Have you ever had an experience of being in a particular landscape or location and feeling intimately connected to the land and the many people who came before us? If so, where were you?

Personally, any time I am out in the open with nobody else around (or very few,) I get a feeling of incredible awe and appreciation for the world we live in. Wide open spaces -regardless of what is in them, from desert to jungle to ocean- make me deeply aware of just how small I am in the scheme of things. Looking down from a plane or staring at moving water often make me feel the same way as well.

There are still wild places in this country thanks to many people from our history. But they are few. Places like The Appalachian Trail (unfortunately a great deal of which runs through civilization), the 5 National Parks in Utah, Smokey Mountains, Rocky Mountains and many places where you can escape the wanton destruction of wild habitat. But even these places are overrun with tourist trying to escape and bring with them their trash and leave behind.

Mine was visiting Deer Valley Petroglyph Preserve, near Phoenix AZ, as a teenager with my brother and our aunts. I had noticed the petroglyphs all around me. And I was amazed. My aunt took a picture of us. And my brother was acting goofy and spread his arms out wide. Now since was in ancient 1994, we had to “wait” for the photos to be developed. In the meantime, we had to return to Ohio. I was so shocked and surprised when I saw the developed photo. There was a huge rock formation behind us in the photo and it… Read more »