sheep, sunny side, bubbles

We drive up a narrow canyon with sheer walls.A river, frozen over except for a thin slice of rushing water, wanders to the right of us then the left under the road and around a bend. We are on our way up to this mountain town for the first time since fall.

*Bighorn sheep nimbly graze on small clusters of vegetation which cling to the walls of the canyon.

*We choose the sunny sides of the streets to meander around the town -- the chill in the shade is too much.

*We stroll by the same river in town -- when we go back down the mountain will we pass by the same molecules that we are walking by now? There is a crust of ice on the river here with a slice through which we can see rushing water. At some places the ice has formed layers with a shelf of air between them. When we peer over a bridge there are round moving shadows on the bottom of the river--shadows from air bubbles in the water? What?