Flurry of snow falls around the camper. The massive improbability of Grand Canyon defies description; it is, I admit, grander than Yosemite Valley but I have never become intimate with it as I have the Valley. It is futile and pointless to compare them by objective measures or standards of beauty or awe induction; I fell in love with YV at first sight and have remained only an admirer of the Canyon. People who hope to preserve as much of Nature as possible often speak of the need for people to know and feel affection for places before they will care enough to help save them, and there’s truth in this although no predicting how much affection will be required to move people out of their habitual ways. How often is it only a weekend fling and then back to normalcy? I have wondered at the potential effects of all these new people—or not new but coming outside more frequently—whom I see in parks and campgrounds: will new bonding take place, will they remain true after Covid is no longer a great danger and other venues are open again? As above, will newly discovered or revivified affection convert them toward activism and altered values?
Photo by Jake Turner on Unsplash
