I got one!

Many are those who, as have I, dealt with graffiti on the Canyon rocks who mutter, "Just once, ONCE, I'd like to catch one of these bozos in the act."  Well, Brad and I were on our morning constitutional up the West Rim Trail, and I got one!

I had just picked up some toilet paper (nasty!  And, by the way, the West Rim Drive is open to cars now, so all you had to do was carry the stuff back to your vehicle, or (what a thought) to the trash can 100 feet away).

So on my way to said trash can, I espied a young male busily leaving his mark on one of the rocks bordering the parking area.  Since my hands were full of stuff I was anxious to get out of my hands, as I passed I said, loudly, "Please don't write on the rocks.  It is ugly, and it is rude."  His mother looked up from her perusal of an information sign and yelled, "What do you think you're doing?"  So he didn't get in trouble with the Rangers, but his mom is almost as good.

The Grand Canyon Post Office is a mile and a half from the apartment, and I walk over to check the mail every day when I am not working.  I listen to books on my ipod, but as I pass through the Village, I don't put the earbuds in.  I like to listen to the people.

Sometimes I can be of help.  I rescued a couple today who were driving around in circles looking for the Bright Angel Lodge.  Sometimes I can answer questions.  I pointed out the Great Unconformity to two ladies who had just left a ranger program which mentioned same.  So I showed them how to find it and explained the significance.  "Oh, thank you," they enthused. "Do you happen to know, has anyone ever been there?"  Yeah, me, two days ago.

Sometimes I have to remind people, tactfully, that writing on the rocks is discouraged. That throwing rocks is discouraged even more.  That making a paper airplane out of your Grand Canyon Guide and throwing it off the edge could be hazardous to your health.

But sometimes I just like to listen to what they say when they first look over the edge.  Some of them are blase.  It looks too flat.  Or it isn't as colorful as the pictures.  Most of them are excited.  It's so big!  It's so colorful!  So massive!  So awesome.  Ginormous! Old tourist books describe people fainting or falling to their knees, but I haven't seen that.  Must be all this insensitivity resulting from exposure to mass media.

One woman asked me where the River was, and I told her at the bottom: it just can't be seen from the Village.

"Well, how did it get down there?"

"Strangest thing.  One day it was up on the Rim, and the next day it had just slipped down inside."

I suppose my most recent favorite was a young man who strolled up to the barrier with his young lady.  He shook his head in dismay.  "Man," quoth he, "They have a serious erosion problem here."