Here at play in the cathedral forest, sunlight lighting up the golden leaves, the breeze running its fingers through them and making them dance in a way that is so very much better than the false glitter and dazzle of Vegas. Though far from pure, I felt cleansed. Human again. There is something comforting in fall. The clarity of the light, the sweet smell of decay. Knowing that in a month or so Winter will begin tucking all of this in for the night. So you get as much of it as you can, you stay up a little bit later just like when you were a kid and you entered into those complex bedtime negotiations, putting it all out on the line in the hopes of getting thirty more minutes.
And finally, the road home. Some 3800 miles and 90 hours of driving later, I pointed north across the Rio Grande Gorge and looped it all out.
