BY TAYLOR MARSH
Reporting from Santa Fe, New Mexico
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To Santa Fe, New Mexico.
But those big horn sheep were right by the side of the road before we crossed
Hoover Dam, which is quite a technological marvel, let me say. They just kept eating the lush green grass while staring at me watching
them. It was a tremendous treat.
We came upon them after backtracking after starting out on our trip,
because the GPS we’d rented now wasn’t working. When you couple that with
the AT&T “aircard” nightmare, let’s just say that the tech gods
were cranky yesterday, which continue, because I still can’t get connection
in my hotel room. I’m the library using the office connection. Seriously, what’s
up? Some meteor shower? Didn’t bother my Blackberry, which worked like a charm
all day yesterday. On that note, a huge thank you to Scott for pitching in, otherwise this blog would have been silent all day. Anyway…
None of this nonsense impeded the wonderful natural wonders we spied throughout the day.
The Grand Canyon certainly lived up to its name. Completely overwhelming. Worth
the long drive, even the tourists, though we did manage to catch several views,
even some more secluded. As regulars know, we’re quite the bird lovers. Hawks
everywhere. Just a glorious adventure. Some day a hike to the bottom is in order,
maybe one year in late September or October. Something to dream about.
Driving the roads we also came upon a coyote, obviously very hungry. Also not
afraid of people, though even when my voice brought him near we knew we had
to leave him alone. Nature is a cruel master.
But the most splendid moment for me was after we watched sunset at one of the
vista points. We drove out of the park as darkness fell. Then suddenly, as we
were driving, I couldn’t believe my eyes. “STOP, Mark, look!”
As soon as I spied the beautiful beast, off it bounded across the other
side of the road and down to the bank, yet still close by. Mark made a quick
u-turn. There it was, a huge elk. In a blink, off it went in huge strides. We drove to the other side
of the road to go back where we were headed, when then I came into eye contact with a another one, a majestic
elk with four points. Standing, staring, I was hypnotized. I looked to my right and
there were more, a small herd. I don’t know how long it lasted, but as the seconds
ticked away I could almost feel the large one by the road and nearest me sensing
it was time to flee. They don’t get that large by
being stupid. A second later, quicker than you might imagine, he led his herd
away through the brush and out of sight. “God bless you. Run! Run!”
Sounds silly, I know, but the words just
jumped out. That’s all I could say, hoping my words would be a cloak of defense against
dangers present in this modern world. I hope we’ll meet again someday. I attract this type of thing often.
More wildlife and nature crossings with creatures yesterday. I’ve always had a
connection with things in the wild, not human, attracting them and experiencing something that is somehow unexplainable.
But as long as I live I will never forget meeting those gorgeous, great elk, especially that one, if just for a few moments out of time.
For me, it was a gift.
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