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BEAUTY IS NEVER
EASY TO FIND
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Challenges can be good for the soul. And my soul has
taken a bit of a beating since my early 20's, when I first met my wife.
She loves cities and architecture, I love natural beauty.
I first realized the conflict when I took her to Yosemite not long after we
met, and we gazed up at El Capitan.
"My God, that's beautiful," I marveled as I
studied the magnificent wall of granite. "Isn't that spectacular?"
She looked up for a few seconds and then looked away.
"It's nice," was her only response.
"NICE???" I bellowed. "That's all you've got?
Nice? "
She shrugged and walked away, dreaming of Paris.
We got married soon after, and the challenge was on. I
was determined to get a rise out of her when observing natural beauty. She
determined to get a rise out of me when observing a building. So far, we're
both losers.
That's why they call it a challenge, and neither one of
us is about to give up. It was my turn, so off we went last week to
Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. From what I heard, this would do the
trick.
We landed in Bozeman, Montana and rented a car for a
week's tour of majestic mountains, thermal springs, gushing geysers and
eye-popping vistas. Victory would soon be mine.
Entering Yellowstone at the Montana/Wyoming border, the
first obvious stop was where a ton of cars had pulled over and hordes of
people were walking on boardwalks on the hill above. It was Mammoth Hot
Springs, and I couldn't wait for my wife to gush over this natural
phenomenon.
Snore City. A bubbling puddle here, a bubbling puddle there.
Watching all the people walk from puddle to puddle, I could only think about
how the hordes are starved for entertainment. Unless you're a scientist, it
was not impressive.
"Now you understand how I feel," said my wife
when I commented on the boring puddles. "Some things just aren't that
exciting."
Yellowstone had some work to do. But I was sure the next stop
would get her adrenaline going. Yep, Old Faithful, a national treasure.
Surely that would be the trigger to her senses.
Surely not. We parked and walked through the jam-packed
souvenir stores, the jam-packed restaurant, and the jam-packed Old Faithful
Hotel to reach the viewing area.
"They won't let us get too close," I said as we
grabbed a seat on the bench and waited for the geyser to erupt. "This
should be quite the show."
Old Faithful could use a little youth. After a 90 minute wait,
it sputtered to life and shot some water and steam about 30 measly feet in
the air. A minute later, it was done.
"That's it?" asked my wife, clearly unimpressed.
"I think I'm done with geysers."
I couldn't disagree. Old Faithful had really let me down. There
wasn't even an Oooh or an Awww from the hordes. No one seemed impressed. The
challenge to get a rise out of my wife was not going well.
"You're going to have to step it up," she said,
relishing the fact that I was as unimpressed as her. "A couple more Old
Faithfuls and you're going to start enjoying cities."
Never. I had a whole week in Montana and Wyoming to find
something. And I think I had it---the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. No
thermal fields, no geysers. The guidebook said this time we'd have
waterfalls and gorges---right up my alley.
We parked and walked down a two mile path to a viewing area.
You have to work to find beauty. We could hear the water roaring as we
neared our destination. Tourists trudging back up the path nodded their
appreciation. This could be it.
Sure enough, it was absolutely spectacular. The viewing area
sat atop a majestic and massive waterfall that cascaded hundreds of feet
into a gorge that was ringed for miles with rugged yellow stone that steeply
rose from the river and bounced the sun off its walls.
"How beautiful is that?" I asked, hoping that she
would absolutely crumble from the beauty of the vista.
She spent some time viewing the entire scene, and finally
turned to me. "It's very nice," she responded.
"Nice" to "VERY nice." After 45 years, I
call that progress.
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