Rising from the Plains

As I move closer to the end of the dizzyingly quick years allotted for a lifetime on this planet, it is comforting to let McPhee's exquisite storytelling place that lifetime in a context comprised of millions and millions of years of slowness.

I read this as we travelled up from Scottsdale through Flagstaff, by the Grand Canyon (we did stop to gawk), through Monument Valley and the Valley of the Gods, over the pass at Butte as it snowed (roads to Yellowstone were closed because of snow), and I finished it today as we drove around the edges of the Black Hills (Theodore Roosevelt National Park). A perfect read for a rather glorious car trip.