Ecocomposition and Self-reflection: Overlooking the City

A reflection of the same area, with positive and negative views.

Looking out, watching the city. The city is just waking up. No one can tell I’m here, right below the illuminated Dixie rock. The red rock sits still and beautiful. It doesn’t glisten like a diamond, but it stands strong, obviously meant for some big purpose. I stumble across a rock that seems out of place. Princess Ariel has misplaced her ocean rock, somehow it has found its way to southern Utah. I lay upon it as a mermaid sticking her head out of the ocean would. I chuckle with delight. As I look around I realize that the plants, small and large, wave in the wind. Its as though they wish all travelers a safe passage.

Exploration is all around. Every direction I turn I find something new. Climbing the different rock structures makes me feel like I’m an explorer. I sit atop and look in all directions. Red rock and a gentle breeze entice me to leave the city behind. I take a sip of water and abide by nature’s wish. Scaling the rocks has never been my forte, but these rocks want you to climb them, to experience being at one with nature. I do my best to let other thoughts leave my mind and enjoy this simple pleasure. I look around for wildlife but see none. After venturing here often I hear a group of birds in one of the dark taverns. One of them comes to say hello. What an interesting start to the day!

I embark on a trudging journey in the wee hours of the morning. Thank heavens it’s not summer yet or I would have died of heatstroke. Apparently a misplaced water bottle while hiking is not a good idea. The idea of an early morning hike had initially been pleasing. However, it was awful. The brisk air hitting the face and the lack of animal life made it lonesome. Usually the rock has a few adventurers early in the morning, but I suppose others received a memo to stay home because Mother Nature was not feeling particularly kind that day. I don’t know why I didn’t receive the message.

Upon arrival the rock looked more menacing than normal. And yet it beckoned me. Of course, it being Saturday morning meant I had to walk through wrappers and trash left by party-goers from the night before. Luckily it was just some Iceberg cups and spoons this time. As I started to climb, my hand started to itch. I didn’t pay attention to it. I walked across the top of a boulder, only tripping once, and made it to the bridge. How this bridge stays intact with how much foot traffic it gets I’ll never know, I thought to myself as I crossed it. Looking out over the city is usually a beautiful city, after looking past the air and light pollution, of course. That day it was all I could notice, although it wasn’t more than normal. After climbing down I wandered over to other rock structures. Usually a scrape or two comes when I visit Dixie Rock, but others are not so lucky. Gashes and bruises are common when climbing at Dixie Rock.

I have gone out to Dixie Rock several times since moving here; it is one of my ‘happy’ places. Sometimes I go there to think but other times I go out there with friends. I notice the good and the bad while I am out there. This was an interesting project because it did help me to think about what else was out there, to consider more how the animals feel and react to humans visiting their territory.

My word choice was interesting. I was not sure what approach I was going to take. However, techniques I have learned in my creative writing class came in handy. I was able to portray a true story from differing perspectives, which I think can be really powerful.

I had previously done a report on the reserve for the tortoises housed by Dixie Rock, which was purely scientific. My first hike there was simply to gather information and pictures. While there my friend saw a cup from Iceberg lying on its side. Half of a blueberry milkshake was still inside, another portion had oozed out and become one with the desert floor. He snapped a photo of it. That photo has stuck with me ever since and has influenced me to always care about nature and to not invade spaces that are set aside for the animals and to respect all living creature, no matter how small.

I think that it is interesting how my sentence structures differ. In the positive portion I have short, concise thoughts and sentences, but for the negative my sentences are longer and more drawn out. I think that, generally, happiness can be portrayed effectively with few words but negativity and sadness may need more description for the reader to understand the emotion that the writer is trying to convey.