Enga mellom fjella

Washington Highway 21. Back home.

Washington Highway 21

A sense of sagebrush
and the emptiness
that those without wisdom can't atone;
faint scent of human habitation
where poplars lift their limbs
to reach the breeze.
A barn stands there alone,
a dot of brown that draws the eye
to search this barren scrape of dust
for animals that once roamed here,
that have only left their bones
and little else.
The fields now rest like tarnished gold.
False hope that something precious
this way comes
across the blank horizon.

© Kåre Enga 2007 [164.265] 2007-10-02

Eastern Washington has some empty areas east of Moses Lake. Leavenworth, which is so much NOT like this was quite pretty.

IMAGES:

Tueday, Western Washington: silence of the bus; sound the motor straining up the shrouded mountain pass; tumbling river beyond the window; winding road; fogged up inside and out; my own sound of chewing; three short tunnels; a sign warning of the need for chains; the slow climb into the greyness of the spray.

Me: got back today just in time to catch a city bus. Good timing. I'm tired and worn out after two days on the bus. Couldn't sleep Tuesday night because the 'kids' wouldn't shut up; Wednesday was very quiet but I can't sleep on an aisle seat in a stuffed bus. The bus driver from Denver to Salina, Richard Oliver (Ollie), was great though. I really need to nap. First thing I did: took a hot bath, changed clothes and went off to Kelly's for liver and onions. Tomorrow is soon enough for anything else.

Kansas: 84º at 2 p.m. with warm sun and clouds.

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