Awe is the finest portion of humankind… In awe one feels profoundly the immense.
~ Goethe
We sat under a dark sky sprinkled with stars, catching up on each other's lives. The warm breath of the bonfire chased away the chill and the song of the creek drifted to us from the darkness.
After a few short hours, Tom rose and faded into the night, returning with a bucket of water which he poured onto the fire. It sizzled and popped and sent golden sparkles up into the sky to compete with the stars.
"Time to go to bed! We've got to get up early!" he barked.
"Yessir, Bossman!" we grumbled, grabbing chairs and bottles and trudging up the trail to the house.
But when my alarm shocked me awake the next morning, I was grateful Bossman had ordered us to bed. Otherwise we would have stayed up half the night, mesmerized by the fire and the stars and the joy of seeing each other again.
Which means we would have gotten a late start this past Saturday and never experienced the view from the top of Enchanted Rock, a granite dome that is the center of many Native American legends, because, shortly after we made it through the gate into the state park, it closed due to the capacity limit.
On a beautiful spring day in the Texas Hill Country, everyone wants to go to Enchanted Rock...
...even though there's not much to do but climb, sit, and stare...
...wonder at the life growing even on top of a huge granite rock...
...and maybe sneak a kiss.
But somehow, that's enough.
On the way back down the Rock, however, the formations bring out the kid in you. You find yourself wanting to climb again.
The trick is getting back down...
At any rate, thank you, Bossman!
(Before reaching Enchanted Rock State Park, we introduced our friends Robert and Shari to the waves of bluebonnets on the Willow City Loop, and afterwards, enjoyed lunch in Fredericksburg at the Altdorf Biergarten Restaurant. Best Reuben sandwich I've had in a long time! I'll share those photos, as well as a few more from Enchanted Rock, on Confessions tomorrow.)
