Photo Flurry: Red Planet

It was already after five in the desert. Approaching Arches national park in the rented Toyota, we were suddenly surrounded by rainbows.

Or had the rainbows been following us? I was sure I’d seen two across a great Utah expanse earlier that day.

We rushed against advancing night. The late afternoon sun made the sandstone glow fire-red and, out of season, the mostly vacant, blazing sprawl was probably the closest I’d been to seeing Mars.

Against bright blue sky, these colossi had little in common with the names people had given them over the years. The Tower of Babel. Dark Angel. The Three Gossips. The Fiery Furnace.

These names mean nothing to the rocks, who shared no history nor tongue with those who named them.

Being in the presence of something that began three hundred million years ago does wonders for one’s perspective, highlighting both human insignificance and the grandeur of the universe.

And also all that separates us from stone.

 Have you ever seen a mule deer? They’re at least 75% cuter than regular deer due to heir massive ears.

 

Until the Future!