Blankets.....

..... today was an interesting day.... it dawned cold and windy with a hint of rain, and tailed off more gently until around dusk..... at dusk we were hit with a huge dose of wind and driving rain that knocked limbs off of many of the trees and showered them all around in broken, soggy chunks.....

... I had errands to run in town, but the drive wasn't so bad......... as I said, it was one of those strange days where the cloud cover held itself at 2000 feet or so, and the mountains spewed their steam up from their slopes..... creating a weird sort of envelopment, I guess....... the low clouds boxed everything in from above..... and with the steam rising up?..... you were left with a sandwiched scene of cloud, mountain top, and misty valley everywhere you looked........ in between rainstorms, it was truly striking to watch it all unfold.... and to enjoy the feeling that the whole scene evoked...........

..... claustrophobic for some, I am sure..... but for others - like me - ensconced in their warm cars and viewing it from afar, it wasn't scary at all..... it was more evocative of being "held" by the earth instead..... embraced, perhaps......... like being pressed into a box of comfort....... great, bulbous, fluffy clouds above were your blanket..... and the fine smokiness rising up was your soft, flannel sheet......

...... but knowing that the sky was above you - and close - and that the ground below you was there as well?........ as if The World were closing in on you and it was a Good Thing...... good to be held in the arms of your world..... comforted between the valley and the mountains.......

....... but that was only the time between the rains....... for once the rain began to fall again, everything became muddled and mixed....... the sky and mist mingled....... and then, of course, it was all gone........ there was no more box...... no more holding...... no more closeness...... no more comfort..... it was all gone.......

...... rain blended the top AND bottom to create only grey.......

.... good god, I want my blanket back.........