Most people don’t know that there is a second Grand Canyon in the United States. Well, there is, and it’s in the northern panhandle of the great state of Texas.  Palo Duro Canyon,  the second deepest canyon, though nowhere near as vast as the Grand Canyon. Still, ancient and once filled with dinosaurs like it’s big brother, and home 12,000 years ago to humans.  One of my favorite sights in the canyon are hoodoos. Those crazy balancing rock formations that often resemble animals or forms that usually give way to their names – camel rock, lighthouse etc. These irregular rock pillars develop in areas of sporadic, heavy rainfall from rocks with different resistance to erosion by wind and rain. The softer layers give way underneath often leaving a cap rock of harder sandstone. They eventually disappear as they collapse from erosion. Sounds eerily like what happens to us in time doesn’t it?

Visits to these ancient places have a humbling affect on me. Knowing how much came before us, and how long it took for us to catch up with the past reminds me how small and powerless we are on this big planet. Unlike others, I find a great deal of comfort in that. I don’t mind being small and helpless in nature’s eyes. I like knowing my place. I like knowing nature gets the last word, and standing beside a hoodoo is a reminder of that.

” CERTAINLY , TRAVEL IS MORE THAN THE SEEING OF SIGHTS, IT IS CHANGE THAT GOES ON, DEEP AND PERMANENT, IN THE IDEAS OF LIVING.”    Miriam Beard

For over a decade now I’ve lived in somewhat rural places, usually with a fair amount of acreage around the property. The good and bad to living like this is nature tends to creep on you. The upside ; lots of wildlife, vistas, stars at night, well water, distance between you and any neighbors. The down side – nature creeps on you.

I spent the last week pulling up sage, lots of sage, weeds of all high desert growth, grasses, and cutting back desert hardy plants like Arctic willow and , oh yea, did I mention sage? I love and hate sage. I love the smell of it as it always reminds me of New Mexico. But it will, and can, grow fast and everywhere you don’t want it to in the high desert. I would rather spend hours beating back nature from my doorstep than an equal amount of time in a clean gym pounding down on a treadmill. The satisfaction I get from yard-scaping is immeasurable . It’s a different sort of canvas for me. Rocks and dirt, sage and gravel, pine trees and boulders.

This creep of nature is humbling. It’s a no win proposition, year after year. But I love it. I love to be reminded over and over again, that NATURE GETS THE LAST WORD.

( photo by Catherine Massaro)

Take a moment to appreciate the awesome wonder and beauty of it all.

(featured image – photograph by Catherine Massaro)

” The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

(featured image –  photograph by Catherine Massaro)