"To infinity and beyond"
Copyright © 1996, Disney Studios
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I really enjoyed Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear was by far by favorite character, even though Woody was a cowboy. Buzz's "To infinity and beyond" line seems to be the perfect way to summarize the end of the perfect trip. Yesterday we were still living the Canyon. We had left the river behind in the physical world but mentally the image was still very fresh. Today was the return to reality, the true world of chaos from whence nightmares originate. It was not a pleasant experience, or at least it did not start off very pleasant.
Today was a terrible ending for an otherwise perfect trip. Problems at the airport in Flagstaff plagued a few of the group but luckily, in the end, everyone made it out and began their voyages to home or where ever they were headed, if only a little late. Ann & Carolyn's flight was delayed and they end up changing their whole schedule because of it. Nigel & Janine looked like they were going to be stuck for a while as well but then at the last moment they managed to get out on a slightly earlier flight. We also run into Linda and Trish at the airport and get another chance to say good-bye to them as well. We made our flight after a long wait and make it home with no further difficulties. I think it will be a long time before I use the airport in Flagstaff again.
During the flight home there was much time for reflection. I finished the book that I had brought with me (Moving Mars by Greg Bear) about midway between Phoenix and Cincinnati, and after that there was plenty of time to think and contemplate the journey just completed, while gazing at the landscape that was passing by beneath us. I thought about the trip and the fun times that we all had shared. I knew at the start that the trip would be a learning experience and knew that every day would bring some new insight into the origins of the Canyon itself. I did not realize how this would extend itself into thinking about the creation of our planet as a whole and how it came to be what it is today. I do not believe that a person can spend two weeks voyaging through the depths of the Grand Canyon and not be in some way altered by the experience. Everyone likes to believe that he or she is the center of the universe but, in a place like the Grand Canyon, the more time you spend there, the more you come to realize that you are truly just an "invisible dot on an invisible dot" [from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams]. But this is not necessarily a bad realization... it just makes you want to try harder... to be a little more visible and somewhat less than insignificant. Nothing that any one of us will do here makes even less than the slightest bit of difference as far as the universe as a whole is concerned but then who really cares anything about the universe as a whole. We all have the means to effect change on our home world. We've got a great little planet here with lots of neat stuff like the Grand Canyon on it and it all needs to be protected. For me the trip has not yet ended and probably never will. I am in the Canyon even when I am not in the Canyon. When I walk the concrete and glass canyons that are also known as the streets of Boston I can still feel the Grand Canyon in my heart and know that it will always be there... calling me back.
"Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING--absolute nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
Except... maybe... messing around in boats in the Grand Canyon?
Thanks Robby
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