This was once the view from my porch. I looked at the Cordillera from this very same spot a million times while I was in Chile and it never offered me the same view twice.
At dawn the sky is fire. The sun rises up behind the Cordillera and if you’re awake to see it, which I rarely was, it is almost blinding….like some sort of fire and brimstone from an old Bible flic. For the record, it didn’t always look like that. This day was exceptional.
In the morning it is crisp and naked. This was taken on my very first morning of work at 6am on the way to the bus stop. It was the middle of winter, early July. I was so nervous and excited. I came to dread that job in the end, but the view never ceased to amaze me.
In the afternoon the Cordillera plays hide and seek with the clouds and sun. This was in the summer, right before I left for Patagonia. The weather was perfect that day, a bright sun and warm wind. I got really close with my roommate Christian, but we’ve hardly spoken since I left. He constantly had to remind the Chileans that he was from Austria, not Australia…which made me laugh.
In the evening the Cordillera is a theatre for the sunset. I was by myself this evening, coming home from work. Santiago sits in a valley with the Andes acting as a cup, keeping in the pollution. The Andes are east of Santiago so the sun actually sets opposite the mountains, not over them, but often the sky was so orange there was a reflection off the snow and the pollution diffused the light, making the whole sky brillant.
I remember one evening in Thailand throwing frisbee on the beach. The sun set purple and red over the white beaches and there was a lightning storm in the distance. It was all going on at the same time: lightning and frisbees and sunsets, laughing and drinking and banana pancakes and this little boy juggling fire.
Ever heard of the Green Flash? I haven’t either. The crew of the Jennifer kept telling me that on a very clear evening as the sun sets, right after it sinks below the horizon you can very briefly see the fabled “green flash”. They always gave me the binoculars and recounted tales of the first time they saw the great “green flash”. I think they fucking made it up. I never saw it. Sailors tell stories anyway.
Anyway, I never took the Andes for granted. I always figured I’d get used to it, but I didn’t. And if you take a look at the pictures, they are all taken from the same place on my porch. Notice the two lone palm trees?
People ask about my life. They wonder about my travels. I cannot answer those questions but to say that I have seen the seasons dance on the Cordillera and I am not the same for it.
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