Discovering Beauty in Everyday Life

Winter Sentries Guard Lower Manhattan

Yes, I remember. We left a track or two among the fray. Rush and scramble, turn and bounce. Cracking silence, muffled by a hat. Holding wet handfuls of winter.

I love a good fence. A fence puts a perspective on a thing. It tells you where your edges are, and has a certain voice. Don’t touch! Take care! Something needs protecting! The winter grass is tall, incautious, full of seeds. phragmites against the reservoir fence

The winter freeze has thawed, and it is time for a bit of spring.  I know it's premature, but I cannot resist a little indulgence in a clear, non-icy puddle.  Along the running path nearby, there's a favorite I have been watching for several years.  Graders come, land-levelers go, dirt arrives in piles nearby for shovelling.  My dear mudpuddle!  It survives them all.  And why not?  Beauty is a trancendental item. (Look carefully, and you will catch sight of new puddles just recently born)

Have you noticed? A good mudpuddle may appear to dry, but it remains as quiet and simple as a whiff of smoke to live another day. It's winter now, deep in January. There they are smaller, true, and frozen, but they will survive to live another spring.

I promise this is my last comment about Crestone and Southern Colorado for awhile! But I have to point out that Crestone is 40 miles from Alamosa, which is very small. Here is the Alamosa Airport Tarmac and Runway, as seen from the departure lounge. We waited and waited. It was cold and snowy. The plane finally arrived. I dawdled. Perhaps a small fear? Perhaps simply waiting my turn? Here are the passengers ahead of me boarding. Mind you, this plane is the one that flies over the craggy, rocky, stony, snowcapped 14,000 foot peaks. Yes, this  is the entire plane.  And that's the runway, too.