10/22/07

October Sunset in the Silver Valley


I happened to be sitting in the right place at the right time tonight, and saw the most beautiful colors out my living room window. So I went outside with my camera, hoping to do this October sunset justice.
It didn't turn out half bad.
This is the view of the sunset tonight in Kellogg. Because we are in a valley, we don't get a whole lot of beautiful sunsets, so, when we do, it is a blessing to experience them as they happen.
Kellogg sunsets are much different than the sunsets in Big Sky Country in Montana. They are also different from the Treasure Valley in southern Idaho. There, the skies are big, and go on forever. The sun and clouds and light have a lot more room to spread and color up the sky.
So, in the Silver Valley, when we have a beautiful sunset with pinks and purples, and oranges and blues, we don't take it for granted. We savor the beauty of the often short-lived phenomenon as the sun is setting in the western sky over the old Bunker Hill grounds.
And I know this valley is too much of a closed in space for some. I remember hearing about a teacher I had in high school who was from Butte, Montana. He had to get out of town every so often because the valley was too confining for him.
I have never felt confined by these mountains. They have always been a comfort to be, almost like a blanket swaddling me and giving me comfort.
When I lived in Montana, and would drive west through Big Sky Country to come home, I will never forget the feeling of getting to about Frenchtown, Montana, and feeling the mountains starting to close in, and the valley getting narrower. I knew that I was almost home.
This valley has always been home. Even when I have geographically lived in other places, this is what my body rhythms know. I never got used to the longer seasons in Glendive, Montana, or Meridian, Idaho. I never got used to the badlands of Montana, or the high desert of southern Idaho. The mountains and the valley is where I belong.
It courses through my veins like the minerals in the earth that surround me each and every day.
And I, like a miner, dig and blast what I can from this valley each and every day. Some days it is hard work, but it is well worth it in the end.

4 comments:

Go Figure said...

Great photo and post. I must point out, however, living up a tributary from the exact Centre of the Universe, that it was not until I was old enough to hitch hike (9 or 10) and I hitched rides, all the way around the mountain to Osburn, that I realized that (1) the sun didn't go down at 2:00 p.m. and (2) there were brilliant colors in the sky when it started to get dark...at least from Osburn west.

Christy Woolum said...

I am like you. I always liked the closeness of the Kellogg valley. Now I can remember feeling a big closed in at the Center of the Universe... sorry seenthatbefore. It is a beautiful picture and I am glad you caught it. Do you remember how spectacular the sunsets were in the Tri-Cities? I did love those.

Carol Woolum Roberts said...

Seenthatbefore--Yes, Kellogg is a bit of "Big Sky Country" in a way compared to where you grew up. The area in Kellogg I grew up was Sunnyside, and it wasn't until I recently moved back to Kellogg that I realized the reason it was called that is because it gets more sun that the rest of Kellogg. But that never occured to me as a child. I was in your town today, and CDA sure looks beautiful with the fall colors. And it was perfect weather today. I was tempted to go park by the lak and take my shoes off and walk on the beach, but responsiblity took over and I headed for home. Maybe next time!!

IEG--Yes I do remember those Tri City sunsets. Not unlike the Treasure Valley ones.

Pinehurst in my Dreams said...

Beautiful pic & resonant feelings. I am homesick for the mountains.