The Sun At Sunset

The mountains disappeared yesterday.

When I first walked outside early yesterday morning it was already very warm, and the day promised to be very hot.  As hot as it has been for many many weeks on end, seemingly since not long after we arrived back in Wyoming.

Hot and dry. 

Dry and hot.

As I looked around me I initially thought that the day was simply hazy. 

I could see the sun trying without success to break through what I at first thought were clouds, but then quickly realized was smoke.

There was smoke everywhere.

And it was then that I realized that the mountains had disappeared.

Carter Mountain?  Gone.  Heart Mountain?  Also gone.  Cedar and Rattlesnake Mountains?  Barely visible.

The BLM hills surrounding us were still visible, sharply contrasted against what was a plain white and uninterrupted sky.

With the mountains obscured behind the smoke the terrain suddenly looked foreign to me. 

There are fires burning in every state in the west.  I can only imagine the carnage and destruction this summer has caused to homes and pastures and forests throughout this entire region, and I do not know which fire was causing this virtual white-out in Cody yesterday.

But for most of the day the terrain surrounding this small western town was in hiding.

By 7pm yesterday the smoke was finally and thankfully beginning to lift.

Gradually the mountains began to make their reappearance, and after feeling lost and unsettled for most of the day I looked over at Jamie who was sitting on the couch beside me and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk.

My oldest son Sean many years ago cynically but good naturedly announced to me that dogs did not understand words, that they only understood tone of voice.

And then to drive his point home he looked at our dog and in the excited sing-song voice one would use to ask a dog if they wanted to go for a walk, he asked our dog "Wanna go to the vet and get put to sleep??" 

Dumb-ass dog responded with tail wagging and eager face, right on cue.

My smug son then smilingly looked at me with satisfaction as if to say "Told ya so!"

And so in sing song voice yesterday I sing-songed my question to Jamie, and yes she wanted to go for a walk.

I grabbed her leash, made her do the stupid-human-pet-trick of sitting while I attached her to the leash, and we set out, woman and dog needing to move and be outside...........................

We headed left out of the driveway, walked down the road to the left bend in the road that leads down the hill, and instead of taking the downhill as we usually do Jamie and I instead continued straight.

There is not a whole lot of straight beyond the bend.

The road continues for only another quarter mile before dead-ending at a ranch owned by a doctor.

I hear our neighbors names occasionally but can never remember them, and in truth can never remember them because I have no interest in remembering them.

But I do know the man is a doctor, and he and his wife together own about 20 acres and a slew of different kinds of animals including dogs, sheep, goats, horses and maybe chickens.

As James and I continued wandering slowly down the road I looked over and could see that Heart Mountain was now again visible on the horizon.

While at the library yesterday afternoon I found myself continually looking out of the windows of the small restaurant where I was sitting.... and downloading pictures......and drinking outlandishly expensive coffee ($2.69 for a mid-sized regular black)........feeling slightly disoriented by all of the white and by the disappearance of the mountains.

Looking over at Heart yesterday evening from the top of the hill where we now live was reassuring...................

When James and I reached the end of the road I stopped for a few moments to take pictures of a barn, and the pasture and hills behind it.

As we turned to head back the way we had come I stopped for a moment when I realized that a big white dog was watching us.

I did not know this dog so was unsure what to expect.  Sometimes they are friendly and sometimes they are not.

Still standing in one place watching the dog I quickly realized that this was one of the friendly variety.

He first looked at me and then Jamie then back to me, and I could tell by the look on this big friendly furball's face that he wanted to play....................

He finally summoned enough courage to climb through the fence and cautiously come visit with both me and my dog..............

They sniffed, they circled, they stared each other down, and then went their separate ways - big white pup back through the fence and medium red dog heading with owner back down the road...................

When Jamie and I reached the house I quickly realized that neither of us was yet ready to head back inside.

We walked beyond the house, and headed in the opposite direction from where we had just traveled.

As Jamie happily continuing investigating every single bush along our route I found myself looking deeper into the mountains.

Only a few hours ago they had been completely invisible.

The area was still very smoky but the mountains were again "out" and they looked like a mirage.

I found myself wishing (for the thousandth time since we have returned to Wyoming) that it was not summer and that BLM land was not overrun with rattlesnakes in the summer.

I wanted to walk "out there".

Soon...................

The sun was just beginning to set.

Gradually making its decent over Cedar and Rattlesnake, and as I watched it for a moment and then snapped these pictures, I realized that the smoke was going to have the effect of making this a very beautiful sunset-night.................

My favorite picture from last night.................

Jamie and I had been wandering for over an hour, and as we headed back up the driveway towards the house I suddenly realized that my pup must be very thirsty.

Leaving my dog in the house to drink and rest I headed to the back of the property.

The sun was dropping fast, and as it always does at this time of night, the sky was changing in appearance almost every minute.

As I stood for a few minutes in front of a pine tree in the back yard I absently played around with the zoom of my camera, taking a few pictures rapid-fire and without giving them much thought................

Part of an old plough, long abandoned in the field...............

It actually was not as dark outside as it looks in these pictures.

The combination of the setting sun, the smoke in the sky, and the fact that I was point-shooting directly into the sun brought out this effect..............

Dixie, our neighbor's horse...............

For a short while I sat behind the barn looking out over the valley below me.................

And then wandered along a narrow and overgrown trail behind the barn, heading towards the horses that live next door.

The weather was finally beginning to cool down, and these horses (along with the horses I could see in pastures down below me) were beginning to run and play, energized at the end of the day................

There was little daylight left and I found myself again sitting on the wooden beams surrounding the barn, and again looking out over the end of the day in the valley.

It was time to think about heading inside.

Just as I had stashed my camera into the side pocket of my shorts I looked over to my left and saw this guy.

He belongs to the single mother who lives close by, and in all the times I have sat behind the barn since we came back to Wyoming I have never seen this horse in this place.

He is beautiful.  And the mountains in the background were beautiful.

I was glad to see that this picture turned out well.......................

Is it so small a thing to have enjoyed the sun at sunset?................Matthew Arnold