Colliding Molecules

Written by Linda Jo Hunter

at Dalles Mountain Ranch

Someone took the whipped cream can and squirted a line of creamy blobs across the giant sky. Maybe they thought to make a Sunday out of Mt. Hood, but due to the Gorge effect of wind following the path of least resistance, the residue stretches as far as my little human eyes can see. The river far below looks like an aluminum mirror in a fun house as it distorts the reflections and changes the hill shapes.

The wind is definitely a factor on this mountainous hill. As I watch, a fuzzy ant gets blown downwind for six to eight inches in each gust. In the lulls, he picks himself up and somehow knows how to continue in his original direction, even after getting tumbled like a rock in a polishing machine. I did wonder why my car wasn’t creating any dust as I drove up the gravel road. Anything small and light, like dust, gets blown to Idaho up here. As always, I look for tracks as I walk. I notice a few fresh deer tracks and a deposit of berry-rich scat. It isn’t from a coyote unless it was a huge one, but it surely is from an animal that has been traveling. The berries, being held together with fir needles, might be as far as ten miles away. Tracking is a process of solving mysteries and here is one that may not be solved today.

The moving molecules make me think about shelter. I take a hint from the cattle who know how to handle a day like this. They are lying on a sheltered hillside watching the world spin. I join them in the lee of a grassy knoll. The hum of human sound is far away; instead, thrush and crickets add to the wind music. From my windless nest, the landscape is positively head-swiveling. The Feng Shui changes as cloud shadows swallow up hills and dells. My eyes search for patterns, but nature only gives me the unexpected. I guess this is the recipe for beauty.