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ENTS, WNTS,
Monica and I left Durango, Colorado on July 4 th , heading east.
After a long and rewarding stay, our time had come to return to
Massachusetts. Neither of us was willingly ready to leave. We felt
equally sad at leaving the wonderful new friends we had made in
Durango, and also Rocky, the delightful little dog that we cared for
(or better, the dog that took care of us). Next year we will return
to Durango and stay longer. That is a certainty.
On planning our return trip, we had agreed to make several
stopovers. The first was to be the Great Sand Dunes National Park –
actually only three and a half hours from Durango. We both wanted to
renew our connections to that extraordinary place, and this time, we
were going to do it in style. Monica made a reservation for us at
the tiny Oasis Motel, a short distance from the dunes.
The attachment entitled ‘OasisMotelCompressed’ shows the motel, and
folks, I’m not playing a joke. What you see is the motel.
Descriptive adjectives that come to mind include quaint, odd,
unusual, small, tiny, etc. First reactions include - huh? The Oasis
has just two suites. Two. No more. Ours was the #1 suite
and I'm mighty happy to categorically state: we were very pleased
with it - especially after shelling out $110 for one night. Ouch!
In addition to the usual room and bath space, the #1 suite included
a large enclosed outer room that had picture windows on three sides.
The windows give visitors unimpeded views of the sand dunes and the
surrounding superlative scenery. To our initial
surprise, the outer room was entirely empty except for a white table
and chairs. There were no wall decorations or other
furniture. At first sight, the outer room seemed disquietingly bare.
But then we realized that it supposed to be. The owners were making
a point. If you visit the dunes and are given
accommodations where you can see those ever shifting piles of sand
from large picture windows, but feel the need for the usual motel
type décor, then maybe you don’t need to be visiting the dunes in
the first place. The dunes and views of the Sangres ARE the room
decorations.
While we rested at the Oasis, a series of extraordinary scenes
unfolded for Monica and me as we gazed through the spacious windows
and strolled outside to secure even more expansive views. The scenes
we witnessed require more artistic descriptive abilities than I
possess. However, Providence has blessed me with a
digital camera, requiring minimal skills to operate. The remaining
six attachments provide hints to what we saw. But before describing
the scenes in the attachments, I wish to point out that to my mind,
the dunes can be experienced in 6 distinct ways.
1. The first order of experience is the recreational one. The
laughter of children is ample testament the joy that the dunes can
bring. Watching the young ones jump, slide and tumble down the
dunes, play in Medano Creek, and build sandcastles in the wet sand,
reminds those of us in our senior years that youth is a state of
mind. One amused parent described the dunes as a 33-square-mile
sandbox.
2. The second, more adult, recreational experience is physical:
to walk on them, explore them, and to pit one's muscles against the
shifting sands as one climbs to the high points - one step forward,
two back.
3. The third way to experience the dunes is to study them and try
to understand the processes that formed them and appreciate their
unique ecology. This is a higher order right brain experience.
4. The fourth way is to appreciate their artistic beauty, their
many moods, to come to know them aesthetically, and perhaps try to
capture some of their essence in words, photographs, paintings, and
music.
5. The fifth way is to connect with them spiritually. This may be
a difficult process depending on ones belief system and background,
but the Great Sand Dunes represent a higher order vibrational place
that speaks to us in personal ways that I can only think of as
spiritual.
6. The sixth and best way is the combination of all the above. I
believe that one cannot truly come to know the dunes without this
full range of experiences.
And with these beliefs expressed, Monica and I now present the
images.
‘OasisMotelCompressed’ shows the motel, and folks, I’m not
playing a joke. What you see is the motel. Descriptive adjectives
that come to mind include quaint, odd, unusual, small, tiny, etc.
SangresSouthCompressed: This image was taken before the light
began to fade. It looks south and east toward the crest of the
Sangre de Cristos. The foreground vegetation is mostly
sage and grass. A few forbs and cacti put on color displays
throughout the spring and summer.
BloodOfChristCompressed: As the sun began to set, we were treated
to one dazzling display after another. Looking to the southeast into
the Sierra Blanca massif, the sun reflects off a peak. The scene
reminded us why the mountains were named the Sangre de Cristo
Mountains by the Spaniards.
HerardCompressed: Looking to the north, the great bulk of
13,294-foot Mount Herard dominates that part of the horizon. It
rises abruptly without foothills from an altitude of 8,000 feet – a
vertical mile of mountain.
MonicaCompressed: This image shows Monica in the parking area.
The direction is to the south.
nterplayCompressed: As the evening wore on, Monica
and I were treated to a spectacular display of light reflecting off
clouds, mountains, sand, and sage. The sharp peaks on the horizon
include four fourteeners topped by 14,294-foot Crestone Peak - one
of the last fourteeners to be climbed in Colorado.
SpillingCloudsCompressed: The final image I’ll send shows a
cloudbank spilling over Mosca, Medina, and Music Passes. I was
reminded of the seas of clouds I used to admire in the central
mountains of Taiwan.
Monica and I
have much, much more to share with you on the sand dunes, but rather
than put everyone into overload mode, we’ll take it event at a time.
Bob
Continued
at:
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/b89e85ae796e1c5b?hl=en
http://groups.google.com/group/WNTS/browse_thread/thread/b89e85ae796e1c5b
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