Deep time has been recognized and made visible in only the last 200 years or so and we begin to see a story and our place in it. The story is written on the land and in the sky in a once unknown language. As we learn it, we are transported briefly back in time. It becomes part of us and changes us – it was not written by humans. The lichen that are near constant companions beneath our feet have been on earth for 500 million years. A bacteria and an algae; plant and animal are living together to their mutual benefit. They are doing something right to be around that long. The Navajo sandstone that forms much of this unique landscape was sand dunes 200 million years ago, back when the continents were in very different places and dinosaurs walked the land. I am 66 – just a kid. The land and its stories can teach us much about ourselves.