i woke to a brightening sky in Last Chance, Co. i discovered my battery-powered alarm clock does not make noise, therefore it is not an alarm. but i awoke anyway at 6am with a dim morning sky seeping through the windows of my mobile home. i hurred into warmer clothes, turned the ignition, and pulled out of the church parking lot. this tiny church is one of only a handful of buildings in this crossroads town, mearly a dot on the map. i turned west, but it was a mistake for west was up a rather steep hill and my truck couldn’t handle the steep grade, the cold temperature, and the high altitude all at once. even in first gear, it creeped to a halt only a hundred feet out and died right there. i put the shifter into neutral and let myself roll backward, turning back into the gravel church lot. i started the engine again and, with much choking and stumbling of the engine, i rolled east, slightly down hill, then flat. i built up some speed, some heat, and made it up the oppisite hill heading east. you see, the tiny town of Last Chance is sort of in a valley between two hills. a road runs north and south along this valley, and Route 36 runs east and west, down the hill and then up the hill either way. i made it up the east hill chugging up it’s slightly softer grade and reached the top in good time. only five minutes or so. i pulled over–my car has seeds and weeds stuck all over it’s undercarriage from pulling over on grassy shoulders so many times–and turned off the truck. i pulled out the tripod and video camera. the sun was still behind the horizon waiting for me, patiently wondering when i would get my act together and film it’s magnificent rise. i drove late into the night yesterday and this morning just to get to a point where i though the mountains would be in view. but fifty or so miles was not close enough and Last Chance has no view of any mountains, only tall grass and rolling hills the locals call bumps. i decided since i could not tape the mountains set aflame by the rising sun, i would just film the sun itself. there were clouds scattered, which made for something interesting. i would have to get the other shot another day.