One Year RV'ing: When Ugly Becomes Beautiful

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” my dad often used to say.

This memory of one of my dad’s many wise sayings and observations popped up in my mind as we started driving through Arizona. What is also true though is that first glance is not a dependable and fair judge of beauty.

First glance can actually be extremely deceiving, especially when it comes to people.

It brings a measure of emotional and mental order to our thinking by sizing people up and putting them in a box in our minds, which offers us parameters within which to think about and treat that person. It brings order to our deep need to control but could be very wrong.

Such was the case when we drove into Arizona a couple of days ago. It was not about the people, since we hadn’t met any locals yet, but about the landscape. What a shock for a Southern Californian who grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, with the ocean, majestic mountains, and, yes, green.

I didn’t see the green here in Arizona, not at first. All I could think of was how unwelcoming these cacti were with their thorns and the weird pride with which they dominate the setting of the land. I could almost hear them say, “You are in my territory now, and I rule, like it or not!” Fascinating to no end, these earth-growths that look like wannabe trees. Looks like they desperately want to be trees but are not very successful at it.

As we continued driving, I made peace with the scenery and studied the flora of this “country western” state, and it became more and more beautiful to me. In the midst of extreme temperatures these plant-creatures not only survive, but also thrive, enduring harsh conditions over long periods of time. Some of them look old, really old, even injured with what looks like holes and cuts. But on the inside of these beasts is a mechanism that works: a system that stands strong and does not let itself die easily. This is truly remarkable, ingenious, and more than amazing for me to even imagine.

We are enjoying the rock formations, sunrises, sunsets, hikes, night skies, and natural beauty of this place for a couple of days, and it truly leaves us awestruck. Even these dry riverbeds tell of a time when rushing waters used to flow in it. That leaves me wondering whether water will ever come back to those river-ready landscapes again. I think it might, why not?

In the meantime, the wonder of the oldest cactus to the patches of the newest little yellow robust daisy-like flowers everywhere is beautiful in the eyes of this beholder. I looked just long enough for the judgment to dissipate and the miracle of this stunning landscape to capture my heart.

The beauty of southern Arizona almost passed me by, but I’m glad it didn’t. It leaves me wondering how many beautiful people passed me by because of wrong first glance judgments. I don’t want to have an “I’m just passing through” mentality, not in Arizona’s desert and not with people.

There truly is unspeakable beauty only to be experienced when you look longer than a second, when you take a moment to consider the backstory.

It takes time to see true beauty enhanced by a story not initially observed. Who doesn’t love a good backstory? Everybody does, at least most people do, but we often don’t linger long enough to hear or see it. I pray that God help me to see the backstory, not only for my own intrigue but also to the credit of the person.

So the journey continues, my friends! Every day has beauty, so don’t judge too quickly or harshly. Give time and grace and you’ll see it! God has, and still does, make everything beautiful in His time.

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Photos: Arizona in April