The Lightning Field

A Saturday Telegraph article,  read on the plane going to Toronto,  resulted in an unplanned 3 week tour of the USA.  We were waiting for our slot to visit the Lighting Field.

Las Vegas was brilliant although we did manage to see the worse Vegas show imagainable - The Soprano's Last Supper. The actors where selected on the basis of not looking like anyone in the Sopranos and their inability to do impressions. They were however all adept at shouting into a microphone. I did something I have long wanted to do - have a go on the ride that shoots you off the top of the Sky Tower, it was terrifying

The best place was Williams, a lovely little southern town with a bar full of stock Hollywood bar room charactors, the best coffee shop in the world and a steam train. We met he most interesting guy in a cafe and had a great discussion about American politics. It turned out he was the local balloon man and he made Marilyn a pregnant Minny mouse, with a balloon in her stomach, riding a Harley Davidson - all out a a single balloon!

The Lightning Field is an art instalation of 400 stainless steel rods carfully positioned over an area 1mile by 1 kilometre, in the middle of the desert. It takes nearly 4 hours to drive there from the nearest big town.   6 people can stay overnight in a log cabin and it is said that less that 1000 people have seen it.

When you arrive there is nothing to see because nearly all the rods are invisible in the direct sun but at sun set and sun rise they suddenly come alive. First the tops shine as if lights have been switched on and then the rods glow with the colour of the sun.

We had lightening storms all around us but none over the field. It is a strange place not immediatly stunning but to walk among the rods or sit by yourself in the middle of them does have a magical feel.

You are asked not to take pictures to help keep the mystery of the place. Was it worth the detour and a drive of over 2000 miles? - TB definately, MM not sure!