June 30, 2009, 2:26 pm
The depths of the Grand Canyon. The graceful sandstone arches of southern Utah. The grizzly bears of Glacier National Park. Half Dome towering over the Yosemite valley. The rolling blue hills of the Shenandoah. The haunted swamps of the Everglades. The bubbling pots and steamy geysers of Yellowstone.
These are some of the iconic images that often come to mind when a person thinks about the majesty of the United States' national park system.
But the 58 national parks are more than just spots on a map, pictures in a photo album or places we one day hope to visit. They are the embodiment of the American spirit -- its freedom, its democracy and its history.
But even deeper than that, the national parks are places where we connect with nature, our families and friends and our own deep longing for self-knowledge and transformation.
''In 1959, my dad had taken us on our first and only road trip together to Shenandoah National Park," said Ken Burns, during an interview with the Reformer.
At the time, said Burns, his mother was dying of cancer.
His father "was not a very good dad," admitted Burns, but the memory of the trip and the emotions it evoked were stored away, waiting for the day they would arise and be recognized for the influence they had on his life.
''I wanted to recapture something I had forgotten," he said.
