Rocky
Mountain High
“...But
the Colorado rocky mountain high
I've
seen it rainin' fire in the sky
The
shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby
Rocky
mountain high...”
John
Denver
I
first heard this song in 1973, while eating dinner in a little
pub-sized bar in Colorado Springs. I was absolutely in awe of the
beauty of the place—the air so clear, the sky so blue and those
incredible mountains that seemed to jut to the sky from a perfectly
flat plain. I thought trumpets should blow when I walked outside—it
was that beautiful.
I
was married at the time to an Air Force Captain, and he was there on
business. We visited the Air Force Academy, and watched cadets in
dress blues parading in 90-degree heat. Colorado Springs has a
wonderful zoo. I especially loved the prairie dog village. We climbed
Pike's Peak.
This
morning's news reported some 436 homes now burned to the ground
there, with the fire still raging. Makes me sad to think of that
gorgeous place up in flames. I guess every part of our country has
its perils—earthquakes in California, tornadoes in the deep South,
floods in the upper Midwest, hurricanes on the east coast.
Florida
is under water. Florida is so flat that water has no place to go once
the ground is saturated. When I lived there, sink holes could open up
anywhere—take out hunks of road. In a friend's neighborhood in
Lakeland, three sinkholes opened up and swallowed her neighbor's car
and several trees. And then there is the gator problem—they show up
in swimming pools and drainage ditches and eat people's pets.
I went shopping in Colorado Springs in 1973—bought some
magenta, velvet bell-bottoms and a lace blouse of the same color. I
thought I was totally hip and hot. Good memories.
I
send up a prayer for you this morning, Colorado. I pray for drenching
rains, and loving community, and cooling temperatures. I pray for the
prairie dogs' habitat, and for those amazing mountain vistas that
inspired John Denver's song.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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