(See “Critical Reading” in Chapter 1)

1

Today I went for a hike in Rattlesnake Canyon in my hometown of Grand Junction, Colorado. I had been a little down and I just wanted to get out and forget my troubles. Instead, though, I came back happy and feeling really lucky to be alive. Rattlesnake Canyon is incredibly beautiful, peaceful, and restorative.

2

The hiking path is lined with gorgeous desert plants that go on for acres. There are many varieties of cactus, many with long white spines reaching out of the green “leaves.” I never thought of cactus as being colorful, but there can be purple or about five shades of green. Some of them have “flowers” that look like huge, bright red radishes. Others have tiny yellow flowers growing beside the sharp spines, and still others have lavender flowers sprouting. There are all kinds of yellow flowering plants — some pale, and some darker, like an egg yolk. Swarms of yellow butterflies flutter around them, dancing in and out of the branches. I just started laughing when I saw them; it was so perfect. My favorite plant is sage, again lots of different kinds. Some have billions of little purple flowers, and they are about four feet tall. Others are a silvery green, and when you run your hand over the leaves, they give off this savory scent that is barely sweet and makes me think of my mother’s stuffing at Thanksgiving. It is sage, the herb. The air just smells all herby from sage, juniper, and other smells I cannot identify. Some low bushes have bright red flowers — some scarlet, some rust, and some orangy. The desert plants are beautiful. The desert is so much more than just sand.

3

As I went along, I was surrounded by the huge rocks of the canyon, like a miniGrand Canyon. At the base, the rocks are a dark, rusty color. As they rise up, they have about ten different layers of color — from a kind of light grey, to darker grey, to pale red, and finally to a brilliant red that shines in the sunlight from flecks of mineral in them. Those layers of rock reveal the many different climates the area has experienced over billions of years, including being underwater several times. I was literally surrounded by these looming rocks, thousands of feet high.

4

Best of all, though, is the sky. The towering, multicolored cliffs are met by the bluest sky imaginable. There were no clouds, and this blue was dark and beautiful against the red of the rock. The sun was bright, as it usually is here, and everything was so big, so colorful, so intense that I felt lucky to be alive. There is something about all this beauty that has been here for billions of years that makes you feel as if your problems are unimportant: It gives peace.

5

Rattlesnake Canyon and places like it give us perspective on our lives. The beauty and eternity of nature assure us that so much in our lives is small compared with our surroundings. It opens our senses if we allow it to: We see, smell, hear, and feel more closely. These places restore our faith in forces that far surpass us in power and endurance. I left the canyon with my spirit restored. Nature is open to everyone, and we should take the time to let it work its wonders on our humanity.