Sunday, November 14, 2010

river vignette 10 - the Rio Grande



An unexpected and unplanned trip into the city today to help my daughter. She's been fighting off a migraine for two days, husband is out of town and twin daughters have a major portion of their science fair projects due tomorrow.






We had heard thunder rumbling way off during the afternoon and after we made camp we could see the storm coming our way. We had about 30 minutes of a hard sprinkle and then it moved off. As the storm moved away, we saw a rainbow and had a clear sky for stargazing in the east and an incredible lightning show on the horizon in the west that went on for hours. It was a beautiful night and hard to decide what to watch...the lightning show behind us or the star field in front of us. The Milky Way blazed across the sky and we saw the most incredible shooting star. The longest, biggest, brightest any of us had ever seen. It went on and on all the way across the sky almost to the horizon.



18 comments:

  1. sorry about your daughter's migraine. I can relate and so can my daughter. Nasty bit of pain. Great that you can go and help the twins and be there for your daughter.
    I love your series of drawings of the Rio Grande....
    The Olde Bagg

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  2. When I was a kid, in the height of summer, we'd sleep out in the back yard because it was an adventure, and because the house was too hot. We'd drink Coke floats and goof around while setting up the sleeping bags. We would settle in, and gaze at the sky. We could see the Milky Way, satellites traveling across the sky, stars and planets. You can't see the night sky any longer from where I live. Too much pollution, both light and particulates. Your story reminded me of those summer nights from my youth. Makes me think I need to get to the desert now so I can see the Milky Way again.

    I love your vignettes Ellen. They often transport me. Thanks for sharing them with us.

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  3. Gosh I have never seen a shooting star! Did you all make wishes?

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  4. Mum to the rescue!
    I love your vignettes, beautifully drawn and written.

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  5. Hope your daughter feels better soon. That weather sounds great, just my idea of perfection.

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  6. Lovely post. The G-man & I are heading that way for Christmas! Marathon & Big Bend here we come!
    I hope your daughter is feeling better. Years ago I suffered with migraines & can sympathize. You are a good mom/grandmom to be there with them!

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  7. Hope your daughter is better. I bet you had fun with the twins.

    Beautiful sketch and your words completed the picture.

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  8. ellen i could read and look at a book of your vignettes. steven

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  9. I'm wishing upon that shooting star that your daughter's migraine is already a thing of the past...

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  10. Wow. The story accompanying your beautiful sketch is so powerful! To we shamans, every storm has a definite personality. So glad that storm felt like cutting your group some slack.

    The description of the sky, the Milky Way, the shooting star, and the storm in the west - wow!!! So inspiring!

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  11. Hope your daughter is soon on the mend!

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  12. Ah, Santa Elena Canyon. It was a great read, and then to see that gorgeous secret of Big Bend National Park was the coup de grace. Makes me wish I was hanging down there in Terlingua right now. Thanks for posting this. EFH

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  13. Hope things are better now. That shooting star sighting sounds incredible - it's been a while since I've seen one.

    Did you catch it on a camera?

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  14. I can't imagine helping with science projects without a migraine, let alone with one

    lovely drawing, the blue is one of my most favorite shades

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  15. How thrilling! It's rare to see such things, well I've never seen a lightning show and star show at the same time. I've seen a very few l-o-n-g shooting stars like that. Ah, stardust, and a night sky. We have to get our hot tub fixed so we can go back out year round and stargaze. I can't live without it any longer. We go out every night of the year, except when it is raining hard.

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  16. I'm sorry your daughter is not feeling well but it must be such a comfort for her to have her mother come out to help her this way. It sounds like you had quite the memorable day.

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  17. What a dramatic scene. It sounds so full energy and beauty.

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  18. It looks like celestial forces have aligned in your favour. Sounds like a wonderful show.

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