postcard from zion

1/1/10 zion national park

on our first date, christa(my friend) and matt(brian's friend) sat across a carl's jr. table from brian and i. brian watched curiously as christa covered each individual french fry with a line of ketchup and a dusting of salt. christa watched curiously as brian held a western bacon cheeseburger between his work blackened hands.

back at her house later that night, christa made it her mission to clean the rough hands of this shy, sweet stranger. he assured her that all the soaking and scrubbing was a waste of energy,but she was determined. sure enough, his hands emerged from all the pampering as stained as they were when she started. there is only one week a year that brian's hands appear truly clean: the week between christmas and new years.

because his hands only get one grime-free week a year, we decided to make a mini family vacation out of our annual trip to utah. we slowed down and breathed in the ribboned sandstone cliffs of zion national park that we usually speed through on our way to another destination. the kids enjoyed dipping their fingers in the icy waters of the virgin river gorge, slipping and sliding on the snowy trails, and becoming official junior rangers at the park's visitor center. their mom enjoyed walking the beautiful park with an unusually clean hand wrapped around her own.