Day 3: Where the Heart Reaches

​“The heart has its own memory, and I have forgotten nothing.” — Albert Camus

There are days at STEAM in the PARK that are full from beginning to end. Full of learning. Full of laughter. Full of places so beautiful you almost don't know where to look first. Today was one of those days.

We began with Ambassador Becky and a beautiful SEL lesson called Heart of a Leaf. Campers looked closely at the veins of a leaf and thought about the way everything branches from the center. People. Places. Memories. Challenges. Joy. Courage. The things that shape us and the things that help us grow. It was one of those simple lessons that quietly becomes something much bigger. Every feeling connects to the heart, and our hearts are what help us grow.

Then it was time to learn more about this incredible place with Rangers Julie and Claudia and Solar System Intern Rachel. We talked about Bryce Canyon, asked questions, and got to look at the sun through solar scopes. THE SUN! There is something pretty amazing about watching a group of educators lean in, look through a scope, and suddenly become students again. Curiosity doesn't have an age limit. Wonder doesn't either.

Our Shadow Catchers activity had campers drawing with the sun. They found plants, flowers, and branches casting interesting shadows and used colored pencils to capture the shapes created by light. The breeze moved. The sun shifted. The shadows changed. And instead of fighting it, we let those changes become part of the art. For a moment, the sun and Bryce Canyon and a group of campers made art together.

Then we became landscape forensic teams for our Hoodoo Forensics Lab. Bryce Canyon is always changing, and our campers had to look for the evidence. Observe. Find evidence. Predict. Protect. We looked at the landscape differently, not simply as something beautiful, but as a story still being written by weather, water, ice, and time. The hoodoos we see today will not always look the way they do right now. That makes standing among them feel even more special.

Free time sent campers in every direction. Some explored Rainbow Point. Others headed to Bryce Point and Inspiration Point. Some of our brave campers did hard things and walked down into the amphitheater for the very first time. They pushed past the part of themselves saying, I don't know if I can do this, and discovered that maybe they could. Others found their way to Mossy Cave and played in the waterfalls. There were wet clothes, tired legs, big smiles, and stories coming back into the room from all over Bryce Canyon.

Tonight, we slowed things down with our amazing Nature Prints project. There is something wonderful about watching people create with pieces of the natural world as their inspiration. We watched National Parks Adventure, and then our campers did what they do best. They took everything they had seen, felt, questioned, and wondered about and began creating lessons for Bryce Canyon. Lessons that will eventually reach students far beyond this park. That part never gets old for me. Thirty people experience a place, and then they turn around and find ways to open the door for thousands of kids to experience it too.

And then we came back to the room.

Steve walked in and told me our little Linc had an accident today. He slammed his hand in a door and lost the tip of his pinkie. He is hurting and very sad tonight. Steve didn't tell me when it happened because I was leading the group. He knew I would fall apart. And he was probably right.

I know, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't a huge accident. Linc will be okay. But these things always hit me hard during the summer. We spend our summers away from the people who mean more to me than anything in this world. We believe deeply in this work. We love these campers. We love these parks. We know the impact of what happens here. But my heart is also at home.

Tonight, Heart of a Leaf feels a little more personal than it did this morning. The people we love branch out from the center of us. They travel with us even when they aren't standing beside us. And sometimes one little branch hurts, and you feel it all the way back in your heart.

I am so thankful our family loves each other fiercely. I am thankful they take care of each other when Mimi and Papa are miles away. I am thankful Linc will be okay. And I am thankful for Steve, who knew I needed to finish leading before he told me something that would send my heart straight back home.

So tonight, I am holding two things at once. A beautiful day at Bryce Canyon and a Mimi heart that wishes she could kiss and hug her little boys tonight. 

Here's hoping tomorrow is beautiful for our campers and a whole lot less stressful for our boys. Because every feeling connects to the heart. And tonight, mine is stretched all the way from Bryce Canyon to home.