Zion

Some time back on our 6 year trip back and forth North America I ran across a guy who told me he was just "sick to death of scenery." He wanted to go "home" and have an end to all the landscape he had to look at non- stop on all his travels. I don't appreciate his concept so much as I understand what he was saying. This country has non-stop scenery to offer and the second you think you have seen it all or even a fraction of it- it changes yet again. It's not terribly different from the guy who wrote a piece while traveling in Alaska that he was sick of "all the damn green;" he longed for the brown of Arizona, and had to go home. We get used to different things in this country. We forget how big, how vast, how expansive our geographical universe is and we tend to think we have a handle on what it is we really have in this country. We never do. Those who put down "roots" and stay attached to them have an in depth understanding of the soil they have grown attached to. But nothing more. The politics and the sentiment and the likes and dislikes of this country change as frequently as the geography does- every couple of miles. You can't know your own country until you fit yourself into it, drown yourself in what others deal with every day, see it for yourselves. The more I see of this, the harder it is to piece together the forces that try every day and every way to tear the country apart. The same force that erodes the mountains and the valleys and the rivers and the plains. We all think we know what is going on. We don't!

With that in mind we went to see Zion National Park in Utah. If you've had enough scenery- please- don't spend the dime to come here- it's everywhere. The way in. The way out. In town. Out of town. In the park. Out of the park. Nonstop. Bigger than you've ever scene unless you've been to Alaska. Bigger than you dreamed possible. Bigger than you have an understanding of. Bigger than your universe has previously been exposed to. Bigger than your mind has been able to comprehend before you've seen all this. I write. I photograph. But Ansel Adams I'm not. And so no way will I do this place justice unless I pair it with a few words or phrases that help you understand this is bigger than me, bigger than you, more of a gift than our petty contrivances can ever be. We all pale in comparison to what God has created here. Don't believe in God? Come here. Look up, then tell me that!

Here's some images from our first couple days here. Some stuff we never expected to see here. Some stuff we saw to a much greater extent than we expected to see here. Some stuff that's hard to believe when you're looking right at it. And a few things that are thrown into the mix just for fun- which for sure is what we are having here at Zion national park- Utah.

Before I ever got to the park, I ran across these guys. Didn't expect that!

   

My new tow vehicle I found at a gallery in town...

 

Scenery even before we reached the park ...

Rock everywhere...

He offered to pay the fine himself for a piece of granola energy bar...

as much beauty in the small stuff as there is in the grandiose....

 

The next show comes in three parts rolled together- what we saw on the way in, what we saw inside, what we saw in town and around town. Man, what a place!

Slide show- here it comes:



You're gonna see a few typos in the captions if you're paying attention. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn. It took me hours and hours to get this post up at all what with the NEW blogger format and the camp wifi. Apologies in advance.  I've had enough fun for one day! Blogger, technology in general, changes almost daily. I do my level best to keep up but it's an ongoing battle. I shutter to think what would happen if I stopped writing this blog even for a short period of time. You can get lost in this universe if not engaged daily. That is too fast for us all. No time for digestion. No wonder we begin and end each day with an upset stomach of sorts!