A Middle Eastern Woman Encounters Holly

I camped the night in Bryce Canyon, ten feet from an overlook where I watched the sun set over many miles of redish-orange hoodoos, the naturally sculpted rock formations. I awoke in the middle of the night to yelling and cussing and people near my tent, only to learn that I had accidentally set up camp in someone else’s reserved spot … opps!

The next day on my way out of the park I stopped at one last overlook. As I was walking down the hill admiring the scenery I came upon a Middle Eastern family. The older woman, probably in her 50’s with a very noticeable maternal nature to her, was photographing her daughter who was in her early 20’s, about the same age as me. The daughter was posing for the photograph like she was going to jump off the edge of the cliff. As I walked up chuckling at the scene, the woman looked at me and said "I wonder if anyone has ever really jumped from here?" I said, "Probably lots!" She looked at me inquisitively so I said, "Well if you were gonna jump, this would be a GOOD place to do it!" The woman was taken aback by my comment and not sure how to respond. She looked very concerned and like she wanted to ask me if I was feeling suicidal, but knew that broke some social norms. I smiled inwardly at her reaction and continued down another 10 feet to take pictures. The family was ready to leave and I could tell that this woman did not want to leave me down there alone, for fear I would jump. They left anyways and I continued on as before. When I was done I headed back up the path where I encountered the family again. When the woman turned and saw me, a look of relief spread across her face. She smiled, I smiled and life went on.