Rites of Spring

Arising early, I was surprised to see lights, many lights, out the "usual view" this morning, having somehow momentarily forgotten the sunrise service that would be taking place at the Amphitheatre. The parking lots were well lit, and strings of cars raveled toward them through the dark. As the sky began to lighten enough for this picture, a few Christians, just a bit late, were still making the pilgrimage.

There's no doubt this spot is sacred; this annual modern ritual confirms an ancestral recognition of its power. Latter-day pagans also gather here, I'm told, on the solstices and equinoxes, drumming and celebrating their own sunrises in other ways. This park, known more than a century ago as "The Garden of the Angels," missed being named "Garden of the Gods" by just a few years as a similar spot 100 miles south captured that priority. Perhaps people gathered there to celebrate this dawn as well.

Dave at Via Negativa is honoring the ancestors today, in another way.