West
of Walden, Colorado
I Felt Like Mohammad Ali
I
felt like Mohammad Ali, today; like a fighter. I was taking on Vayu, the wind
god. Oh, he was strong. He swung mostly from the north. He cut from above. When
I was in high elevation, he was prominent. At one point, I felt like I was
being knocked off my feet. I actually stepped back, once, from his force. It
wasn’t until I came down to the base of a major canyon that I felt the
stronger.
Humans
paid little attention today, with not one motorist stopping to talk. Wildlife
took notice, though. An eagle flew above. Coyotes yelped in the distance. A
hawk came near, screeching, as a smaller bird pestered him. A second hawk
joined the first, causing the smaller bird to retreat until he got brave enough
to go for a second attack. Then a crow followed me, forever.
Not
all action was in the sky. As mentioned, coyotes were about. The prairie dogs
make the dry areas very ‘holey’. When the sun is strongly present, they give
off their squeak. It’s hard to tell if they’re laughing or scared and giving
warning. But I’m harmless.
With
an 8,000 foot elevation, the cold is felt. The temperature didn’t get beyond 50
degrees Fahrenheit.
“Is
it usual in June?” I asked Matthew Shuler, the reporter for the Jackson County
Star.
“It’s
expected with this elevation.”
Matthew
had interviewed me in the Walden Courthouse, a rather handsome edifice for a
small town. His questions ranged from, “What’s the funniest thing people ask?”
to “How many pairs of shoes take you across the country?”
The
answer to the first: “You’ve got on the
colour of a prisoner. Are you?”
To
answer the second: “It will take three to four pair, based on my Canadian
experience.”
May
the Source be with you!
21
miles
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