The Anvil and The Hammer

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Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith’s door
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
When looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers worn with beating years of time.*

This poem comes to mind whenever I see this picture. It was taken on a stormy, stormy day on the way to Hovenweep. There was thunder and wind and the light had a deep reddish tinge to it that I hadn’t seen before. Lightning was there too, but it was too fast for my shutter, so I have to imagine it again each time I view  this image.

Storms in this part of the country don’t last all that long. They tend to be intense but over soon. They’re not like the slow-moving deep-soaking storms back in the Midwest where they last for hours. Those can be heavy but unless they’re tornado type thunderstorms they seem manageable. These western storms are not manageable. They break on you in moments with a fierceness that is almost personal and care little for the aftermath.

That is part of the allure of these big open spaces. The land is big, the views are big, the weather bigger still. This hugeness with all its wonders and dangers and intensity becomes part of you. You can move away but you cannot forget it.

The anvil rings loudest for those who listen.

* From The Anvil Of God’s Word by John Clifford

Monsoon Storm

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When it comes to weather, living in the mountains can be a real plus. The monsoon season is on us and with it an almost daily storm that would be a weather event in most places but here just kind of makes the neighbors look out the window.

The other night was a prime example. A storm blew up out of the northwest and came roaring down the Obenchain draw heading for the plains. Its path took it directly over the house and as the house is kind of up in the air here on the mountainside we had a bird’s eye view of it as it went by. It was what old people called a ‘doozy’. If you’re young and reading this “why aren’t you doing your homework instead of fooling around on the computer?”  but before you go Google doozy and it’ll explain it to you.

This was an amazing storm. Lightning was flashing overhead, thunder was a continuous roar, and the whole thing felt like it was happening twenty feet above the roof. As always happens the storm moved out onto the plains and began to dump its rain in earnest. This was real old testament stuff and I wouldn’t doubt that there were a few folks apologizing very sincerely for any past transgressions they may have had. As we live a pure and simple life up here we didn’t have to bother with any of that and just took in the view. That guy on the bottom end of that lightning bolt probably wishes he had just said no though. But we all make choices. Maybe it helped him see the light so to speak.

It rained real hard, stirred up all the weather warning people, flash flood procedures were enacted, folks got wet. Dogs howled. Children cried. People drove through those places they tell you not to drive through when there’s flooding and everyone acted pretty much like you expected them to when things get really weird. Life kind of slowed down to a crawl until Mother Nature figured we’d had enough then it stopped. I like these storms. I don’t particularly want to get struck by lightning or washed on down the creek but I like them anyway. This is what it looked like. Stay dry.