before driving into the desert in search of another dawn.