Eclectic Waters

Archive for September, 2007

Will you allow yourself

to wade past the safety of familiar bounds

to the uncharted land

of yourself.

Will you

trust

me,

anyone,

with those parts of your soul

you are most

afraid of?

I want to trace

the ridges of you

with my charcoal hand,

because I know

that once you stand naked,

you will discover

you are not alone.

We drove in the sweltering heat. There and back. Rising early we tried to miss the height of it, but even so the car reached 106 degrees as we made our way back to El Cajon. It was about as comfortable as walking around with Q-tips stuck up your nostrils all day.

The free hotel stay I won did not have a hotel closer to the Grand Canyon and so we stayed in Sedona which is two hours away. We made it to Sedona at 11 am and drove straight to Old Canyon Creek State Park which was already crowded. We swam in the stream, allowing it to push us over the moss covered rocks. When we tried to stand up, our feet slipped and we fell laughing into the water.

After some confusion because we did not have the blue coupon that should have come in the mail two weeks ago, we were finally checked into the hotel. At which point we were exhausted, and so we took turns taking a long bath and settled on the bed to watch movies.

Sunday we rose at 6 am and drove 2 and a half hours to the Grand Canyon. It was my first time. It took my breath away and my soul soaked up the beauty and immensity of it. But it was also HOT and after 4 hours we were done and so we got into our HOT car (this does not mean it is cool – it means the car had NO air conditioning) and drove back to Sedona. We were originally going to go out to eat and see more of the town – but instead we stayed at the hotel, ate some pizza and watched more movies.

Monday we rose at 4 am and drove back to El Cajon, which is when the car reached 106 degrees. Rachael has a small alarm clock that would tell us the temperature and it kept us feeling sorry for ourselves, but it also gave us an excuse to stop for cold water and, of course, ice cream.

This weekend was exactly what I needed. Getting away from the routine and the familiar places of my life here, laughing so hard my stomach ached, sharing my heart with my sister and having a truly g r a n d time.

Nature. Friendship. Connection to the world and to another person – the type of connection that reminds me of who I am and why I am glad for the gift of my life.