Paria

"We shall not cease from exploration

and the end of all our exploring

will be to arrive where we started

and know the place for the first time."

― T.S. Eliot

HUNT FOR THE SELF (STORY OF A SELFIE)

To help imprint the moment into the psyche (reaching 50 years of age) it's good to have a picture of you taken that week.

Which is easier said than done when you're out there on your own: the Serpent is all around to capture. The Cat, more elusive, can also be glimpsed here and there. But you? 1500 pics over 9 days and not a single one of yourself to commemorate the occasion? Let’s be serious!

Today is my last chance. At the towering edge of Paria Canyon, i take time for a first selfie: nothing to rave about but my face is in the frame for a change. Next is GPS waypoint #52 on my list. I climbed into the spot, explore it some, and am about to exit when i witness my shadow bisecting a colorful swirl on the ground: the chironic shadow typical of late afternoons (a strong lower body carrying a diminutive upper body) looks exploratory and purposeful as it follows a path toward the center of the spiral and back. Like a visual rendering of the immortal words of T.S. Eliot.

I like it and shoot it.

And finally find JP.