Wild Skies

Evening view from the front of La Gaia.

La Gaia is situated in a little valley at the beginning of the sierras. Whoever built this house laid it out very nicely. It faces North exactly, so we have lovely sunrises to our right and mesmerizing sunsets to our left. Being at the edge of the sierras, we also have a nearly constant dry wind that drops down from the hills. I think it is due to that wind that we have such impressive skies here.

Sorry, Montana, but this is big sky country. This evening we were working in the back field and I noticed that suddenly, the light seemed different. Huge clouds had rolled in and there was an opening of clear blue sky right over our heads. The effect was that of a huge but soft spotlight shining down. Everything looked more crisp and defined. Glancing up, I saw part of a large rainbow in the east. Behind me, big dark clouds were rolling in, making the sunset monochromatic and eerily impressive in shades of steel blue, with brilliant patches of light shining through in shimmering metallic shades impossible to describe or reproduce. Big alto-stratus clouds in the north reflected light from the setting sun in shades of pink and purple. Cesar and I just stood there for a while, enjoying the break from our work, and pointed out the various features of the sky to each other. It was nearly 9:00pm and the moon was bright through a thin veil of clouds, but there was still plenty of daylight. These skies are too special for me to waste a moment by running inside to fetch my camera, so I hope that by my description you can paint your own mental picture of the scene.

The sky is something that modern people forget to pay attention to in their hurried lives. I can see how ancient peoples who lived much closer to nature than we do were so aware of their natural environment, especially the movements of the sun and stars. I noticed last night that Orion is slightly more westward than it was when we arrived. That is something I never would have noticed at home since we can barely see the stars there for all of the light pollution.

As I type, the wind is blowing quite briskly. I can hear it moving through the trees and around the house. I think we will have an interesting sky in the morning. We always do.