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Change of Scenery

February 20, 2021 by Amy Welborn

We were supposed to be here yesterday (Thursday). But our flight – through Dallas – was cancelled. I was not about to complain, though, not one little bit – about that, considering the terrible suffering so many are enduring in Texas right now.

So here we are. A different flight taken early this morning. Yes, we lost a day, but the elimination of one half-day’s activity isn’t a problem. As I said…not a problem at all.

A few years ago, the two youngest and I went to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It was part of this trip. This time, it’s just the youngest and I, and now at the south rim. We’ll be here for just a day, then we’ll move on.

It’s a short trip, but a welcome one. Kid #4 headed over to Europe earlier this week, the youngest has worked hard, both in “school” and in his music, with Easter (organ) and piano recitals (again – after a two year break for various reasons) forthcoming. So a jaunt seemed called for.

As I said, we were supposed to get to Arizona Thursday evening, with an early morning drive up to the Grand Canyon. That was replaced by an early morning flight and an afternoon of driving to the Grand Canyon. All new territory for us. We arrived just at sunset, and it was gorgeous. Especially beautiful were the blues and pinks in the sky above the canyon. And yes, Ron Swanson is right.

I don’t know why. Why is it? Why is it that just walking from what seems to be an ordinary parking lot, to some trees, along a walkway, smiling at a few other tourists, then having this expanse open up before you just makes your heart stop, your throat tighten and brings tears to your eyes? Why? Is it just the landscape? Or is it the fact that you are here on the edge of this great hole in the ground, with folks from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all colors, shapes and sizes, and you’re all in this miracle, this mystery, in this wild, stupid, marvelous, gorgeous, puzzling, flawed, wonderful country – together?

And yes, that’s my mother up there in the header at the Grand Canyon, too. Sometime in the late 50’s.

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  • From my "2020 Book of Grace-Filled Days" - so yes, I know, the date is wrong, but the content still works...so ignore that date, please. Last year at the beginning of Lent, I posted a section from a late 19th-century book called The Correct Thing for Catholics.  As I said at the time, Aunt Agnes would never in a million years become a Romanist or be seen in the environs of a Papist gathering, but still. Because I was watching The Gilded Age, I couldn’t help but hear all of these admonitions in Aunt Agnes’ voice. Today is the feast of St. Margaret Clitherow. Linked is a post on her, and attached are a couple of images -  from the entry on her from the Loyola Kids Book of Saints, and the others from her shrine in York, which I visited last summer: There is more than one kind of death, and there is more than one kind of tomb in which the dead parts of ourselves lie, dark and still. Jesus stands outside every one of those tombs. His power is stronger than the stone, stronger than any kind of death. He stands; he desires our freedom; and to each of us he calls, “Come out!   On Flannery O'Connor's 98th birthday, a post with photos of her home at @andalusiafarm  as well as links to much of what I've written about her over the years.  Images from the Loyola Kids Book of Catholic Signs and Symbols, the Loyola Kids Book of Bible Stories, and the new Loyola Kids Book of Seasons, Feasts and Celebrations related to the #Annuncation.  From my 2020 Book of Grace-Filled Days. It's the Feast of the Annunciation - a few pages from my books related to the feast.  Most are published by @LoyolaPress. For more: Me on a certain element of John Wick 4. You can...probably guess which one. 

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