Thursday, November 6, 2014

Nebraska, Colorado

Goodbye, Lincoln.
Heading out into the wide open today. Seemingly endless fields, broken up by a farmhouse here and there. Many large cedars dot the roadsides along with what might be Jack, Pitch or Red pines.
I stopped at the Crane Conservancy site and took a walk on one of the trails over the wetlands. I heard that unmistakeable call and looked up. 2 loose skeins of cranes flew overhead heading south. I think, I hope, they were Sandhills. Alas, they do not stop over in the Nebraska Sandhills on their migration in the winter; they kept flying and calling off to warmer climes. I feel very privileged to have heard their calls and to have seen them fly over.
My drive through the rest of Nebraska was uneventful but I did notice the terrain becoming hillier and cattle replaced corn fields the closer I got to Colorado. Public radio finally gave out about 100 miles from the border, not even classical music to keep me company.
Once in Colorado, the terrains really changed. Sagebrush appeared, hills upon hills, the earth no longer seems like a plate with long horizons; it was closing in upon itself a bit. The big sky lost a little around the edges.
I saw a train on a siding that was conveying windmill blades, again I was struck by their sculptural shapes and their scale. They were nose to tail, tail to nose and onwards.
Another new thing in Colorado, the feedlots and their attendant aromas.
I am ready to get to the Canyon and pick up the business of my residency. Even though the landscapes are fascinating, the driving is beginning to pall. I want to unpack my supplies, make myself a cup of Earl Grey, and get to work. I tried to work in my motel room in Lincoln, but the lighting and seating were not good, finding the supplies I needed was difficult- I had packed for ease of transport, not ease of access, the simplest task was difficult, and the whole enterprise frustrating.
Only 3 more days and I can get to work, I do not have access to my Photoshop so I can't make my little graphic but here is my state of mind:
35% exhausted
60% excited
5% homesick


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