Epiphany.
Monte Vista, Colorado, surrounded by a 360 degree view of snow capped mountains. We grew up there in the San Luis Valley at an altitude of 7,664 feet, a land transformed by the meandering Colorado River. I didn't realize (until I viewed the time lapse below) the extent to which that meandering river influenced my early life. For thousands of years, snow and rain that fell over those mountains splashed into the valley carrying thousands of years of silt. No wonder the soil there is so fertile.
Monte Vista, Luis Valley.
Figure 1
I remember so many things from those first 10 years. Epiphany: the name of our street, Sickles Street, echoed the pastoral history of my family. I remember cotton wood seeds floating on the quiet breeze, clouds of mosquitos blocking out the sunset, jumping off the roof into snow drifts, sailing a boat on the currents of the irrigation channel, snow capped mountains every where you looked, and long and sweeping winged formations of wild Canadian geese drawn to the meandering oxbow lakes of the nearby Colorado River.
But now I see those meanders related to those clouds of mosquitos. Ox bow lakes, water standing in former river channels, lots of still water to ignite a food web.
Click HERE for a sample FOOD WEB
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