My child’s heart always thundered at the spectacular natural landscapes of the West. 10 years old I painted oil landscapes in an adult class. My chosen home, enchanted Pilar, is where the Rio Grande plunges dives and roils out of the gorge. Dramatic events prevail such as the startling swish of red walking rain, milky way’d skies pierced by shooting stars, monsoon season rainbows, and migrations of exotically formed birds. The gorge—a cleft in the earth not formed by water erosion but by a great splitting. Inspiration. Ha! There isn’t a word big enough for what I have found here.

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