Music Among the Mesas: A Portfolio

Dawn in Monument Valley

It starts with a faint glow above the horizon between East Mitten and Merrick Butte.

From darkest black, the sandstone pedestals slowly change to gray, then to beige as the horizon blossoms into brilliant orange.

Those minutes before full sunrise are almost painfully silent, filled with anticipation, even suspense.

The shadows, indistinct, wait for definition and direction. The colors are pale.

Then the first golden gleam pushes above the horizon, and the metamorphosis begins to transform the land.

As the sun inches upward, its rays strike the tops of pinnacles and mesas, turning them instantly from muted reddish brown to glowing vermilion. Now sharp shadow's begin to take shape and familiar forms appearjunipers, rabbit bush, tumbleweed. A silent symphony blends changing colors and emerging details. The sunlight reaches Rain God mesa, showering light across the ripples and crevices, bouncing it in subtle tones across the wide landscape. A psychedelic light show. A golden new day in the high desert.