An Update from The Grand Canyon

Dear Mom,

Today we are visiting the Grand Canyon. It looks so much bigger than I expected! The views are breathtaking. It’s also breathtaking because I stood too close to the edge, and now I’m free falling toward the canyon floor, and that whole situation is making it hard to breathe. On the bright side though, the canyon is huge, so I finally have some free-time (or free-fall-time lol :P) to update you on how my trip is going!

I’ll start with this morning: we woke up while it was still dark, hoping to catch sunrise from the canyon crest. The air was cool and still, and the sky was clear while we took turns eating from a Family Size box of Cheerios. The earth’s hush felt meticulously curated, like a movie set during an off day. First, a purple hue crept over the horizon. Then beneath the purple, there was green, then pink, then blue. Then I fell while trying to take a selfie with all that pretty stuff. That’s actually why I’m falling now. It was gonna be a really cool selfie because I was hoping to capture the calm aura of everything, but I took the photo right after losing my footing. I look more panicked than calm lol. I’ll still attach it though because it’s at least a pretty good action shot.

Wow! The sunrise just happened! I never realized how it all happens in an instant. Before, there was just a bright sky reflecting the light of an impending sun. Then bam!!! The sun exploded over the horizon like a prairie dog ready to scurry across a field, or like a young tourist rapidly plunging toward solid rock. Before, the lighting was subdued. Now, in an instant, I hear a stream and birds, and I see bugs, and I feel the wind on my face as I plummet to my death.

So that’s this morning. Overall though, the trip has been really fun! Yesterday, Teddy accidentally sat on a cactus, which was hilarious. And then Theo asked ‘how’s your cact-tush?’ Maybe you had to be there, but we laughed for a really long time.

If you see Theo before I do, can you find out if he made a silly joke before I fell? The only okay one I could think of was ‘catch you on the down low’, but I bet he came up with something way more killer—sorta like the rocks I’m eventually gonna smush onto. ‘Cact-tush’ was just so priceless. You can ask him at the funeral. I sorta like ‘catch you on the down low’ though because nobody will catch me, and then I’ll be a canyon pancake. Anyway, in case you were wondering, I’m still falling.

Tell dad I say hi! Wow, I just passed a really gorgeous bird! I wonder what kind it is…

Okay I googled it, and it looks most like a southwest willow flycatcher. Gorgeous. I’m sure I’ll be seeing much more of them, especially if they’re scavengers. Although a quick glance at the National Park Service website says they mainly eat bugs, so maybe they won’t eat me, but they’ll be around to eat the bugs that eat me! Not sure how that works. I’ll do more research and get back to you.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll follow up before I become bug food if I think of any other funny anecdotes from the trip so far.

Love,

Edward

Sent from my iPhone