Watching the Sunrise

I once woke up in a remote location in a state known as Utah. It was still dark out but off to the east there was a sliver of light between the red of the earth (obviously looking very black at the moment) and the blanket of stars above. There was a bubble slowly growing in the center of that sliver. As more an more light flooded the horizon the colors started to reveal themselves across the landscape. The sky started shifting from a black to a dark blue. A slight wind provides an early morning cleansing of the air and faint chill as I’m stretching out the kinks from sleeping on terra.

Where exactly was I? A little known area called Pariah Canyon. I’d be willing to bet very few Americans actually have any knowledge of this place. But there are a lot of Germans who seem to know a lot about it. See this canyon is part of our protected lands thanks to the BLM, as well it should. However in order to hike there it requires a permit. That permit can take upwards of two years once you get on the waiting list. They limit the number of people allowed in in a day. This keeps the area secluded and you’ve highly unlikely to run into too many people while you’re there. It’s very serene.

I did the hike with my mom and my sister a couple of years ago. We camped out and did the hike the next morning. I like roughing it with my sister, she’s got the ultimate camping cookery. After a nice breakfast of eggs with salsa and cheese we set off with snacks and water to hike. Of course like most things that you do, you try to plan ahead, but sometimes you don’t think. The hike itself ends up being really long in order to reach the really cool destination. Getting there is a majority of the battle. It goes through washes, brush, sands, and rock formations. It’s like being on another planet.

Once you get to the end of the hike you’re in a red stripped rock wash. It’s ripped and curled and is sorta like a red rock version of a candy room at the Willy Wonka factory. Most of the people we came across while taking pictures around the red waves of rock were from Germany. Most of the people we came across during the hike were also from Germany. Thus that’s why I figure more Germans probably know about Pariah than Americans.

This is the memory that was triggered when I heard Shannon’s song Sunrise. I made a crazy connection to the first line and the sun being the perspective of singer. That perspective shifts once the song kicks in. Shannon has a nice soothing mellow feel going on here in this song. In a way I get the impression that it could be a sort of lullaby. I can understand why she gets compared to Sarah McLachlan but not to Tori Amos. However, I don’t have extensive knowledge on all her music yet.

I figured you’d need a quick break from all the Christmas music and hustle and bustle. This did the trick for me. Buy it and get that same break whenever you need it.