It's interesting that what you don't get from pictures is a feeling.

I have "stood" at this morning's sightseeing spot before. I have been collecting pictures of my passion--the Grand Canyon--for years upon years now. I believe I have seen it from just about every conceivable angle, especially the good ones, like where I stood today. The pictures alone were awesome. I can't tell you how many times I came home covered in the blackness where I spent my days, boxed up. I would come home to the oversized oil that hangs on the wall opposite my door and start breathing again. On particularly bad days, I would take a shower and then pull out my picture albums and vicariously breathe in the clean air and soak up the wide open spaces. The day's tension would melt away faster than alcohol could ever ease it, and I know it's far healthier.

So I spent twenty years saving. I had to save for an overseas airfare, then land transportation two-thirds the way across the United States (I never truly grasped how large America is), and then to this hole in the ground. There are other things I want to see, and I will be here for a month, but that's beside the point now, isn't it?

The air was as I imagined--nothing heavy or tainted. The view was expected. But the feeling. The feeling of being up so high. Of course I should be used to that kind of thing, spending my time in chimneys as I do, but there is a big difference between closed high places and open high places.

And being rained on in high places.

Of course the day I'm to tour it rains in Arizona, which as I understand it is not a frequent thing. I believe the excursion should have been curtailed, but the tour guide would have been out the money that we had pre-paid to be personally escorted. At any rate, we get to the top and within 10 minutes it's raining. A sudden burst at first that passed, but other clouds soon scurried in. (I have to admit it was delightful to watch them. I've never seen clouds miles and miles away and watched them barrel down on me.) Before long it was raining in earnest with no sign of letting up.

There was about six in the party in all. I should have come prepared. I understand that. But I haven't been on the ground 24 hours yet. Late flights and all, you understand. I overslept. No time to watch weather. Shot out my door with tickets clutched and barely made it on time. I didn't bring an umbrella. And the others didn't bring any manners.

My hat worked for a short time until it became rain soaked. At the time I hardly cared, though had someone offered, I'd have ducked under an umbrella in a heartbeat. Even soaked head to toe, I hated to come down. But we did, without seeing all of what we were supposed to. And now I'm feeling something else. My head is stuffy, my throat raw, and I keep having weird dreams when I fall asleep--fever I believe.

No, you just don't get that from pictures. Perhaps I should stick with those.

~*~*~*~*~*

For the record, I HATE THIS. Sorry. Just not inspired. But the prompt was:

Person: A chimney sweep
Object: An umbrella
Place: The Grand Canyon
Theme: Self-centeredness

and I tried! :)