The Dirt Between My Toes

My fingernails are translucent. My hair has lost its built-up grease. I smell like body wash and lotion. I know the time by hours and minutes again.

Ahhh...the joys of camping. I love the fact that nothing is perfect when we pitch a tent. It's okay to look unkempt, smell unclean, wear unmatched clothing and do what we want when we want. In nature, the only thing that matters is...well...how we enjoy it. Cory and I both agree that we are constantly in awe with the world that surrounds us and the wonders that nature has created. Our church is the towering trees and desolate deserts, the cool breeze and hot wind, the widest oceans and the highest mountains. Our visit to the Grand Canyon was the first for both of us, and it's true what they say. Nothing can prepare a person for the enormity of this huge, awe-inspiring hole in the ground. Throughout the weekend we looked across the canyon, into the canyon and around the canyon from several points along the North Rim, and every single one of those moments truly blew me away. Talk about putting a person in her place. I felt small and insignificant. In the "grand" scheme of things, we aren't that big after all.

Camping for the two of us is the equivalent of lots and lots of hiking. We took a few shorter hikes with interpretive stops with our roomie Mike on Friday where we learned about the cliff rose, the Kaibab squirrel (which only lives on the North Rim and nowhere else in the world), lightning storms, controlled fires, Ponderosa Pine and other assorted nature-related things. We drove the North Rim stopping frequently to gawk at the canyon below us. On several occasions we scanned the bottom with the binoculars trying to make out the outlines of people who were hiking rim to rim. All day I thought I had my eye on the trail, but at the last stop I found out I'd been looking at a dried up creek bed the entire time. Guess those weren't people after all.

On Saturday Cory and I hit the Widfross trail - a five-mile trail that led us through pines and meadows to a fabulous lookout point. This part of the North Rim can only be seen from this point. There's something particularly satisfying about working to see or experience something. This was no exception. Not only was the view fantastic, but the trail was wonderful as well. It rolled through a startling array of wildflowers and we saw three mule deer and a male Western tanager which was beautiful. We were drizzled on a bit in the morning, but by the afternoon the sun had come out in full force.

We drank coffee from the North Rim Lodge as the sun pulled the colors from the rocks and we basked in the silence as it fell on the Western edge in the evening. Is there anything greater than this? Is there?

One of my favorite things about the National Park Service is the abundance of learning opportunities it offers. We went to three ranger programs while visiting the Grand Canyon. I was never one to boast mad skills in science class, and I think that's because everything I learned was stuck in the classroom. But when the rangers talked about the cycle of life in the canyon, everything made sense because I'd walked through the trees, seen the animals and observed the wake of a wildfire.

Life makes so much more sense when you live it.

It's for this reason that I like the dirt between my toes and smoky smell on my skin. I enjoy the heat of the sun and taste of unfiltered potable water. Time is not hours and minutes - it is moments in life when we cherish the details.

Wishing you Grand Canyon-sized cheers ~
JoAnna