Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve
The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado will always be one of my favorite areas to spend time in. It is a harsh environment but there is so much to observe. It is a place with volatile weather that creates a landscape that moves and breathes as if it is alive.
The grains of sand shift and dance in step with time. Their performance never ends. Like a roiling ocean moving in slow motion, the massive dunes slowly change shape. Tall crests are worn down and built up simultaneously. Ridges twist and slither around like a graceful serpent. Looking closer we can watch time move faster. Wind and water play with the grains of sand creating unique patterns that are graceful and pleasing, or chaotic and random.
Time and weather remove traces of humanity; footsteps exist in the sand only for a brief moment before they are buried and fade forgotten into the past. We are frequently gifted a blank slate to explore anew.
Blowing sand in the wind
Watching the wind blow the sand around in the Dune Field is memorizing. The grains of sand dance and move as if they have a life of their own. They are perfectly choreographed with each other.
