Like, Enough Already

For the past few months I've really been fixated on the overuse of the word "like" in casual conversation.  Like, when people use the word "like" when speaking of some episode or example or statement they made.  It's, like, beginning to drill into my brain like a laser, and I can't, like, turn it off.

OK, you get the idea.

I read this article today on MSNBC about iPhone apps.  They interviewed several people, one of whom offered this nugget:

“She’s got an app that estimates the size of something based on a credit card,” he says. (It’s called “No Ruler.”) “She’s like, ‘This is so cool, it’s like eight credit cards long.’ I’m like, why don’t you just get a tape measure and measure it? It’s this fascination with the technology without thinking, ‘Is this really helping me?’ ”

Seriously?  He was like "why don't you just get a tape measure," or did he actually say it?  Maddening!

I'll admit, it's a hard habit to break.  I catch myself doing it throughout the day, despite my best efforts.  I can also be somewhat annoying when I point it out to others who commit the foul, so I'm trying to go easy.  Make no mistake, though, I intend to stamp the wayward "like" right out of my vocabulary.

Who's, like, with me?

A Long Time Ago...

The desert of southern Utah presents a few dominant themes:

Time - the geology, the landforms, the erosion, the rivers...it all communicates vast spans of time.  Standing by the side of the road, pondering the Seuss-like landforms all around, it is impossible not to think of the eons and eons of time it took to sculpt such things.  Furthermore, sightings of sea fossils, petrified sand dunes, frozen ripples from an ancient sea...these things contribute to the sense of great age.  It's hard to avoid feeling quite temporary in the desert.

Within Canyonlands National Park.

Wind, Sand and Water - these forces act, in conjunction with time, to carve the desert.  As I stood just north of Grand Staircase in the teeth of a 50 mph wind storm...feeling the sand particles needle my skin...it was pretty easy to see how wind and sand act as primary shapers.   Walking through slot canyons carved by centuries and centuries of flash floods, rains and torrents, the undeniable power of water is quite obvious.

A narrow wash carved by water

Layers - everywhere you look, layers.  Old sand dune deserts, sediments from ancient oceans, vast plains from pre-history, forested basins...everywhere is evidence of what came before.  The lower the layer, the older the earth.  Geologists have it all labeled and categorized, have established time-lines and scenarios.  The names of the layers conjure mystery, history, wonder.  Navajo Sandstone.  Summerville Formation.  Kayenta Formation.  White Rim Sandstone. Moenkopi Formation.  What would it be like to see 270 million years sped up, compressed into a 2-hour movie?  Faults lifing and falling, oceans advancing and retreating.  Forests flourishing and dying.  Layer upon layer.

Layers of Entrada Sandstone, born of ancient tidal flats.

God's Imagination - of course, for a Christian, this is all just a reflection of the Creator and his infinite imagination.  I know some don't give any credence to the idea of geologic time, to the notion of millions and millions of years, of imperceptible erosion and shaping by wind and rain.  Perhaps they are right.  As for me, Utah reminds me of the agelessness of God, of His imagination, of his power and, even, of his sense of humor.

Wind. Rain. Time. Imagination.

Why I Go West

A view of Capital Reef from the scenic drive through the park.  The setting sun played off the clouds to produce the very vivid reds and oranges.

This and other Utah photos are up on my Smugmug Site.  Click here.

Wrong Turn...

And ended up on the moon.

Utah?  Or the Moon?

By The Numbers

Been a while.  I'll try to get going again.  Thanks to all for your suggestions on where to go for vacation.  Many, many good thoughts!  In the end, I chose to return to a sure-fire winner, southern Utah.  The trip was epic, truly epic.  I'll try to post some of my photos soon.  Here are some stats from the trip:

Total Days: 10 (Friday to  Sunday)

States visited: 7 (Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma)

Miles driven: about 3,800

Most miles driven in one day: about 1,000

Avg. miles/gallon: 18 (stretch in Texas killed the mpg...headwind of 30 mph dropped my mpg to about 14)

Avg. price per gallon: $1.95 (Thank heavens it wasn't $3.95 like last year!)

Estimated hours driving: around 80 (I figure about 50 mph average)

Hours listening to the radio in the truck: about 10

Total time talking to people on the trip (excluding a couple of phone calls home and a visit with my folks): 30 minutes

Miles driven on 4WD trails: 25

Average speed on 4WD trails: 6 mph

Miles hiked: 35

Longest single hike: about 9 miles (Navajo Knobs, Capital Reef NP)

Navajo Knobs (not my photo)

Primary destinations: Capital Reef National Park, Canyonlands National Park

Great stretches of road: Cottonwood Canyon Road through Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument; Highway 12 Scenic Route from Cannonville UT to Boulder UT; Burr Trail Road from Boulder UT to Notom Road, Capital Reef NP; Highway 95 south from Hanksville UT to Blanding UT; State Hwy. 211 from Hwy 191 to the Needles Visitor Center, Canyonlands NP; Telluride, CO to Silverton, CO; Highway 64 across northern NM, past the Brazos Mountains and through the Tusas Plateau and Mountains (awesome drive - photo below!).

Hwy. 64 in Northern NM (not my photo)

Greatest little pickup on the planet: my Toyota Tacoma

Do yourself a favor, go explore this part of the country sometime.  There is (literally) no place on earth like it...completely unique.  Beautiful views of mountains, desert, canyons, mesas, plateaus, rivers, gorges, rock formations and just plain bizarre landforms.

Again, just an EPIC trip.