Notes from a Canyon Drive

Canyon Chronicles

...heading west and south on Colorado Highway 141 from Grand Junction to Gateway and beyond
...traveling along the Delores River, in Spanish translates to "The River of our Lady of the Sorrows"
...narrow red rock canyons opening up to lush green valleys and then closing down again
...knee deep grasses dotted with shiny horses and contented cows, some sheep
...blue sky with white clouds gathering, caught on the tops of majestic plateaus
...the new green of trees just leafing out, caught in the coy sunlight, is iridescent and magical
...solid rock sentinels, slightly separate from the cliff's edge, keep vigil through years, barely moving
...black "desert varnish" of manganese oxide coat the flat surfaces ~ canvas for imagined petroglyphs ~ a message from the ancients
...lacy tamarisk, or salt cedar ~ one would be beautiful but they have taken over and now obscure our vision of the river
...white and fluffy turns to dark and grey, the sky opens, rain slams the windshield
...waterfalls from above, cascade, searching for the river
...rolling down the windows to let in the lucious scents of juniper, sage and wet rock
...heading home, silent with wonder, blue sky ahead.

* annette