Stars rise four minutes earlier each day, so that over the course of several months, Orion goes from a "winter constellation," which means it's visible during the convenient evening hours, to a rare pleasure glimpsed just before dawn gathers to itself the black of night and slowly spreads in its stead the blues, oranges, and finally the reds of the impending Sun. In a corner of Navajoland made famous for its buttes and spires, the eager Sun will arrive too soon and rob me of one last look at Orion before the chase for sunrise begins in earnest.
Even before night fell, the distant south rim of the Grand Canyon was being pummeled by a thunderstorm that hugged the edge of the canyon like a bird of prey with talons of lightning. Strike after strike illuminated the cloud bank that would eventually spread northward and cover the sky, but for more than an hour, our view was of the galaxy we call home, and the countless stars that vied for our attention. Days later, with many a wonder seen and experienced, my son Tadeh and I would both agree that this was the highlight of our road trip through the Southwest. Photographed August 2021.
