people vs rocks

next time i start complaining about my line of work, please just roll your eyes indulgently (as if you don't already) and remind me, 'grand canyon, bitch!' i've been to some awe-inspiring and unique places in the world, but some of the surreal landscapes gracing northern arizona and southern utah are enough to make you wanna start a geology PhD in mormon country (horrors!). but look:

lower antelope canyon, arizona

zion, utah

bryce canyon, utah

descending from the north rim to the inner gorge, grand canyon

colorado river, on the ascent to the south rim, grand canyon

as i left utah wednesday morning, i stopped to put gas in the car and get orange juice in a small town north of bryce canyon, called panguitch. the gas station owner, a tall, white-moustachioed fellow in his late 50s or so, asked me how i was doing that morning. 'great!' i said (in an uncharacteristically chipper tone of voice for that early in the morning), 'how are you?' he said oh, he was just fine, and then peered out at my car, and i wondered just how racist he might be, or how much he might hate big-city jerk tourists, or how much he might loathe volvo drivers. then he said, 'maybe you can help me with a little poll i'm taking. would you mind if i asked who you'll be voting for in november?'

oh. huh? 'obama,' i said immediately, wondering what he'd have to say about that. 'you know,' he said, 'not one person i've polled has told me they're voting for a republican candidate. i'm voting for obama, too. surprises you, doesn't it?' he grinned. i beamed back at him and said it did surprise me. i asked him how long he'd been taking the poll and he told me two months. he asks every single person who walks in, unless they're from utah, because, 'as you can guess, people around here vote pretty...predictably.' he then told me that one 74-year-old woman he'd asked had told him she was voting for obama because the war was horrible and incomprehensible and though she (like this gas station owner) had been a lifelong republican, she just couldn't abide the damage they'd already done. well, that gave me something to muse over as i plowed through utah. you really have to assume people are going to be better than you think they are. of course, then i walked out of the gas station with a little smile on my face and had a middle-aged woman give me the disapproving up-and-down once-over. people! they make it hard to assume the best sometimes.

rocks, on the other hand...