Tsé Bitʼaʼí-rock with wings

Have you ever been somewhere that touched your soul? In such a way that it becomes special and a place that you 'go to' in your mind/heart? I feel that way about the Chaco Canyon area, but last weekend I got to go to see Shiprock-which is the Anglo name given, but the Navajo call it Tsé Bitʼaʼí-rock with wings. Which really describes it so much more than Shiprock does, in my humble opinion! I have been back there several times now in my mind/heart. The nice thing about imagination is that there are no physical limitations. I find myself flying around the area. Does that sound too weird? Oh, well, no matter!

It is 'magical' and has lots of energy-good energy. The view you see here is on the west side of it-with the setting sun to our backs (I was in the area with a couple of photo buddies on a road trip, aka 'recess'). We were literally chasing the light that afternoon. Clouds kept the light off of the mountain and we'd wait and wait and watch a patch of light grow across the plain and hope that it would find its way up the mountain and bathe it in golden light. It was a cat and mouse game. I kept seeing rays of light coming up from the earth into the sky with my naked eyes and thought that perhaps the polarized lens on my sunglasses was causing an aberration. Later on, at home, when pulling the images up on my screen, I still see those rays of light. I only saw it from this vantage point (we were on the other side of the mountain earlier in the afternoon). Am I the only one who sees those rays or can any of you see them too? I don't know the explanation for that phenomenon, but it is pretty awesome!

This is the view from the southeast side of the mountain. We did drive up pretty close to it, so I do have images that are closer, but I like the rear view mirror view here (whew! that's a mouthful to say!).

We also went to the Bisti Wilderness area, but I'll save that for another post. I will say that I feel an addiction growing for that area though-there is so much to see and explore!

Come join us every week, as a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Entertain your muse and be amused by stopping by to see what others have posted!