October Has Nothing Against the Rocky Mountain Sky

It's fitting that as I drove to work this morning raindrops were appearing on my windshield since the sky and I have become best friends. All summer long, the sky and I have been communicating on a level that surpasses any human explanation, starting with that very first car ride from Flagstaff with Aaron. After I dropped him off at the airport, the sunset in the distance over the park assured me from the beginning that this park was where I was meant to be:

Other instances throughout the summer showed me how accurate our communication seemed to be...

The looming thunderstorms which provided entertainment whenever we were sitting out of our porch or if people came over:

The rainbow over the mountain on the way to pick up my dad from the airport:

The whole trip with my dad actually was reflected with the blue skies when we spent the day together:

Rainbow over Twin Sisters the evening after we climbed it:

The lightning storm on one of our last nights together:

And even the sunset on our actual last night together:

The night after I dropped my sisters off at the airport, I was starting to feel a little homesick, but another amazing sunset guided me back to those peaks:

The weather was often able to help guide me on hikes, especially on our Long's Peak expedition, especially giving a generous sunset as a reward for making it through the storm:

Then there was the rainbow as soon as Kendall and I turned away from the hail and headed home on our first attempt backpacking together:

The night of the white cloud led was a sign that there will always be light in dark times, like when I was starting to have to think about leaving:

There were many rainbows throughout the summer, but the best was our last BBQ together with Conor and Scott. It started down on our driveway, and we could see the entire thing since the other end was just to the left of our house! That was the first rainbow that I was ever able to see from where it touched ground on one end to the other:

The sky didn't disappoint me last night either. That was our last night at the bowling alley, and where I was going to have to say goodbye to Scott for at least the summer--possibly for MUCH longer than that. Around one, we decided to drive to a field in the park to watch the meteor shower. Kristin, Liz, Scott, and I drove to the helicopter landing pad in Upper Beaver Meadows and laid down a few sleeping bags to watch the stars and meteors. We stayed for about an hour, and the natural fireworks in the sky completely matched my feelings when Scott leaned over and kissed me. (Too bad that didn't happen until his last night!) He and Liz (his neighbor from back home who was helping him drive home) had checked out of his apartment for the summer already so the two of them and Kristin were crashing at our place. When my alarm went off in the morning, Scott and I looked out to the most beautiful sunrise I had seen all summer. I couldn't think of a better way to be ending the summer.