Terrifying Beauty

When you go on vacation, you don’t expect to feel afraid—or at least I didn’t. Then I went to Colorado.

For a moment, the usual banter in the Toyota halted, my mouth dropped open, and we just looked. What I saw was beauty, a terrible beauty, and I was afraid. We were in no danger of going over the edge, but I could feel the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I was in the presence of overpowering grandeur and have never felt smaller or more vulnerable.