107. Sitting on the Edge
Sometime before 1995 I watched a movie that I barely remember, except that it had something to do with sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon. It became a dream of mine, and in 1995 I took the train from New York, met my daughter Donna there (she had just biked from Maine to Oregon), and we had three or four days together at the Grand Canyon.
It was a significant time in my life. Donna did some of the activities, we both went to ranger educational events, but mostly I sat on the edge. For me, it was a sacred place and I may have believed that before I arrived. Being there for four days confirmed that, and I found it an amazing place in which to ponder who I was, where I was in my life, and what was to come.
Once home I framed the print that I had bought—a picture of the canyon with varying colors, mists and fog drifting through it. And then in a few years I found another picture of Toroweap which I bought and had framed. Toroweap is on the North Rim and we didn’t actually get there and yet this sheer face of the canyon continues to call to me today.
Both pictures, complete with my vivid memories, tell me that it is important for me to recognize when I need to have a Canyon experience. It is significant for me to know when I need to separate myself from the routine and make the time to ponder and perhaps to drift. I don’t have to go to the Grand Canyon each time. But I do need periodically to search out a sacred place and sit on the edge.
