Singular Moments Without Blemish
So we may be sure in the face
of total astonishment which thrills us,
nature really is
that beautiful!
Once in awhile nature simply takes our breath away. We found the entrance to Lower Canyon more easily the second time around. A narrow crack in the sun baked earth, astonishingly small, marked the spot where we would descend. I liked the coolness on my brow, quiet relief from the desert afternoon heat above. I had been dreaming about returning to the quiet for two years since last we emerged from the belly of Mother Earth. I needed to hear myself think. I needed to soak my soul in these canyon walls aflame and burnished by the Arizona sun peaking through the crevices above.
Morning was the optimal time to photograph Lower Canyon, but schedules being what they are, our opportunity came in the afternoon. No matter: the canyon changes constantly as the sun marches across the sky, like a painter dipping his brush to highlight one area after another in the canyon below with a quiet glow. Given these parameters, we sallied forth. Strange the musings of the mind returning to bliss.
The trek through the canyon gave ample opportunity for reflection. I was looking for familiar landmarks, only to find some of my favorites no longer recognizable. Two seasons of flash floods through the canyon reshaped the twists and turns. I realized then that the beauty I would capture today might not be here next time I came. Oh to be sure, the canyons would continue to enchant with each passing year. But the beauty I saw today was mine to capture now and only now.
Life cradles us in the hope of returning to singular moments without blemish. Such breathtaking beauty nourishes our spirits, opens our hearts, and awakens the soul. And yet we find that when we return, a new singularity presents itself. The magic of that moment lies not in its sameness or similarity to the one we remember fondly. It lies rather in its uniqueness, its surprise, an unexpected delight in this moment. Finding the beauty amid the ordinariness, amid the well-worn pathways of everyday life and those visited time and again, refreshes the soul. So when the moment came and I began the descent into the canyon, the fire of my excitement was undimmed though I was indeed surprised at the changes. For the canyon was on fire in new formations and sun drenched passageways.
Monuments to the fury of flood waters, worn still smoother by bits of rock and sand hurling along the canyon walls when the waters came, painted by sheaths of afternoon light that found the reds, golds, and purples, and sporting substantial wave patterns, mesmerized and intrigued and beckoned me. Chambers I had not seen, ones we had left unexplored “for next time”, berthed shadows and corners of sequestered beauty. Portals amid one chamber and other appeared and disappeared among the twists and turns of stone, light, and darkness.
Quiet joy unfurled. Singular moments without blemish engaged my heart and then my soul, one after another. Walking in Lower Canyon was like being bathed in one singular moment after another, each one astounding, breathtaking, without blemish. We walk in a world of beauty, of mind blowing beauty. Nature provides a playground for the imagination, inspiration for the soul, and passionate embrace of quiet reverie: Wow -- what beauty can do!
Should we go to the wild forlorn or despondent or dejected, we shall emerge refreshed, swept clean of life’s debris. Should we go to the wild disturbed or fretting or frenzied, we will find there something so beautiful compelling us to find again our center. Should we go to the wild exhausted or empty or alienated, we may remember what nourishes and connects us profoundly.
Have you ever been somewhere that astonished you?
What were the singular moments without blemish that left you astonished and overjoyed? Where do you find that kind of beauty in your life?
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