This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

The day has been blisteringly hot. Smoke from the western forest fires has been drifting past the camp, sometimes so thick you felt like you were next to the flames. There was some relief from the heat as the sun began its journey past the horizon but not that much. There was no relief from the smoke.

As you looked about the camp the lodges began to fade to black, the lodge poles standing out in stark relief against the sky. But the sky. How beautiful was the sky. If it hadn’t been the result of the massive catastrophe that the smoke represented the resulting colors caused by the sunlight’s passage through it would have been the most beautiful thing you’d ever seen. It was still gorgeous but you knew in the back of your mind this sunset wouldn’t have been this intense if it hadn’t been for the smoke.

However reality is what is happening right now. These events are real. The sun setting, the smoke, the camp, the dancing, everything is real. You might wish the smoke wasn’t there. You might wish the heat was less, but it isn’t and this what you have to accept as an observer and participant in the life that is happening  around you right now. To get the most out of life embrace the time you’re in. Savor every moment because this experience will not come again.