Havasu

     In this week's class, we discussed Havasu, a chronology of Abbey's journeys through a deep part of the Grand Canyon, complete with turquoise waters, picturesque views, and intense solitude. Upon my first reading, I laughed at the simplicity with which Abbey described big decisions and big ideas; for example, "So I went down into Havasu—fourteen miles by trail—and looked things over. When I returned five weeks later I discovered that the others had gone on to Los Angeles without me" (72). Abbey seems to view life with a simplicity, without care for time and space. The time seems to have placed in the blink of an eye, or rather within one sentence. His time in the canyon, however, was anything but brief and uneventful. The first portion of the passage that stuck out to me was the following: 

"I’m not sure that I care for the idea of strangers examining my daily habits and folkways, studying my language, inspecting my costume, questioning me about my religion, classifying my artifacts, investigating my sexual rites and evaluating my chances for cultural survival" (74).

I have enjoyed seeing Abbey employ satire and verbal irony to make a political statement; in the case of the above quote, Abbey seems to be commenting on our tendency to do the exact same things to tribes around the nation throughout history. Although Abbey does not label himself as someone who makes political statements,  as we saw in his video during class today, he does seem to sneakily find ways to throw his beliefs into his works.

    In continuing with his tendency towards simplicity and slowness, I enjoyed the leisure with which Abbey approached life in the canyon, as he mentions time alone crying, walking, listening to the voices of nature, and reflecting on his own life. I was reminded of the show "Alone", in which individuals attempt to live in nature for as long as they can by themselves. While some descend into madness, others experience a clarity that cannot be replicated in the modern world. It was fascinating how quickly the clarity turned to panic as Abbey found himself trapped in the water structure. Amidst the fear and after emerging, I stumbled upon one of my favorite quotes we have read this semester: 

"Across that narrow opening a small white cloud was passing, so lovely and precious and delicate and forever inaccessible that it broke the heart and made me weep like a woman, like a child. In all my life I had never seen anything so beautiful"(80). 

Almost as when one sees a blue sky after weeks of rain, or rain after weeks of desolate heat, the simplicity of nature can surprise us. I was reminded of this photo- a view made beautiful by simple clouds and nature uninterrupted.

Breckenridge, Colorado (2022)