Nambe, New Mexico. Photo by Jack Gordon |
When we climbed
over the barbed wire fence that separated the highway from wind
carved rock crags that stood like ships on the tree dotted high
desert plain, I joked of being arrested. My friend was curious.
Actually, I had been arrested once in the same location. Or so I
remembered . . . it was long ago and I had been standing off the highway
on Indian Tribal property painting the beautiful landscape. An
officer drove up and arrested me for trespassing. That is how my
memory goes anyway.
I had not been back
until now. My friend Jack from Washington DC is visiting for a few
weeks while his wife teaches a writing class. He had seen the
spectacular rock formation and wanted to go back in the evening to
shoot pictures of stars.
As I drove and he
pointed out the way, I realized we were on the high road to Taos, New
Mexico, the most scenic route between the northern New Mexico cities
of Santa Fe and Taos. Great clouds were forming dramatic curtains as
the sun steadily drifted to the horizon. We stopped at an old church
and browsed among tombstones, then continued on until we came to the
spot. As night came, coyotes started howling, a familiar sound to me,
but not to Jack. He asked, “Are there rattlesnakes around here?”
Rock formation, photo by S. Boone |
His equipment was
more elaborate than mine, and he was interested in taking long
exposure photos to capture stars in the sky above the rock cliffs. He set up and I
sauntered in a different direction because I was fascinated with the
full moon shining close to the horizon. It hung in the dark sky among massive
indigo clouds. Occasionally a car would come along the highway and
its headlights would beam light in front. Because my exposure was
long, the light would appear as a solid line of incandescence in the
otherwise dark foreground.
Lipstick sunset, photo by S. Boone |
Jack and I lounged
on the sandy earth, waiting for his picture and talking in the dark.
His photo did not come out to his liking because of the clouds. When
we climbed back over the fence to go home, it was almost midnight. We
took turns holding the fence open while squeezing through. Jack
arrived through but I got caught on a barb and fell. My pants ripped
and hand cut in three places. When I opened the car door, I could see
a lot of blood. Jack came to the rescue with bandages he had with
him.
Headlights and full moon, photo by S. Boone |
Our hearts were
light and we talked all the way on the 30 minute drive home.
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