Arches National Park - Utah

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Turning east. The ancient rocks lay prostrate in zen like reverence before the distant images of blue and white mountains. A gathering of juniper and desert shrubs stand quietly enveloping the once empty spaces among the ancient rock. They drape the rocks as a natural garment.

The rock formations gift me a sense of solidity and permanence. The juniper and desert shrubs sweep my senses with a sacred scent and my mind is carried to ancient places...this is an ancient place. And with every feeling of permanence an understanding that this whole geological formation is in constant flux. The difference in our perception of time does not allow an immediate recognition of this movement.

Expansiveness, transcendence, permanence, and movement make this place sacred for me.

Mountains, clouds, rivers, oceans, and trees...the stuff of wonder. I remember stories as a child...how people felt awe at the Great One, the God of the Mountains, the God of the Storms, the God of the Ocean. This was a God both of nature and beyond the limitations of nature. This God moved the clouds and moved a person's heart.

As a small boy I wanted to see the face of this God, just as the great ones of ancient times had desired. I wanted to hear the voice of God, just as the great ones of ancient times had heard God's voice.

Can you see the face of God? Can hear God's voice?

I looked and God's face unfolded in the eyes of a child dying from leukemia. God's voice emanated from the heart of persons searching for the freedom to eat, to live, to laugh. And seeing and hearing within this human gave me an answer to my childhood desire.

The ancient rocks. The juniper. The mountains. These are great like a child dying, like the pursuit for freedom.

There are dozens of 'my favorite' images of the Rockies, the Four Corners Area and the Southwest, captured digitally, on film and in my heart. This photo captures these values for me, looking east in the Windows Section of Arches National Park in Southeastern Utah. Taking the Landscape Arch trail, a relatively flat, gravel-surfaced trail leading to a tremendous ribbon of rock and then beyond Landscape Arch, the trail climbs over sandstone slabs, with rocky footing and narrow ledges with exposure to heights.

There are many awe inspiring photographic destinations for us to experience our home planet. You can spend days taking hundreds of photos in every direction. And though your photos may be disappointing compared with your actual experiencing of the landscapes and natural surroundings, the memories impressed upon your mind will transform your photos into works of art.