Moon over Mt. Sopris

CARBONDALE, CO

The nearly full moon rises over Mount Sopris, still densely covered in snow. The snow covered peaks in Colorado in early May shouldn’t have surprised me, but still I found myself startled when I came around a bend and the snow caps rose up in front of me. The icy breeze blowing off the snowmelt swollen creek makes me shiver. The clear, starry night proves cold, leaving me longing for my winter sleeping bag, which sits idly in a Chicago basement. I spent the night waking every couple hours, doing a few sit ups and shuffling my feet to warm my blood. Sleeping cold always seems like a good idea until I’m trying to sleep while cold. I have an ugly history of underestimating the cold, and overestimating my ability to sleep right through it.

Slightly sleep deprived, and still shivering in the morning shadows, I set off early Monday morning by bike headed into town for a class. A red hawk sat quietly in the grass watching my flash of orange as I rode by. A red-winged blackbird flitted from fencepost to fencepost. The morning is still, and devoid of traffic. A few cows ramble through the dewy grass, but they and the birds are my only company.