Some of my best memories, as much as we fight and try to tear each other’s head off, are with my oldest little brother. Many nights we would find ourselves crawling out our bedroom windows onto the roof (even in the middle of winter), with my camera in hand and his GoPro in his hand… Just to get some cool pictures of the sky, stars, and moon. Back then I didn’t know how to adjust my ISO settings and shutter speed to get pictures like that, so they usually turned out like crap. The other night reminded me of the bond my brother and I had watching stars, except on a larger scale. However, growing up in that small town I never really felt connected or like there was anything that brought our community together besides the annual rodeo.
Last night though, on a spur of the moment trip to Horsetooth Reservoir, a couple friends and I got a sense of what it actually feels like to be apart of a community.
First we noticed it as we got out of the car, a simple smile from the people we parked next to. Then we noticed it as we hiked up to the top of the rocks, laughing and giggling with the people ahead of us that we didn’t know. Once we got up to the rocks the family up there asked how our night was going.
My friend, Monica, was the first to say it as we looked around at how many people were up on these rocks just to see a lunar eclipse/blood moon/super moon… This was something you would never see back home. She comes from a completely different state, in fact all three of us there did. Oregon, California, and Wyoming. All three of us had never felt so safe, warm, and welcomed sitting on a cliff in the foothills of the rockies, surrounded by strangers.
Later on in the night some students came up and sat near us. They were courteous and were just as in awe with the nature around us as we were. As we all sat their bonding with strangers that we could not see the faces of and would never learn the names of, we listened to everyone and everything around us. The soft beating of drums in the distance, a little closer a ukulele played, and then a human somewhere jokingly howled at the moon.
Suddenly every dog that we had helped lift up the rocks started howling too. Next thing you know, the entire side of the rock erupted with laughter.
In that moment I knew I had chosen the right school and place to live.
Less Than Elegant 