On Sheep and Taking Liberties

 In the midst of our work we do have time for fun. Saturday (the  8th) morning by 0715 there were 4 of us heading out in our muddy little Nissan Titan. Two hours, a stop for gas and for McDonalds later we reached our destination. Several handshakes and name exchanges later, there were 20 of us girls heading down the trail into the canyon. The trip down consisted of polite chatting and a stop in a small cave to sing a song. Extreme brakes were needed at some points as the downward clime usually pushed you into a run. At the bottom, the white ruins on the side of the canyon wall awaited us but after a few glances and exclamations the river was the main focal point and the occasional jeep splashing thru it was a favorite topic of conversation. After a few minutes of splashing and shrieking and bemoaning the fact that we had to hike back up, we started climbing for the top and thinking about what awaited us up there. Food. Or that's what kept me going anyways. And the thought of cold water to drink. The hike back up, tho hot and tiring, only took us about 15-20 more minutes than the run down which had been about half an hour. So for those of you who have forgotten what you learned in school, that was about 47 minutes of glancing longingly toward the top of the cliff and exclaiming every few minutes how out of shape you are and vowing to get into better shape after this. Actually I'm not sure if those last 2 statements are true. They just seem like they fit. I guess I'm taking liberties to put thoughts into peoples' minds that may or may not have ever been there. Anyways we all reached the top eventually and performed our search for water which we found with the help of some vehicle keys and also L whose familiar face I was happy to see. Soon we loaded up the vehicles again and headed for the most important part of this whole deal (for me). Lunch. After devouring our food and after a few impatient time checks on my part, we stepped into our truck and headed for home where we arrived by about 1430. The few who were left at home were happy to relinquish their duties to us for awhile and have a much needed break.
 Back in the good old days people used to grow peaches and sheep in the canyon. Ok so technically you don't grow sheep but I think the sheep did grow down there except maybe they worked off all the food they ate climbing the path up afterwards. Also the little holes in the ground aren't made by ants like they look like they would be and seem like they would be with all the ants crawling around them. They're made by locusts. Don't ask me the full story cuz I can't tell you cuz I don't know it but when the locusts come out of those holes they go into the trees to dry off. Or something like that. Yeah I know. Those comments were brilliant and enlightening. You are welcome.
 As you may have guessed, the meeting and being with many new people was not the highlight of my day.