Lunacy on the Road from Raton

Moon Over Distant Peaks

When you are an early riser you get to see lots of dawns. My moon rises tend to be in the winter because I do not have to stay up so late. Yes, the full moon rises as the sunsets but when you live in a valley surrounded by mountains the moon rise can be an hour after sunset.

Last night, however, I was driving back from Trinidad when the moon made an appearance going over Raton pass. It rose looking like something from Battle Star Galatia. There were no safe places to pull over on the pass and retrieve my camera from the trunk. But as soon as I got off I25 and headed home on Hwy 64 I took advantage of the wide shoulders to record its diminished size. Then it became just a matter of getting the right combination of peaks lined up underneath it.

Horizontal version

Or horizontal vs vertical. I ended up adding 30 minutes to my travel time, but it could have been a lot more if I had tossed my tripod into the trunk too.

Then there was the sun setting behind me. Viewed through the clearing thunderstorms of earlier.

Sun setting through the storm clouds

It was an absolutely magical night to be out and about. New met friends at the gallery reception questioned my driving home afterwards instead of staying over. I do want to do that at some point. So much to see in Trinidad. I feel I am short changing it by dashing out of town. But the clouds were wonderful and I was high from trip to Trinidad (no, not because of legal marijuana in Colorado). Sleepiness was not a factor. Besides I was home in bed by ten. Not too long after they roll up the sidewalks in Angel Fire.

And with the new eyes after the two cataract surgeries my vision was clear as a bell and there were so many things I had missed by not going out at night. I even promised myself to just go for drives to nowhere in particular after dark in the future. The rural version of Take Back the Night.

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