The Experience – The Valley

The Vail Valley, Colorado, © Jay Goodrich

I took my dog for a walk tonight, as I do almost every night, on a trail that we’ve walked probably a hundred times. Tonight was different. There was a crispness to the air. Winter was on its way. The grasses were tall. Dry. Sidney closed his eyes as his face pushed them out of his way. He was a big dog. 100 pounds. A malamute and as ornery as they get. He was not one to mess with. I was safe no matter what, even if that bear was back. We walked for miles and miles. Up over the rock outcropping. Into the forest. Douglas fir and Colorado Blue Spruce surrounded us. Many turning brown from the beetles. We ducked through their branches. We crossed the streams that were now slivers of water. All of last year’s snow gone. Evaporated in the dry mountain air.

The flowers were dry and gone too. Not even a lone soldier at this point. The aspens were beginning to change. I love this time of year. It is a point where color finally returns to the valley. Every thing cooked from the long, hot, dry, summer. Soon though. Soon I would be in splendor. With camera in hand at every dog walking, on every hike. I would get up before the sun and sleep well after its journey through the sky. Work? Funny.

Farther and Farther up. We see an elk. Just a cow. Higher still. The cars and the houses are beginning to shrink. Tinier and tinier. Sidney’s heart keeps pulling me. His life is about the tow. I oblige. Less work higher up. The valley is beginning to unfold before us. The sky speckled with soft puffy clouds. The remainder of the heat of the day. They too will dissipate as the sun folds once again. We reach the out cropping. An overhanging piece of sandstone, deep maroon in color. Lime green lichen clinging to it. I sit and over look the valley before me. Sid lays by my side, paw extended. The hand grasp to the chest. Nothing beats a little attention in the late afternoon. The sun is approaching the horizon warming our faces. A breeze send chills down the spine. Goosebumps all over. The clouds are beginning to change–white, to yellow. Sid sniffs the air. Unseen creatures. I am safe.

The surrounding peaks turn golden with intermittent shadows. If only had a…The sun heads for other worlds. The sky now yellow and then the catapult. Hyperdrive to orange, pink, red, purple, blue, grey, then back to white as the sun leaves us for another day. I revel in it. The last light. We sit. It’s almost dark. We watch the cars turn their lights on well below us. The grasses drift ever so softly in the breeze. There’s a crinkle and a cracking as they touch each other. Soon there will be snow. Soon it will be different. Now the air begins to cool as the light drifts away. I stand. Scan the valley on more time. Sid’s bright blue eyes gaze up. Not a blink in sight. I look down. As if he read my mind. Up. We start to walk back home. Ah, the valley.

Related posts:

1. The Experience – OZ

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 8:00 am. It is filed under the experience and tagged with Colorado, earth day 2010, environment, nature, the experience, the valley, vail, wilderness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.