~Stone Mountain Sunset~

~Homeward Bound~

I had to go into town this afternoon for just ordinary life business. Driving the 30 miles to Tucson is always relaxing and enjoyable, probably because I only make the trip once every couple of months. You see I'm a outlander, not a town person, preferring nature to civilization. I try to planned my trip times to link up with the setting sun on my way back home. Entering the small town of Catalina usually means I'm getting close to my Sunset Ridge, another seven miles ahead.

Tonight was different though, I was still a half hour away from my usual sunset viewing spot when I looked to the west and saw Stone Mountain with some amazing cloud formations hovering above its peak. I decided to pull off Highway 77 and wait for the sun to disappear behind the Tortolita Mountain Range. I was so glad that I had made the decision not to continue on to home and to The Ridge. I surely would have missed this gorgeous view had I kept on driving.

When photographing this I had to continually reminding myself to keep shooting, mainly because I was so transfixed by what I was seeing. The instant I took the camera from my eye all I could do was gaze, unblinking and slack-jawed, toward the western horizon. Then I managed to remind myself that this bit of reality will only last another minute if I was lucky, but if I did my job right and paid attention to the work at hand, I could have this image and the resulting memory for the rest of my life.

Thanks for riding home with me, TucsonJim ;o)


A More Generous View