Tim's Philosophy of Life

“Ya’ know, I think I’ve decided on my philosophy of life.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“It’s better to look up than to look down.” These were Tim’s words, after just a short time at the south rim of the Grand Canyon. While Tim is not afraid of heights, he doesn’t like places where there is no restraint if the drop off beyond the edge is steep—thus, his recently crafted philosophy. I’m sure this has more over-arching implications that apply to all areas of life, but at the time he had been to the edge of the canyon and had decided he liked it better at the bottom looking up, where we had been just yesterday in Kings Canyon.

I liked it out on the edge. It did put butterflies in my stomach to look over the edge without a rail, but I liked it.

On the other hand, there was a young lady with her family (Deane, you have to make sure Mom and Dad read this one.) who, after being asked if she was ready to go, proclaimed “Yeah, ya’ know you can only see so much rock in one day.” I had to laugh out loud at this comment since I recall feeling much the same way the last time I visited the Grand Canyon. I think I was about this girl’s age (around thirteen), and I wanted nothing more than to say I’d seen it and to take home a souvenir t-shirt. Mom, Dad, I’m glad we took that trip.

Tim and I decided that of all the places we’ve seen, the Grand Canyon is the most difficult to perceive depth. I’ve said it many times; pictures don’t do justice to the sights we’ve seen. The Grand Canyon pictures actually seem more accurate. Even standing on the edge looking out across the vast expanse, the only objects that look three dimensional are the ones in the near foreground. It looks like someone placed a giant rock within 200-300 yards of where we stood, and then pulled down a background like the ones in the Sears portraits. On that background is a hazy photograph of more rocks. It was bizarre. The only way to get perspective was to find a person in the canyon. We couldn’t find any at the bottom; most were making their way up, but even those helped us make comparisons. I’ve included pictures of people in the canyon; however, you may have a difficult time finding the people.

We stayed for sunset, and again we weren’t disappointed. The shadows helped by adding some depth, and the scene changed with each passing minute. The burnt reds became redder and sometimes even glowed. It was almost surreal.

We were lucky enough to get a room just outside of the park, so I think tomorrow we will see a little more of the Grand Canyon, then the Painted Desert, maybe visit the Navajo Nation for a few souvenirs, then head towards Zion National Park.