"When dawn spreads its paintbrush on the plain, spilling purple... ," Sons of the Pioneers theme for TV show "Wagon Train." Dawn on the mythic Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, looking toward Raton from Cimarron. -- Clarkphoto. A curmudgeon artist's musings melding metaphors and journalism, for readers in more than 150 countries.

Monday, December 16, 2019

Starlight--9 days 'til Christmas

"Starlight," 5 x 7 watercolor card

Those who live in rural areas, especially the mountains and deserts, the thinly populated areas of the planet, following the stars is a way of life.
You're closer to them high up, and where the sky is not polluted with light or moisture or noise  and people.
As one ranger said at Chaco Canyon, in the clear, dry northwestern New Mexico desert when I last camped there, talking about watching the night sky for hours, "It's like you can feel the earth move under your feet."
You  can actually see and feel time as it moves over you.
You're more aware of how small and remote we are in the vastness of the universe. And you notice changes, and portents, Starlight matters.
No wonder rural people noticed a star beckoning them  to the birth of Jesus so long ago. 

Ten years ago at Chaco: 
Where you can see time 


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