"One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star." ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

It was a long day in Coyote Buttes, of the Vermilion Cliffs / Paria Canyon Wilderness. After hiking in at dawn to a geological feature only known as "The Wave", and being on location all day till mid-evening, I had many alone times during the day to consider myself against this glorious landscape of erosion. You see only through time, exposure, and massive upheavals of its foundation could this landscape not only be born, but age with increasing beauty as the world around it showers its weathered experience upon it. And then in this consideration of nature I turned inward, as I often do. I started to wonder about my own self-erosion through time, exposure, and the massive upheavals of my life -- would the weathering of my character and soul age so gracefully and beautifully as this landscape I stand upon?

As I packed up my equipment in the moonlit starry sky, I stopped one last time and captured this image as a capstone of my experience here. Perhaps someday I will truly understand my own self, but for now I will accept my marveling at the stars, which seem so much closer.