The night before the first day of Summer, Clint and I went with Clint's dad and brother Ty out into the middle of a desert-y wilderness called Lucin. AKA, the middle of nowhere. Seriously. There is only one possible reason in all the universe that I could have been so excited about a camping trip out in the middle of the desert: MAGIC! Well, that and sleeping under a dazzlingly clear view of the constellations.
No doubt about it, an inspiring sense of magic resides at the site of the Sun Tunnels. Apparently, every Summer and Winter Solstice, the sun can be counted on to rise and set in the exact same places on the horizon. You can see from the pictures how the sun's setting appears directly through these 2 aligned tunnels. (And on the Winter Solstice sunrise, you would see the sun rise through the opposite end of the exact same tunnels.) I didn't know too much about Sun Tunnels before leaving on the adventure, but I guess that's why I went. The dramatic view of the sun rising and setting over this little old place called Earth definitely inspires me to think about my own insignificance, our planet's role in the Solar System, and man's connection to the universe itself.
We took a gazillion pictures of the phenomenon, but it turns it the Sun Tunnels weren't the only attraction! We examined Jeff's "star book" so that we could identify as many constellations as possible once the sun's light had dissipated. We found Draco, Hercules, Cassieopea, the Big and Little Dippers, Bootes the Farmer, Scorpio, Virgo, the Summer Triangle, Cignus the Swan, and a few others. (Ask me next time we're away from the city light pollution.)
Many thanks to my father-in-law Jeff who made me aware of this cool place and whose thirst for and acquisition of knowledge about the world we live in continues to inspire!!
If any of you subscribe to Salt Lake Trib, you may have seen this article on Wednesday morning, but what you may not have noticed is that Yours Truly was quoted on page 2!!
Happy Summer to all! :)
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