Reaching to the Void
Twisted, gnarled, and stripped free of the needles and twigs that once sustained it in life, the wreckage of a Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis) clings to the edge of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, Colorado. The dead arms of the tree sweep toward the pegmatite impregnated gneiss of the Painted Wall in the distance. The Wall is the tallest cliff in Colorado at 2,250 ft (685 m) from river to rim.
The perspective here is from the North Rim of the canyon, and it is apparent that the cliffs on this side are significantly more vertical and less weathered than those on the South Rim. Apparently the north-facing cliffs hold more winter snow, and thus have eroded more quickly. Getting too close to the edge of these cliffs gives me a certain prickle to the neck and a surge of fear through the bowels (at least while un-roped). My crazed wife ducked under a barrier and walked right up to the edge, and I can't say I enjoyed watching her at all. It is almost as if mortality reaches up from below, to deliver a yawning reminder that life is fleeting, and can be made more-so in an instant of inattention or mishap.
Hope everyone enjoyed the Labor/Labour Day long-weekend! I am now very slightly wiser now that I know that Canadians celebrate Labour Day too ;-) It would be great of the U.S. Congress could do something patriotic and celebrate by raising the minimum wage for laborers to $15/hour. But no. Just lip-service from the fat-cats at the top who pull the levers.
Reaching to the Void
Twisted, gnarled, and stripped free of the needles and twigs that once sustained it in life, the wreckage of a Pinyon Pine (Pinus edulis) clings to the edge of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River, Colorado. The dead arms of the tree sweep toward the pegmatite impregnated gneiss of the Painted Wall in the distance. The Wall is the tallest cliff in Colorado at 2,250 ft (685 m) from river to rim.
The perspective here is from the North Rim of the canyon, and it is apparent that the cliffs on this side are significantly more vertical and less weathered than those on the South Rim. Apparently the north-facing cliffs hold more winter snow, and thus have eroded more quickly. Getting too close to the edge of these cliffs gives me a certain prickle to the neck and a surge of fear through the bowels (at least while un-roped). My crazed wife ducked under a barrier and walked right up to the edge, and I can't say I enjoyed watching her at all. It is almost as if mortality reaches up from below, to deliver a yawning reminder that life is fleeting, and can be made more-so in an instant of inattention or mishap.
Hope everyone enjoyed the Labor/Labour Day long-weekend! I am now very slightly wiser now that I know that Canadians celebrate Labour Day too ;-) It would be great of the U.S. Congress could do something patriotic and celebrate by raising the minimum wage for laborers to $15/hour. But no. Just lip-service from the fat-cats at the top who pull the levers.