Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Destination Catacomb Rock



Three times last week Kobae was turned back prior to reaching the Wind Caves. Not tonight. This evening the canyon lands cathedral is spectacular. It is only quiet. A whip tail lizard spooked by Kobae, makes a frenzied run past Tom. To the left of the wind caves and beyond, a white tail deer watches. Tom can smell a campfire miles to the south in a soft north wind. It's perfect as most days are in this earth laboratory. Four miles. Four hours. Darkness comes. Kobae finds shelter under an overhang. Venus spots them, the Milky Way blankets them. The only sound, Kobae's slow breathing. He is asleep. The starlight of the night sky, the slight white shadow of both sides of the jeep trail, and the feel of hardened soil under Tom's feet, with occasional flashes of the Perseid meteors hitting the earth's atmosphere at 140,000 mph, Tom feels and senses his way to the lodge. Arriving safely, the soft throttle of the jeep whispers so Tom may return to the Wind Caves for his friend.

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