In a hidden valley in the foothills of Utah’s La Sal mountains, my old friend and I sat on his stone porch in the fading light and watched the sun disappear behind the soaring limestone of the Moab Wall ten miles off to the west. As always from this perch along the fault line between basin and range, the view from Pack Creek revealed four different American landscapes: desert, farmland, rolling ranch land, and high mountains.
In the pasture to our right, the wranglers were bedding down the ranch’s horses for the night. Up along the pine-dotted cliffs on our left the last hunting hawks were circling. In front of us, the impossible burnt orange of a Moab sunset swarmed up the side of the western sky.
It was September again. Not like that September at the beginning of the century. Not like that at all. But it was close enough that in September you still felt it again. Felt that September feeling and not in the manner of Frank Sinatra’s romp through the nostalgia of lost love. Not that sort of bittersweet September at all. Bitter? Yes. Sweet? Never again. . . .
Continued at || Contrails . . . for members @ The New American Digest
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
This is what I wrote below the article at the new american digest….
“Contrails… chemtrails… same thing. The science was largely invented by Bernard Vonnegut, older brother to the famous writer Kurt. Bernard could create a thunderstorm in an aquarium. The original experiments were conducted in the skies over New Mexico in the early 50’s. Bernard was employed at General Electric and the military was keenly interested in using his weather manipulations as a weapon.
I have a former friend, named “Bernard” after the scientist, because his dad and Vonnegut were roommates at MIT in the late 30’s. The local Santa Fe Bernard used to pat me on the head and chant “ice crystals” anytime I mentioned the proliferation of trails turning the sky into a mass of gray haze. Several other reasons amounted to my dismissal of this fool from my life. The deadly droughts of the West and those horrific fires are a product of the spraying, as are the outrageous floods that can lay waste to farm lands. Grab a good pair of binoculars and take a look at these jets spewing this lingering, spreading “stuff” in their wake. There is nothing emitting from the jet engines. It is being sprayed off the tips of the rear wings. Take a look. And later on I’ll check in to see how many Bernards are chanting “ice crystals.”