Revisiting Arizona 🇺🇸

The power of awe and when there are no words

Hiya!

No sooner than I send out an updated welcome to this newsletter-type for last week’s post that I announce that I am taking a week off. It is for a good reason though as I am visiting family in the USA.

One of the things that I like to do prior to a trip to a place where I have previously visited is to look through my photos. As you do. I like to see where I visited; who I saw; when I went (phones, in particular can be good like that by providing a quick time stamp), and so leading up to the trip, I went down several photo rabbit holes.

Anyway, one of the said rabbit holes were from when I first visited the US of A with my then-boyfriend/now-husband. The year was 2018 and it was a time known as BC, or Before COVID. (Although Trump was in the White House then, too 🙄).

Besides seeing and actually meeting my now-husband’s family for the first time (a big deal!), we planned a side trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. And coming from the UK, I am obsessed with size when it comes to the scale of things in the USA… burgers, buildings, and of course, natural wonders.

What I am saying is that I was prepared to be dazzled by the Grand Canyon. So, when I first started writing this post, I tried to think how to describe the Grand Canyon and the accompanying images. You probably know the type that I was aiming for - pithy but emotive phrases that convey something deep.

But nothing came to me. I couldn’t get a firm grasp on anything, which was odd, as I was looking at my own images. I had been there.

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I am feeling lost for words for several reasons. Although I haven’t helped myself as I have been reading a lot of the news over the past few weeks. All of which has meant that I have been revisiting some dark places in my mind from when we were mid-way through Trump season one in 2018.

Yet as I continued to look through the photos of Grand Canyon from that same year something began to shift. I recalled chatting with the wonderful National Park staff who helped my now-husband and I with renting our bikes that can transport you along the South Rim. I remembered pausing to watch a young Elk nibbling on shrubs along with its mother on a path to the hotel. And of course, I was reminded of the sheer majesty of the place.

And then I was reminded of the overarching feeling of awe that I felt in 2018, and at the humanity and beauty in the world. And that sometimes we can just experience things without having to try and describe them.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy the photos and see you in two weeks!

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It transpires that the 19th century American geologist John Wesley Powell couldn’t find the words to describe the Grand Canyon either, so I am in good company:

“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself.”

(I had literally never heard of this guy before visiting the Grand Canyon, FYI).

Shortly before sunset, South Rim

Grand Canyon National Park, South Rim

A glimpse of the Colorado River, South Rim

Grand Canyon Village, South Rim

An odd choice of image to include, I know! But this sign was on the door of a GIFT SHOP at the Grand Canyon. I will never understand America’s gun laws.

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Thanks for stopping by TBOI. And one last thing, if you like this post please give it a ❤️, or consider sending it to a friend. And as ever, if there is anything that you would like to share in the comments, please do!

Best,

Sarah