Hushed voices speak
Spirits walk within the walls
Echoing footsteps
This is what I wrote after my first day at Chaco Canyon. When I walked up to Pueblo Bonito, I could almost hear the bustle and rush of the Chacoans some 1,000 years ago. Walking inside the rooms, I got an unearthly feeling of being watched, but I somehow knew that whoever was watching respected us in some way. In every poem, in every drawing, I tried to convey how beautiful and mysterious Chaco Canyon and its people are. The entire time at Chaco I felt as if I was in a dream, an adventure that you might see in a movie. The experiences were ones that you think might only happen to other people. But this dream was real, and the experiences happened to me. I connected with the girls there because we were all selected with several criteria in mind: a love for photography, history, archeology, and learning. It was not just the buildings and the people that I was inspired by and loved. The history was touching and the geography was beautiful. I almost lived the history in that week I was at Chaco. I could see the people, I could smell the food, and, most of all, I could imagine them as a society, a group of people that worked together, became a solidified community and then, started to collapse. When Dr. David Stuart of University of New Mexico came to talk, he discussed how the Chacoans’ issues were so like our issues of today. I thought that this was very interesting. When we got up early to go see the solstice at Casa Rincanada, the lighting was beautiful at Fajada Butte. Worn away by the elements, the walls of Chaco Canyon were rugged in some spots and slippery smooth in others. Ancient petroglyphs, carved into the smooth stone, told a story that no one knows how to read. And, together, we all captured our impressions in photographs that we shared on the website we all put together.
Because this was a Girl Scout Destination, I got to experience all this with other girls from all over the United States. It was amazing how quickly we all seemed to get to know each other. We laughed and sang silly songs together as we rode in the car and hiked through the canyon. We played cards together and exchanged SWAPS at camp. We talked about our families and friends and knew, all the while, that we were making new friends that would last a lifetime.
The places I went, the things I did, and people I met, I will never forget.
From the places I went, I take memories
From the things I did, I take experience
From the people I met, I take friendship
From the trip, I take courage character and confidence.
From Girl Scouts, I take all of these things
Click here to learn more about Destinations!
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