People Who Get Out of Their Cars

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I completed one of the longest hikes at Red Rock NCA on Saturday morning. For the last mile or so of the hike, rather than take the trail that parallels the road, my friend and I walked along the road. Suddenly, he turned around and shook my hand, thanking me for being one of those people who get out of their cars. It kind of took me back.

Truly, lots of people see only that part of life they can see without getting off the couch or out of their car. I remember going around a car so as to get out of the way of a woman snapping pictures through her window and seeing at least one woman snapping pictures with her iPAD. At the final parking area, we noticed lots of folks debark their cars, take a few steps down a trail, but only as far as it was clear that men had encroached on nature, before they turned back to the climate controlled comfort of their cars. It was 67F in the park at the time.

As a consequence of this attachment, very few people see or experience some of the things I do. Frequently, people will look at my pictures, declare their interest to see what I have seen in vivo, and then not actually show up because it requires a hike or a drive or some money. It's a little unfortunate because there's more to life than being among the living.

I realize some people can't get out of their cars. I realize some people have to drive their cars a long way to see some of the scenic beauty that's essentially out my back door. What I find kind of silly is how many people who come to Vegas and stay in Vegas, when the beauty of the desert and its historic relevance can be easily seen by renting a car and driving an hour. Even two years ago when I went to Boston, because I rented a car and stayed outside of town I was able to see Cape Cod, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Salem, Lexington, and lots of pretty countryside, and the car rental and gas cost me the same as I saved by staying in a hotel outside Boston Proper.

There are many great things one can do at home. I consider raising and rearing children to be the noblest profession and greatest endeavor in which a person can invest his time. Beyond that, as children quickly discover, there is much to please the eye and gladden the heart. Some of my best photos and fondest memories and greatest discoveries have been because I was in the right place at the right time. I have seen things other people will not, because some of the places I have been no longer exist. I have experienced things other people have not, because I have met people who no longer live and gone places others will not go. Maybe in some ways I'm timid, but because I have gone today where others will not, I have experienced things others never can.

I thank my parents, who encouraged us to get out of the car and off the couch, for many of the things I have been able to do. For all of you who also get out of your cars, it's a pleasure. For the rest, I hope I don't appear in your pictures or videos. I don't go to Red Rock so that people can post it to YouTube. I go there to reconnect with nature and to measure my individual health, and sometimes I get to share my discoveries with those who come along. For that, you'll have to get out of your car.