The Big Picture

Trip to Sedona was awesome. I've only been to Arizona once before (well, twice if you count the time we drove to Nevada and barely grazed the northwest corner of Arizona on I-15) and when I was there the first time we pretty much just hung out in Phoneix. Everyone said that Sedona was beautiful, though, and seriously...everyone was right. It was probably one of the most breathtaking locations I have visited in a long time, if not ever. From the house at which we stayed, just outside the edge of town, you could look out and see a vista that included massive rock formations touching the edge of the sky, skirted by green valleys that ran as far along the horizon as the eye could see. The best part was that almost everywhere we went, whether in town or not, included similar views of deep red peaks rising hundreds or even thousands of feet into the air. But aside from the scenery, it was just a really fun weekend with lots of good people to see and talk with. The bride is a longtime friend of my wife, and the two have known each other since freshman year of college, so it was really good to be there with her and her family to celebrate such a wonderful occasion.

But alas, the duties of a husband-of-a-bridesmaid are often not pressing, and so there was little to do while the ladyfolk were scurrying about, giddy with wedding preparations. So one afternoon some of the other guys and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon which, I gotta say, was pretty grand. Having never been there before, and only seeing pictures in books along with the occasional educational video, I was more or less unprepared scope the scope of the canyon. The drop was so deep, and the expanse so wide, that I had to just stare for several minutes before even realizing I was actually seeing a place on this island earth. It's phenomenal how huge this thing is, and the scale of it all is just overwhelming. We took turns sitting on a cliff edge that dropped a few thousand feet to a rocky slope below, and holding mortality in our own hand like that was an experience I will not soon forget.

The rest of the weekend--the natural wonders, the conversations, the dancing at the wedding reception, it was all a blast. So C and M, if either of you two are reading this, thanks for a great weekend and I wish both of you a blessed married life together.

Since getting back and slipping back into our more-or-less daily routine (which in many ways has yet to even be established, since we're still new to this town and this house) it's been nice to have a place of our own to hang our coats in the evening, and do our part to take care of it too. Yesterday my wife and I did some yard work, today I changed the oil in our car in our own garage, and we got the programmable thermostat figured out too. Always a nice bonus. :) Time to sign off for the night, though, and head for bed.