THE SPIRIT OF TELLURIDE:
Waltzing to the Words

Tapestries of Nature
The tapestries of nature provide us with a mind-boggling array of color schemes, textures and events that inspire and delight us to no end. They titillate our senses and enlivened our souls. Take, for example, the explosive, nearly neon colors of an alpenglow (sunset) that set our spirits off as we see bands of day-glow yellows give way to magentas, violets and denim blues. Finally, as the sun casts its last hurrah over the westerly horizon, the Telluride sky becomes the shade of faded old blue jeans with the majestic and stately San Juan Mountains resting silently in the backdrop. As the evening progresses, the dome above turns to a midnight blue, shimmering with seemingly millions of sparkling diamonds spanning the gamut in cuts, clarity and colors. A shooting star takes flight across the night sky, giving you reason to wish for even more splendor. Your eyes love waltzing to nature's artistry. As the days merge into nights, nights into weeks and weeks into fortnights, it becomes clear, particularly to the Telluride locals, that there isn't a fleeting moment that is similar to the last episodic burst of nature's wonders. Each is unique and laced with the efflorescent beauty and primal marvels only Mother Nature has the magic-wand to beset. Every place on earth has sun- rises and sets. Yet, for some reason, here in the high country of the Colorado Rocky

Mountains of San Miguel County , they seem more pronounced. They are special and celebrated as gifts of the earth. They, along with other outbursts like thunder storms, cobalt-blue sky days, mud slides or meadows glistening with drops of dew, are accepted and embraced as mirror images of real life situations. There is a "Yin and Yang" to the forces of natures and the "low tides" are not to be looked upon as "wrong" or "bad," but rather as part of the whole. As pragmatic as it may seem, Telluride's collective attitude is one that doesn't look upon a change from a perfectly clear-skied day to a lucid storm as a negative, but rather as a time for introspection and reflection; a time to drench the roots of the environ with moist nutrition. City dwellers or more "civilized people" often don't look upon lightning storms and such as favorable or conducive to their life patterns as they "disturb" their flow and renders them "out-of-control." To be in balance and in perfect harmony, no matter cityscape or mountainscape, one needs to understand the whimsical nature of nature. It's a spirit that parallels with that of the free-flowing, fluid San Miguel River. It's flexible, tolerant and flows with boundless energy. You must work with nature, not against her. You must be forever adaptable and realize at times Mother Nature will burst at the seams. Yet, in the back of your mind, you know her magic will shine upon you again soon. It's a spiritual journey to march to the rhythms of nature. It makes you feel whole and full of vim and vigor. Nearly every sight, sound and color scheme is appreciated and woven into your mind's eye as precious. The tapestries of nature are in every nook and crannie of the great outdoors. They are the composition that paint the leaves green, yellow and auburn. They are along the craggy cliffs, amidst the waterfalls and deep in the forests. They sprinkle the landscape with wildflowers that are made up of every color in the rainbow. They blanket Telluride and the San Juans with a rare virtu of brilliance.