This short video really puts me in a good mood. It illustrates why living in southern Utah (or visiting southern Utah) is a fabulous blessing. To be able to witness, explore and see things like this with your own eyes is in reality something very few in the course of human history have been able to do.
Utah Grand Circle “Ruby” – America’s Southwest from Blue Eden on Vimeo.
Think about it, how many people in Russia or India will ever in their lifetimes even get a chance to visit Zion National Park? To hike the Subway, to jump into the rock pools, to slide down the cascading waterfalls? Even now with travel more prevalent and accessible than ever before, how many will truly get a chance to triumph over Angels Landing? To look up at that ascent, and take it head on. Or hike the Narrows, to be trudging through waist high water trying not to trip as your neck strains from looking heavenward at the stunning canyon walls.
I know that for us these places are very accessible, but for many they are not. And certainly there are things in these countries that are amazing that I too will never get to witness, but that’s just the point. This video makes me feel gratitude for the beauty that surrounds me. That, within 45 minutes I can be through the front gates of Zion National Park. And an hour later I can be hanging off of a rappelling rope 200 ft off the ground in Pine Creek. That is just amazing to me, and when you think about how many people have graced this world, there is an incredibly small percentage of people who have experienced that.
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It’s not just Zion that I love, in fact, that’s also why I love this video and this area so much; how much it vary’s, how much even a few hours of driving will give you a completely different scene. From Zion Canyon’s waterfalls, to the Grand Canyon, to the Arches of Canyonlands National Park. When compared with each other it only amplifies their cumulative beauty. Increasing the immense thankfulness I feel.
Last week I was in Zion eating pizza with family from Zion Pizza and Noodles at a park just above the amphitheater. With that beautiful canyon as my backdrop, and my crazy nieces and nephews trying to negotiate out of dinner so they could go play on the playground; looking up at the scene I could not help but think “you’re the luckiest guy I know.”