Something about being in the Mongolian countryside stirs my creativity, or maybe it is just being free of distractions...but I have time to think. I watch two girls collecting water from the cooperative well. One pushes, the other sits on the trolley with the water drum. As I watch they stop and swap positions, the deal must have been a 50/50 push/ride swap. As they pass our car the girl getting the ride has her eyes squeezed shut against the dust flying in the wind. I comment on the eagles circling overhead. Bek corrects me: "They are not eagles - the eagle is King, he never comes to town."
We are driving through a dust storm. I am watching light and dust play over the hills. It is rough driving, hard on our driver. I watch from behind glass like watching television. I see two men on horses. Dust will be in their eyes, crunching between their teeth. I sit on my comfortable, clean, brown fleecy seat cover, scribbling in comfort, looking for the next view. We pass a heard of horses, their manes flayed by the wind. The dust is getting worse, visibility is very bad. Dust hitting the car sounds like fine rain, but directly above I can see blue sky and a fluffy bit of cloud.
Visibility during the dust storm...
Normal visibility
Things of beauty:
- Young love
- Shadows rolling over the mountains
- Birds of prey soaring above rocky ridges
- Yak tails blowing like silk in the wind
- The silhouette of a stone statue against the setting sun
