WOW!

Bursts of red, orange, yellow, pink, and purple envelop the sky for miles. Colors climb the rugged desert landscape with brilliant hues at the peak. - BREE GUY

Writer and blogger Nikki Vanry says, "The first line of a book is a liminal space: the curtains drawing upwards, the author leading you by the hand forward into a story (but also another world)."

While sounding like the beginning of a novel, Bree's description of the sky was the lead for her meteorology report on Southern Nevada's sunrises and sunsets — also liminal spaces.

Neither day nor night, sunrises and sunsets mark the spaces between. The science behind these liminal skies is spectacular, and their beauty is spellbinding. They give us reason to pause, look upward, and experience the naturalistic awe that can bring a sense of tranquility to the transition points of our days.

MAKE A HUMAN-HABITAT CONNECTION

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. ― RABINDRANATH TAGORE 

Reflect on the concept of liminal space and the quote from the Bengali writer Tagore. Then respond to one or more of the following prompts based on your experience:

• In what ways do you, or can you, recognize and add a sense of calm to the transition points in your day?

• Ponder a time, place, and feelings or thoughts you experienced when enraptured by a sunrise or sunset. How does remembering those thoughts affect you in the present?



• How do you interpret or relate Tagore's quote to your life?

Featured Photographs. Greg Walch took this month's featured photograph of a fiery sky above the Las Vegas Valley on a cell phone near where the divine spark for the Compass concept was ignited.

See 'Sagebrush and Solitude: Maynard Dixon in Nevada.' If you live in or are visiting Reno, NV, see a comprehensive exhibit of Dixon's paintings (above) and poetry in the State of Nevada. From Dixon's first trip to Nevada on horseback to his month-long commission documenting the construction of Hoover Dam, Dixon captured the beauty of Nevada's open spaces from 1901 to 1939. The exhibit is open at the Nevada Museum of Art through July 28. More details here.

Journey The John Muir Trail. Follow Rosalind "Roz" Brooks, the Las Vegan who founded Roots Community Garden and Well Women of Color, as she takes on another adventure ... hiking the 220-mile John Muir Trail beginning on July 17. Roz will be sharing scenes and stories from her trek on Instagram at @blacksinnature

Desert Art Exhibit. Compass founder Shauna Walch is creating an art exhibit — Who are the Species in Your Neighborhood? — in keeping with The Compass mission and supported by the Nevada Arts Council (NAC) and the National Endowment of the Arts. Many thanks to these vital organizations and the local, state, and federal elected officials and public agency staff members who help keep the arts alive. Details on the art exhibit will be posted in next month's newsletter and on social media.

Behold the Beauty. Watch meteorologist Bree Guy's news report on the science behind Las Vegas's spectacular sunrises and sunsets here..

THE COMPASS is a geographic, archetypal community asset that supports the mutual thriving of humans, habitats, and economies. It envisions creating places for grounding in and with nature. These places — Compass Points — fashioned of flat rocks etched with core value words like compassion, resilience, hope, and peace, will provide opportunities for rest, reflection, and renewal of our energies while nurturing an appreciation of and attentiveness to the thriving of the natural world.

INVITE OTHERS. Help grow awareness for The Compass by sharing this e-newsletter or web address with friends. https://thecompassrocks.org

It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream.

BERN WILLIAMS