Devil's Garden
I don't know why they call it Devil's Garden. Maybe the devil has a good sense of humor or quirky taste in landscaping and I'm just not aware of it, but if I had to say this was anyone's garden, it would belong to Mr. Sillypants or someone lighthearted who loves kids.
Many of the formations we've seen in the Utah desert have been powerful, majestic, striking, even ominous at times. In contrast, these rocks appeared soft and rounded, often looking like the heated wax floating around in a lava lamp. The landscape was welcoming, friendly, playful -- very different from what I would expect to see in Satan's backyard.
We didn't have a specific agenda for this area other that to just explore and hang out, but the morning we were there, for some reason I woke up in a bad mood and was feeling cranky, negative, and a little sad. Unfortunately, the nearest human got the brunt of my sourness, and that of course was Brian. He wanted to go for a run and check out the garden and asked me to come along with him, but instead I sat in the camper feeling upset and sorry for myself.
I finally got myself motivated enough to go for a run just as he was coming back. After briefly crossing paths, I decided to follow the same route he took and ran down in the wash for a while.
Even though I was looking around, I wasn't really seeing much and I still couldn't shake the negative energy that was sitting stagnant within me. Typically when I go running, I stop somewhere I want to be my halfway point to stretch, do a bit of yoga, or maybe meditate for a while before I continue. This time I found a nice slab of rock to rest on.
I sat down and began to actually look around me and before I knew it, I was in tears. I'm not sure what came over me, but I suddenly realized how ridiculously privileged I must be that I could let myself get wrapped up in my own head to the point that I closed myself off (even temporarily) from appreciating the beauty that manifests itself in our surroundings and the people in our lives.
Humility is not a feeling I would think would be evoked while on the property of an evil spirit, but I was thankful to put things back into perspective once again. I ran back to apologize to Brian and give him a big hug, and we spent the rest of the day soaking in the sun and happily playing among the formations in the garden.
Many of the formations we've seen in the Utah desert have been powerful, majestic, striking, even ominous at times. In contrast, these rocks appeared soft and rounded, often looking like the heated wax floating around in a lava lamp. The landscape was welcoming, friendly, playful -- very different from what I would expect to see in Satan's backyard.
We didn't have a specific agenda for this area other that to just explore and hang out, but the morning we were there, for some reason I woke up in a bad mood and was feeling cranky, negative, and a little sad. Unfortunately, the nearest human got the brunt of my sourness, and that of course was Brian. He wanted to go for a run and check out the garden and asked me to come along with him, but instead I sat in the camper feeling upset and sorry for myself.
I finally got myself motivated enough to go for a run just as he was coming back. After briefly crossing paths, I decided to follow the same route he took and ran down in the wash for a while.
Even though I was looking around, I wasn't really seeing much and I still couldn't shake the negative energy that was sitting stagnant within me. Typically when I go running, I stop somewhere I want to be my halfway point to stretch, do a bit of yoga, or maybe meditate for a while before I continue. This time I found a nice slab of rock to rest on.
I sat down and began to actually look around me and before I knew it, I was in tears. I'm not sure what came over me, but I suddenly realized how ridiculously privileged I must be that I could let myself get wrapped up in my own head to the point that I closed myself off (even temporarily) from appreciating the beauty that manifests itself in our surroundings and the people in our lives.
Humility is not a feeling I would think would be evoked while on the property of an evil spirit, but I was thankful to put things back into perspective once again. I ran back to apologize to Brian and give him a big hug, and we spent the rest of the day soaking in the sun and happily playing among the formations in the garden.
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