Living in the Clouds: Welcome to Colorado

Wind lashes through the trees. Shifting gray clouds of smoke spin away from the grill. Rain drops bounce off the slick wooden porch.

The sky thunders in the distance. White clouds block out the horizon.

I stand in the doorway of a house that I’ve not been in for five years. And I watch the world change.

An hour ago, I stretched out in the backseat of our van, pulled a blanket up to my chin, and focused on the music streaming through my headphones in an attempt to forget the pounding in my head.

But then, my music abruptly shrieked to a stop, interrupted by the shrill beep beep beep of a Tornado Warning. I sat up and saw the mounting blue-gray clouds in the distance. White fog clouded the cars inching down the highway ahead of us. It wasn’t even 4 p.m., but the sky was dark. Cold raindrops streaked down our window.

I laid back down, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Later that day, I found out that there had been a series of warnings since we’d arrived in Colorado Springs: Tornado Warning, Flash Flood Warning, Hail Warning, etc. And several of them came true.

Around 8 p.m. Raeya, my mom, and I piled into the van with the St. Clairs (the family we were staying with) and drove to Garden of the Gods, a national park and landmark.

Jorie, the friend who took us (and a true Colorado native), explained that the Native Americans named this place the Garden of the Gods. It used to be their playground, where they lived and hunted.

The site was amazing, one of those places where all you really can do is stare. Towering plates of red rock spiked out of the ground, blocking out the sky. A rich earthy smell permeated the air around the huge rock formations. 

[image error]The sun quickly fell behind the mountain as we strolled through the cool darkness, peering at the rocks quickly turning to shadows around us.

Part of the rock was nicknamed “The Kissing Camels” because the formation creation shows what looks like two camels, humps and all, smooching. Apparently this formation accidentally irritated some guy who’s heart had been crushed, because Jorie told us that he climbed the rock with explosives in his backpack, and tried to break the camels apart.

Because if he can’t have love, then obviously why should rock-camels?

As we drove away from the site, rain started to pound against the hot pavement, causing the roads to let off clouds of steam. In the darkness and the rain and the steam, I looked out the window at the mountains. I watched as a bright white light flashed through the sky, followed by a shockingly loud boom.

Jorie said that the lightning came like that often, because of how high we were in the mountains. Up here, living among the clouds, anything seems possible. I’ve only been in Colorado for a few hours and it’s already been an exciting whirlwind.

But I have to admit, that after hearing about the anti-love camel guy, I thought we were goners for sure when I saw the lightning flash near us.