Brandon portrait
  • Expedition: Apr 3-8, 2016
  • Brandon
  • Kingsburg High School
  • Yosemite National Park: Hetch Hetchy

4/6/16

Giants
Watching.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Seeing.
Watching.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Seeing.
Watching.
Waiting.
Seeing.
Tumbling.
Cracking.
Peeling.
Ending.

Brandon Bridge

Foreword:
Sometimes a feeling is felt.
A feeling of certainty.
A certainty that we are small.
That we mean nothing in the face of the universe.
And that feeling is truth.

Simply looking up at these massive trees, many of which predate me by centuries makes me realize just how little I mean. And by that I don't mean that I lack a feeling of self-worth, I mean that in terms of our planet as a whole, continents as a whole, countries as a whole, cities, houses, everything. Without me, the world would go on as it has for millions upon millions of years. But as I look out at this river, these trees, these insects, and countless other wildlife, I realize that I am utterly insignificant to all that surrounds me. Without these trees, uncountable ecosystems undergo their own apocalypse. And we see this not only here in Yosemite, but worldwide: South America's rainforests are a hot spot with wildlife conservationists and will remain so likely forever. So many species are dying because of us and our incredibly self-serving societies. It is incredulous to me that people are unable to or refuse to realize that what is around us is utterly, unexplainably beautiful. And that beauty is dying out. Because of us. That just destroys me, makes me feel helpless in the face of God's work. Watching others just ruin His creation tears me apart, and also vindicates me on a personal level as well as a spiritual one when I have been to that particular place and appreciated it and loved it. It just amazes me how awful some people can get and how these havens of nature are afforded little to no protections except here in the U.S. I can't properly explain the feeling that resides in the pit of my stomach when I see news of some other relic of nature or even man=made relics being destroyed with purpose. It never ceases to amaze me how little we take these mountains, these forests, everything that surrounds us as being something profound, never to happen again. Looking once more to these monoliths of nature, towering temples of stone, I take a huge step back all the way to the very creation of our known universe with the Big Bang; the fact that I'm sitting or standing here writing about them, their very existence, is so far beyond profound that I will not and indeed cannot explain its profundity or even attempt to do so. No one in history ever has or indeed ever will fully appreciate what we were born into. And that is simply something we all have to live with, unfortunately for us and for the things some strive to get a true, valid perspective of. 'Tis simply in our nature, to not appreciate nor understand nature.

Brandon Rest
Brandon Henry
Brandon Dining Hall
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