A to the Z

As I said in my last post, I spent Thanksgiving and today at the Grand Canyon, which has been a very relaxing break. Well, once I figured out where to go to avoid some of the crowds. I've had the pleasure of going to a handful of National Parks on this trip, and I have to say that the people here are the most aggressive viewers of nature I've ever encountered. Which is scary, because there's not a giant guardrail all the way around the rim of the Canyon. It seems like a lot of people come just to get a picture, and God help anyone standing in their way. So it was hard to find a spot to sit and look at it and just take it in. But the Canyon itself is so spectacular, and I even caught the sunrise this morning, which was...wow. I took some photos, but I feel like it's one of those "you had to be there" things, so that's all I'll say about that. Tomorrow I'm hitting the road for the two-day drive to Austin, where I'm going to be staying with my brother Mike.

My 10 days in Arizona have been the most challenging and the most rewarding of this entire trip. I've had a great time, but it hasn't been all sunshine and retirement. It's been a week of hilarious pranks, deaths in the family, serving the poor, recurring cancer, timeless romance, eating disorders, and of course, football highs and lows...In the past week, I've interviewed twelve people, four of whom broke down crying while telling me about things they've suffered in their lives. I even cried during one interview. Bob Horn ('60, '63) basically relived the day his son drowned 30 years ago, then described how that's affected his entire life. The story was so horrific, and so unexpected, I just sat there holding the mic with my mouth open and tears rolling down my cheeks. Bob pretty much kept it together, and the interview kept going just fine. I know that's not very professional, and I don't intend to make a habit of it, but when someone is telling a story like that, I'm not really sure that being professional should be my most important concern. Most of the people I'm interviewing, especially lately, are people I've gotten to know and genuinely like. I've gone to lunch with them, stayed at their houses, hung out with their families, etc. Because of the eat, sleep and breathe nature of this project, sometimes it's hard for me to be detached from my subjects. And I know that might sound cold, and I'm not trying to say I would rather not be friends with them—I've gotten so much out of knowing the people I've met on this trip, and they've gotten to know me, too. But it can be confusing to interview friends, and often I feel like I'm walking a fine line with that.

So it feels good to get away for awhile and have some time to myself to decompress, and think, and be outside, and watch some of the CSI: Miami marathon on A&E. I just learned that bath salts conduct electricity more efficiently than if you just take a regular bath and then drop the toaster in. It's a good show, but someone needs to tell David Caruso to quit taking his sunglasses off in what he apparently thinks is a bad-ass manner. Trust me, dude, it's not.