Half Dome

Slight sprinkles on the long drive up,and then the sky bursts blue as we drive into the park. Snow-covered peaks, open meadows—Yosemite, like a promise kept. We are the only people on the path to Yosemite Falls, the only ones – and look, you can see both segments at once, dark granite, bold white water. It’s much colder on the little wooden bridge, where there is a school group and a lone photographer. It fills me – the water, the energy, the light. We walk the forest path to the big open meadow—the marsh is dry, with rows of funny little shaggy straw hummocks. From here you can see Half Dome and to the left is the Falls. Some trees are golden in the late afternoon light, some cast gnarly shadows on the grass. We are here.