| I feel like I'm standing in shallow waters wearing a diving suit. Something is coming that's going to force me to chose one way or the other. I was about to write that a sign of maturity is that you rarely find yourself in situations that force you to do anything, but I regress. That is merely a sign of control, which is too often found in the hands of the immature.
Is maturity truly something that should be attained as soon as possible? How often does the loss of innocence come with maturity. Maturity happens in due time. I think the greatest method to achieve it is to see past maturity, this higher level of consciousness, and focus on the reason for it. So...what is the reason for maturity?
|
| |
|
The Ministry of Reconciliation.
With God? With Man? Why? How? When?
|
| |
| Phillip's a funny kid.
He is my nine year old cousin. His bedtime is 8:00 p.m., but he often
stays awake til past 9:00 because he waits for his brother Justin to
come in, (His bedtime is 9:00) and he stays awake with him talking and
talking and talking til about 10:00.
(written by Phillip)
|
| |
| Alright I finally put our vacation to the
Grand Canyon into print. I still need to get my pics in order,
but I'll try to post some soon. Enjoy.
We left on the 9th and got back on the
19th. We stopped at the Bogamills (sp?) house in New Mexico on
the way there. They are old friends of Aunt LaNette and Uncle
Jerry. So we stayed the night and took off again on Sat.
Afternoon. We got to Flagstaff, AZ, where we had rented a cabin
that evening. Flagstaff is about 1 1/2 hours from the
Canyon.
On Sunday we went up to the canyon to see some
of the sights. We didn't stay to long. On Mon. we went to the
Tuzigoot National Monument and Montezuma's Castle. Tuzigoot was the
ruins of and old 2-3 story pueblo. On the top story you could see
all around. On one side was the Verde Valley, which was lush with
green plants. On the other side were a few golden wheat fields
and an almost desert land scape beyond. Big Contrast. Montezuma's
Castle was a pueblo built right into the face of a cliff, which was
accessed by ladders. It was thought to have been built for the
Aztec Emperor Montezuma. I found ironic that they would sell
water at a place with Montezuma in the name. 
Then on Tues.. we went to Slide Rock State
Park. Slide rock is a 200+ ft natural waterslide that was cut
into the bedrock of a river overtime. It was like a bunch of weak
rapids. You could sit or lay down in the water and it would carry
you down stream. The rapids were broken in the middle by a deep
pool next to a 12 ft ledge. Needless to say, I had this great
urge to jump of the ledge into the water...so I did!  Justin
jumped too, but he said the water stung when he landed, so he went back
to the water slides.
On Wed. we went back to the Grand
Canyon. We did a lot more hiking and site seeing. And the
sight to see was simply...majestic. A couple years ago we went to
Palo Duro Canyon, the second largest canyon in the US, and, to use
Uncle Jerry's words, compared to the Grand Canyon, Palo Duro was just a
drop in the bucket. It was ENORMOUS! Haha, and it didn't
always have a rail, which I think made Aunt LaNette rather nervous.
On Thur. we went back to Slide Rock. I
was feeling a bit more adventurous so I started doing back flips off
the ledge into the water. Later I heard different people
whispering as I passed, "Isn't that the guy who did a flip off the
rock?" Haha. Silly people, bow at the feet of the flip
master!...? Anyway, we got our kicks there and then started back
to the cabin. Before we got the we stopped at a Deer Farm.
It was pretty much a petting zoo with deer being the main
attraction. They had peacocks, raindeer, Llamas, miniature horses
and many other animals. The Park Deer were allowed to roam
outside of cages and mingle with the people. It just so happened
that when we were there, there was a large number of fawns. Since
the mothers were very protective around their fawns we weren't allowed
to leave the path.
Fri. We went to Sunset Crater Volcano
and Wupatki National monument. Sunset Crator was a dormant cinder
volcano. We were allowed to climb one of the volcanos. The
path was covered with cinders which were really good at getting
in shoes as you walked. Wupatki was more pueblos. The most
interesting part was the blowhole. The blowhole was simply a hole
in the ground that blew cool air upward. This was because the air
pressure underground at that particular spot was greater than the air
pressure above ground.
On Sat. we packed up our things, and started
back home. On the way we stopped at Meteor Crater. Meteor
Crater was one of the best preserved craters formed by meteor impact on
earth. It was 3/4 mile in diameter and 500 ft deep. The
guide had said the floor of the crater was so large, 20 football games
could be play in it simultaneously. We stayed in a couple of
small cabins in Carlsbad that night.
Sun. we repacked and went to Carslbad
Caverns. To get there we took an elevator 750 feet
underground. The caverns apparently descended another 1950 ft,
but we weren't allowed down there. I don't think we could have
gotten to the bottom anyway, unless we jumped into the featured
"bottomless hole." The biggest cavern was called the "Big Room",
and the path around it was a little over a mile long. I think my
favorite part about the Caverns was a feature they called the
"Chandelier," a collection of large Stalactites hanging from the middle
of the Big Room.
After that it was a pretty straight trip
home. We arrived at 11pm that night, and I had to mow for Mr.
Rogers immediately the next morning. The trip was a LOT of
fun. I think I was a little vacationed out, and ready to do
something productive. Which is a good attitude to have right now,
seeing as I have a lot of school work ahead of me. Speaking of which, I
had better get to it. Love ya!
.::Josh::.
|
| |
