It’s hardly a secret I fancy myself a citizen of the world. I think I’ve envisioned my future self living life abroad since I was 14. The reasons for this have evolved over the years, beginning as a fascination with the foreign, becoming a disdain for a nation I saw as narcissistic and arrogant, and, thankfully, eventually maturing into a tensioned appreciation for the absolute gift it is to grow up in this country and the responsibility my citizenship bestows upon me. Still, the closest I come to buying into that “we’re-all-in-this-together” kind of kinship that makes people chant “U-S-A” at length is when I watch the American Olympic swim team out-touch the French in the final relay and I still cringe reflexively when I see “God bless America” bumper stickers plastered all over town. But this summer I had two of those all-American, make-sure-you-packed-a-slice-of-apple-pie experiences and it made me want to wave my flag and tie a yellow ribbon ‘round the old oak tree. The first was a visit to the World Trade Center memorial. The second was a trip to the most magnificent hole in the ground I’ve ever seen: the Grand Canyon.
We spent the day slowly walking the south rim of the canyon. We stopped at every scenic overlook. We stood on the edge. We climbed out on precipices. We absorbed the silence that emanates from the depths. We read the ubiquitous warning signs about how even marathoners die of dehydration and nervously drank copious amounts of water. We hiked a mile and a half down into the canyon and were awed by the extent of its profundity. We heard less English than we ever expected to hear in a day in America. We saw people with bags on their heads. We met a family from Michigan. We took a ridiculous number of pictures. And I somehow managed to pick 19 to show to you. Enjoy one of the seven wonders of the natural world as I saw it.
You’d look weird too if you spent the day getting hit in the face with more natural beauty and friendship than you ever deserved.
Happy Sunday.
What were the bags for? Sunscreen??
ReplyDeleteOur impression was that they wore these from their bus to the edge of the canyon. Someone led the whole group and lined them up on the rim. This conclusion is based on the gasps and exclamations we heard after we walked a ways past them on the trail.
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