Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Painted Hills - The story of the beautiful sunrise….


The wind seems to be in deep sleep - the same as almost everything else around here. The only activity we can perceive is ourselves, a few rabbits, and the sky. The time is now 5:12 and Nico and I have been awake all night, enjoying the company we have missed for the last 8 years. We are camping on the mountains, about 30 miles from the Painted Hills unit of the John Day Fossil Bed National Monument. The fire burned all night, and about an hour before day break, we climbed onto the powerful Explorer and headed towards the Painted Hills to watch the sunrise. The hills on the distance are becoming more and more defined as we drive - Day is announcing its arrival. I step on the gas pedal a bit harder, in order to beat the sun to our destination.

We arrive at the entrance to the park, and the sharp left turn points the car towards the North. The road is narrow, but traffic is non-existent. Not even on Fridays at 5:00PM. The speedometer reads 75 mph, and all of sudden, a dozen pretty good sized rabbits decide to cross in front of me….I slam on the brakes….From that point on, my speedometer never read more than about 30 mph…We continue on, and the rabbits kept on crossing in front of us. My video camera, mounted on its hand-held steady cam, sticks out of my window, recording the happenings. The sun must be about 20 minutes from showing up over the hills on the east. A few cirrus clouds absorb the warm morning light, and sight is beautiful. The road makes a 90 degree turn to the right, and the pavement breaks down into dirt. We have officially entered the Painted Hills Unit.

The road climbs through the rolling hills, and with every turn of road, a more beautiful sight appears. Finally the whole beauty of this place breaks in front of the dusty windshield. I stop the car, and shut off the engine. The silence is dense and impenetrable. The sky serves as a conductor for cosmic sound, and I am certain that I can hear the noise from outer space. I move the steady cam in a slow circle to capture the vastness of the sight. The view on the LCD monitor is amazing… I close my eyes and allow the energy from this powerful place to soak my spirit and make a deep mark in my memory..

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