Tag Archives: Marble Canyon

Virga

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2015-09-010MarbleCayon2389

Virga or the art of teasing as played by Mother Nature, is when the rain falls from the sky but doesn’t reach the earth below. It evaporates right before it should hit the ground. It’s like a giant game of “She loves me, She loves me not” where she pulls the petals off her garden of clouds and when she pulls one while gently singing “She Loves me”, the rain will fall to the ground and the dry earth knows she loves it. However when she pulls the “She loves Me Not” petal the rain falls to within inches of the thirsty earth but does not touch it. This is bad. It indicates that she is in a capricious mood and things can go either way. Since Mother Nature knows which petal it is before she pulls it and she’s feeling slightly out of sorts she can pull the “She Loves Me Not” petals all day long. This is what is happening in California right now.

I don’t know what those folks did wrong, it probably has something to do with Nancy Pelosi, but they better get their mind right and straighten things out. Mother Nature has a lot more will-power than all of California, even those parts like Hollywood and Beverly Hills, and can do this as long as she wants. Like hundreds of years if you really tick her off.
 
Marble canyon didn’t do anything wrong though, it just happens to be in a spot where there isn’t much rain, and what rain does fall is used sparingly. Mother Nature actually likes Marble Canyon and the surrounding area so she only teases a little. This time the Virga is sort of a wake up call saying “I’m bringing you some rain guys, get ready”. This moment in time was just a short tease however. When the canyon needs rain she pulls the right petal. The dark clouds in the background were moving in and before you knew it Mother Nature had pulled every “She Loves Me ” petal she could get her hands on and Marble canyon had all the rain it needed and more.

In the mean time anyone who wanted to could sit back and watch the spectacle unfold. The canyon is actually a couple of miles from where this image was taken so the rain didn’t reach out this far. The close-up appearance of the canyon comes from the magic a telephoto lens and the stitching power of Photoshop to put the 13 photos together needed to create this panorama. Click on it to enlarge the image somewhat for a closer look yet. Is this a great world to live in, or what.

The Far Reaches

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MarbleCyn2538-2549Marble Canyon Arizona                                                  click to enlarge

One of the amazing things about the Southwest is how far you can see. There are places out here where you can see for two days. Vistas that are so achingly beautiful that you can’t believe you’ve been privileged enough to see them.

The interaction between land and sky happens differently here than other places with the features on the ground being lit from above and the clouds above being lit from below. Light and shadow, colors and shapes the combinations are endless  and you can get lost just watching the changes occur. It’s like the worlds biggest kaleidoscope.

One time in another life I had a resort in the southwest corner of Colorado. We had people staying with us from all over the world. There were some folks checked in that were from some big urban center back east and they came in and said they wanted to check out, they were going home. When asked why, weren’t they enjoying their stay, their reply was “They didn’t like being able to see this far”. It made them nervous. It changed their entire sense of perspective and made them feel small. I remember thinking at the time that I couldn’t see far enough.

Whether you’re from the camp that feels more comfortable in the confines of the urban canyons or you need the wide open spaces to feel alive, the one thing that is undeniable is the beauty of this country. Some of us need to be here while others can make do with a picture. Which one are you?