A Walk at the Lake

Dalhart Weather Review

By Aaron Graves

The black of the night sky is quickly retreating to the west, ahead of deep purple and pink hues. The first colors of the sun’s light to reach over the eastern horizon illuminate previously invisible clouds to the west. These catch the color and resemble giant swirls of cotton candy. 

It is early Monday morning, and I start walking away from my car and towards the lake dam. It will be near 70 degrees later this afternoon, but the morning air is cool and crisp. My shoes make a scuffing sound as they move across the surface of the dirt road. No one else is within earshot, except for my two small canine companions and thousands of snow geese who spent the night on the water. 

Well, I’m not really sure how many geese there are. I cannot even begin to count them. But this is by far the largest assemblage I have seen. They float together in two groups, connected at the middle to create a type of hour-glass shape. The white mass of geese is set against the lake surface, which is reflecting the purple and pink color of the sky. 

I pause on the dam to look behind me, to the spot where the sun itself will soon appear. Already, the eastern sky glows olive-green near the horizon, and light blue a bit higher up. Two elongated clouds drift lazily through the sky. The first is draped like a valance directly above the spot where the sun will appear. It glows a brilliant golden color in anticipation. To the side, the other cloud catches and reflects a deeper red-orange. 

I watch these clouds as if standing in front of the actual Mona Lisa in a museum. Every sunrise and sunset is a different divine work of art, no two ever the same. However, this is not a static painting, but is slowly changing every minute. In a way, it creates a type of quite music in the morning air, music you cannot hear, but can feel.  

Suddenly, the silence breaks. Thousands of wings beat the air in unison as the every last snow goose rises from the lake surface behind me. The flock splits in midair, half of them veering away and flying directly overhead. 

I have tried, in vain, to capture moments like these with a camera. The scene, however, is usually too vast, and the lens too small. You have to be in the middle of it to truly appreciate it. What I have seen so far, just in the opening minutes of my walk, will set the pace for the day ahead. It will be a more relaxed day, one focused on the small joys in life and the beauty around me. 

Dalhart’s Rita Blanca Lake is a treasure. Please, take time to go and enjoy it. And please, take care of it. Teach your children to value it as well.

UPDATED: look for sunny skies and highs near 60 on Friday and Saturday. We have a 50% chance of rain showers Saturday evening. Sunday's high will be in the mid 50s. Monday could see a high in the 70s.  

High and low temps the past week  

Mar 3: 50, 4

Mar 4: 67, 23

Mar 5: 53, 26

Mar 6: 71, 26

Mar 7: 67, 37

Mar 8: 53, 30

Mar 9: 68, 24

This blog first appears in "The County Times Two" newsletter. To subscribe, contact Robin Scott at thecountytimestwo@live.com. 

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