This
collection is entitled MESA TOP. The title has its origins
in a trip I took last May. As part of a class, we traveled
to the American Southwest for a two week long adventure
of camping, hiking, and photography. Not until recently
have I been able to channel that experience into words.
My favorite location was Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah.
It was the most remote campsite we called home and was the
location of some of the most wonderful scenery. The two
nights spent on the mesa top, spending the days hiking the
canyons that sliced across its plane, is a time I will never
forget.
The
first night, I had the good fortune to witness a full moon
over that marvelous landscape. Once afraid of heights, I
sat on the canyon rim behind our campsite with my legs dangling
over the cliff watching the sun go down. I waited as the
moon rose, illuminating the canyon stretched out beneath
my feet. That night I felt that I had overcome my fear of
high places entirely, becoming connected fast with the earth
beneath me.
The
mesa top reconnected me with the earth from wince we all
come, as well as the Deity which we all feel in our souls
and in the living things around us. I dedicate this collection
to the red sands of the mesa.
