Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I've Been to the Mountaintop



     Tuesday, January 20, was a glorious day in more ways than one.  First, we welcomed a new President who (we hope) will take better care of our planet.  And  second, the sky was blue, the sun bright, and the air cold enough to keep our abundant snow soft and dry, perfect for a celebratory walk in the woods.  Perfect, in fact (for reasons both practical and symbolic), for a climb to the mountaintop.

     Up, up I went, snowshoeing to a favorite overlook, looking down on the Hudson River where it makes a sharp bend to the northeast after flowing in a mostly southeasterly  direction from its source in the Adirondacks.  Because I had waited to hear our  new President's inaugural speech before setting out, I was still up on the mountaintop as the sun started going down.  A light snow began to move in from the northwest, spangling the air with hexagonal plate crystals, the declining sunlight glinting on diamond facets.  And that's when I saw the phenomenon pictured above, a sun pillar descending from the sun to the earth, as if in a blessing.   Please, God, may that be so!


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