I finished reading The Weasel's morbid book on the Grand Canyon, and strange as it may seem it has made me more determined than ever to go there and visit. Some of it may be hubris, pretending I am indeed smarter than some of the chuckleheads in said book ("Lookit me! Quick! Take a picture! Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!") but I think most of it is that it scared me, and being a phobic person from 'way back I have learned (the hard way, I assure you!) that the only way to conquer fear is to face it and not run away like the screaming coward I actually am. So now I am determined to go to the Grand Canyon and go rafting and muling and camping and the whole nine yards.

My husband and I have spent a great deal of our lives outside in varying conditions of comfort, and one thing we have learned (sometimes the hard way) is that We Are Not In Charge. Mother Nature is. Humans like to pretend we have a handle on things, but we really don't. Defy natural law and you might survive. Then again, you might not. Nothing personal, it's just the way it is.

People go out there armed to the teeth prepared to do battle with Mother Nature, or, even worse, do not give her the respect of noticing her existence. If you are lucky, she will likewise ignore you, or maybe smile condescendingly at you the way we might smile at a cornered mouse ("Aww, look at him, all hissy and puffed up! Isn't that cute!"). But if Mother Nature decides it's time to teach you a lesson, you have a fair chance to wind up dead. And NO, I am not being melodramatic here just to make a humorous point. You really, truly could wind up DEAD. D-E-A-D. It's only one syllable and four letters, so most of you should get that, okay?

It's something of a cliche in other countries for Americans to say "You can't do that to me! I'm an AMERICAN!" as if that will magically change your circumstances to a more privileged echelon. It's not just an American mindset, but a tendency of the entire human race. "You can't do that to me!" people shriek at Nature. "I'm not an animal! I'm a HUMAN BEING! I own a house! and a CAR! I have RIGHTS!" as if that really matters. What matters is, don't P.O. Mother Nature. If you do, you might live. Then again, you might not.

End of Mojo's lecture de jour.

Mojo