Big Bend

I’ve spent the last several days in glorious isolation in the Big Bend National Park area of southwest Texas, where I had neither cell phone reception nor access to the internet. I missed all the news of the world and the nation, including the election results. (I voted early.) It was so marvelously refreshing to get away for a while and to have the opportunity to focus on the beauty and the spirituality of our natural world, so good for my soul.

I’d hoped to raft the Rio Grande through Santa Elena Canyon, where the sheer walls rise straight up 1500 feet above the river. That was one of my main reasons for coming to Big Bend. Unfortunately, the water level was too low. My only view of the canyon was a visit to the place where the river exits those towering walls. However, my wife and I, and also my cousins, who accompanied us, were able to raft through the Colorado Canyon, which is upriver a bit and turned out to be an extraordinary experience.

Big Bend is also one of the premier Dark Sky areas of the country. But I timed my trip too poorly. We arrived on the night of the brightest full moon I have ever seen. It was beautiful but washed out all the stars.

For those who’ve never visited Big Bend National Park, you’ve missed a truly remarkable part of this continent. The Chisos Mountains at the heart of the park are stark and stunning and so wonderfully diverse in their formations. And oh, the sunsets!

Although it wasn’t exactly the visit I’d envisioned, it was a wonderful birthday gift to myself, and a reminder that we need to embrace the blessings that may not necessarily be what we’d anticipated but are memorable nonetheless.