Magical

I came back to the campsite to make sure it wasn't raining on my rainfly-less tent this afternoon. I had a Mexican coke, watched the butterflies, laughed at a lizard doing push-ups in front of me (maybe he wanted me to join in? yeah, right, lizard), and decide on a short trail before the sun went down. There was no rain in sight, and you can see a really long ways here, so off I went. Well, I started up the foothill, and sure enough, about 30 minutes into it, I felt a much colder breeze and began to hear lightening. Well, all I could think about were my friend's books in my tent, and my sleeping bag in my tent, and how I didn't want to be soggy all night, or be responsible for ruined books. I began hurrying up the hill at an accelerated pace, knowing that I was on a loop trail. I just kept getting farther and farther from my truck. Maybe I should have taken a different turn back at the dried up creek? I paused when I heard a flutter to my right. There were two bright yellow birds, with jet black wings covered with white spots. So cool. I turned to look behind me, and there was a rainbow stretching across the sky, saying, "Walk on." So on I walked up the rocky, dusty path. Suddenly, it was like I was in Oregon. The path was covered with maples and ferns and there was a spring flowing through, ever so gently. It was the second time in one day that I felt I entered a whole different universe. I felt refreshed as I continued on the trail, and less concerned about the dark clouds. I was at least on the right path, and that's always a big relief. The sun was shining bright, and I was feeling good. I stopped to take a picture of a tree with a pink trunk when huge rain drops began to fall lazily out of the sky, like the sky was just too full. My heart was like that earlier today, like it was just all too good and beautiful and big and tears came down. I looked across the whole hill and watched the sun light up the rain, making it seem electric. I enjoyed the sound of it plopping on my cowboy hat as I walked, enjoying myself too much to be worried about my sleeping bag and books. By the time I reached Syd, it was almost as if it had never happened, besides another rainbow stretching across the sky and just a few streaks down the back window of the camper. I had dried out completely, and was fairly confident that my sleeping bag would as well. Some deer with big ears showed me the way out to the main road. These had big ears, so I think they were mule deer, not tiny and fuzzy like the ones I saw in Big Bend.

This was just this evening. I went to Carlsbad Caverns this morning. Also magical. Another story for another time. Peace.