Sarah, age 31, and Christina’s grandparents

Intergenerational Description of Joint Project:

This project occurred 17 years ago. My friend's grandparents invited me to go with them in their RV to see Zion, The Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon for a week-long trip. My friend Christina would have rather been anywhere but on a vacation with her grandparents, but I didn't have much family and it sounded like an adventure. I will never forget how astounded I was by nature's beauty during that trip. I felt excitement course through my veins just looking at all the hoodoo's of Bryce, cliffs and waterfalls at Zion, and of course the awesome power of The Grand Canyon. I sat down on the last night of our trip and wrote this poem in its entirety - no changes have been made in the 17 years it's been since the trip. There is no title. It was an expression of nature in its rawest form.

Celebration of Rachel Carson's Sense of Wonder:

I never saw Christina's grandparents ever again, and Christina and I lost touch a few years later. They will never know how much I truly appreciated being taken out of my urban environment to feel the wonder of God's creation. Her grandparents knew that being a teenager was a difficult period of time. They knew that we started off with reservations about spending a week with them. Yet they had taken this trip many times and simply wanted us to be exposed to something much larger than ourselves. This entry is a tribute to their gift.

Poem:

Amongst the land of red-hued canyons
underneath a turquoise sky
where foothills join with mesas
and corruption evades the eye
 
a river forms like quicksilver
meandering through the trees
bleached rocks conflict with liquid amber
creating a sense of peace
 
alone with much tranquility
I'm soon to find my place
for only with isolated beauty
may I disclose my rightful face