A PRISTINE MOMENT IN TIME

There was a perfect moment released for me yesterday.

I was doing the extremely pedestrian task of taking the trash out when I recognized it.

Blue blue sky with soft white clouds floating lazily. Lofty, luxurious green green grass, dotted with daisies of purple, yellow and white. Mesquite thorns masked by tickling branches and filled with singing birds. The Huachuca Mountains on one side, the Mules and San Pedros on the other, verdant from the recent monsoon rains.

A dog patiently following me - the mare following my every move, and the silliest of geldings whinnying in anticipation of an early dinner of hay,

And just to add to it? An empty house to return to.

Am I the only person in the world who actually relishes solitude? I know fully well that part of it is simply my way of dealing with my reality, but I do honestly enjoy time by myself.

Well, as long as I have the Internet, of course.

WE SEE WHAT WE WANT TO SEE

I am lucky enough to live where there are incredible sunsets almost every night.

Yes, ones that look just like that.

So why aren't sunrises that impressive?

There is nothing in the least dazzling or spectacular when the sun peeks over the horizon. It's already all bright and day-lighty, and if you aren't paying attention, you won't even notice as it peeps out.

But both moon rises and moon sets are so exhilarating... at least to me.

Well, when they happen at night - because normally the moon gets completely lost in a daytime sky, and you only notice it by accident.

And with moon rises, there is "The Moon Illusion" (isn't that just a cool expression?), the optical illusion in which the Moon appears larger near the horizon than it does while higher up in the sky.

A couple of weeks ago, the moon was rising just as I would be walking out to say goodnight to my two biggest babies.

There is something about that huge white orb slowly showing over the Mule Mountains and rising in the night sky that makes me want to wax rhapsodic  - even if it is illusionary and I am obviously no poet.