Rolling through the scuffed
micro-towns of Vinton and Chilcoot,we get to a panorama
of the Sierra Valley--biggest
high-altitude plain in these mountains.
Golden light that's slipped past
thunderheads makes the Valley
glow like a cathedral floor. Now
the thunderheads drape blue
curtains of showers on
surrounding mountains.
We'll cross the Valley, then
take the highway's snaking
curves up a thousand feet
to Yuba Pass & from there
weave down to where the giant
blue massif of rock, the Sierra
Buttes, presents itself &
when I see it, I get a home
feeling even though I haven't
lived there for decades. I'm glad,
so glad, to see pockets of snow
up there in August.
hans ostrom
