Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Sun Dog


The wisest thing I can do today is to admit one thing upfront: There are no words I can write that will do justice to nature's artistry you see above. So I’ll simply tell you the backstory.

My friend Joelle and I were hiking Sunday in a Central Washington mountain range still covered in snow. The day was sunny and the air springtime warm, so we hiked in T-shirts. At the same time, the snow was deep and mushy and we wore snowshoes to avoid sinking in up to our knees.

We both kept looking up at the sky. The sun was moving in and out from behind clouds that were doing amazing, billowy performance art for us. We had a sense that Mother Nature might be in the process of pulling one of those out-of-nowhere mountain storm rabbits out of her hat. Rain could be about to hit us, or snow. Or...

“WOW!” Joelle suddenly said, pointing up. "A CIRCULAR RAINBOW!"

“WOW WOW WOW!!!” I chimed-in. "I think that's what's called a Sun Dog! I read about them once."

It was Mother's Day, and Mother Nature surely outdid herself for us.