The Mountains Are Shy

It's been relatively cloudy and showery here for the last couple of weeks, nothing like in the valley, but still plenty of clouds. As a result, it's been a while since I've had a clear view of the mountains. Normally, on my drive to work I can see Mt. Bachelor, Tumalo Mountain, Broken Top, each of the Three Sisters, Mt. Washington, Mt. Jefferson and Black Butte. It's pretty spectacular and is one of the things that's so great about living here. Plus, most of the mountains are within 30 miles of my doorstep, so their magnificence is amplified by proximity. But recently, like I said, they've been hiding behind their cloak of cumulosity. (It’s been a while since I made up a word, I almost forgot!) Even while the sky overhead and in every direction but west is clear, the mountains have not been exposed. They are responsible for all our clear days here, damming the flow of weather from the Pacific, keeping the valley lush, green and deserving of its rainy reputation, and causing central and eastern Oregon to be known as the High Desert. They save us, but choose not to save themselves.

Isn't it fitting that for a mountain, the storm is the shelter? It's like the cocoon in which they are guarded from prying eyes as they morph from summer's rocky, barren and brown juts of earth, into winter's vibrant, pure and smooth beacons of freshness.

Anyway, I finally got a peek at them today and it was quite a good one at that. I was leaving Redmond, heading back toward Bend, so I was a little further away from them than normal, but there they stood, tall and proud in their new coat made of an unimaginable number of perfect tiny crystals. Of course, the unveiling demanded dramatic lighting, and the sun complied, illuminating the remaining clouds with that soul-calmingly warm light, just before it fell to the far side of the horizon.

It's great.

On a completely different note:

Tomorrow I will lose my monster truck virginity. Who could believe I’ve made it this long!? I purchased tickets this afternoon for myself and my gal to attend the Central Oregon Monster Truck Fall Nationals. Bigfoot will be there, and I'm told that there is a truck driven by Medusa. Apparently Medusa is the, uh, 'entertainer' formerly known as Chyna in her 'professional' wrestling days. Don't act like you don't remember, I despise wrestling with a passion worthy of a whole series of blogs, but I can't deny that I've been exposed to enough commercials to know who she is. So yeah, that's, uh, exciting.

Actually, as is apparent from the title of this site, I'm a bit of a gear-head. So I’m pretty excited to see (and hear!) the trucks. Those things are all custom built and have some pretty trick hardware, plus they're putting out ridiculous horsepower. So I’m sure it'll be cool. I just realized, this is yet another opportunity for me to dress all cowboyed-up. I seriously need to find me some cowboy gear. Any of y'all know where a fella can find some cheap size 13 cowboy boots?