Little River Canyon Reserve, Ft. Payne, AL

A murder is what prompted my first visit to Little River Canyon over five years ago. As with any murder, this one was horrific, and should have never happened. I know the attorney that defended the murderer. She has since been pardoned. It borne a theory called the "battered wives syndrome".

I returned to Little River Canyon last weekend. Since my first visit, I have learned that Little River Canyon is I believe, the only canyon atop a mountain in the U.S.

My loving companion, the powder blue Altima, complained as I punched the gas to climb elevations that my BMW previously had no trouble with. It was a windy Sunday afternoon, and not a cloud in the sky. I needed to clear my head. I needed to be alone afterall. Can I count how many times I wanted to pull over and pick the breathtaking flowers in bloom? Those rocks! How beautiful they would be in a rock garden. Hmmm. Well, I will just tell you that the fact you are not allowed to take away from the reserve, made me want to that much more.

Ft. Payne is quite a small town. Famous for the country musicians in the group Alabama. I have also learned that there is some unbelieveably long yard sale that stretches across several states, which happens to wind through Ft. Payne. Small towns never cease to amaze me.

But, what is most impressive is this canyon. I have visited the sight of the murder several times. I actually get out of the car, and walk to the sight, and lose my balance slightly when I peer over the side of the canyon. It is one thing to read a book about a murder, or to watch a movie about one. Morbid curiousity, but because maybe some of us don't understand the how or the why's of it. Have you ever been that angry at somebody that you have thought terrible things? Yes you have. But, this....anger....was not the issue. The issue was about one human being controlling another one.

Would you ever allow that evil side of you appear? Most of us would hurridly say, "no! never! not me! " One thing I have discovered working in the practice of law, and understanding forensics, psychology and why folks do the things they do, is that many of those who have crossed the line NEVER ever imagined for a split second prior to the act, they could or would ever do such thing. Guess what. Sometimes people are wrong about themselves and who they are or what they could or would do.

What if you were brainwashed by somebody who you believed would kill you, if you didn't do what they told you to do? These are some of the thoughts I have atop the canyon.

So, why do I go there, you ask? Well....quite a few reasons. To this day, I still don't know what I would have done had I been there at the moment of the murder. I think I know that I would have said, "Bring it on, chum. Walk the walk, buddy." I wouldn't believe the sob. I don't allow too many people to get close to me emotionally, perhaps the lack of trust in the world has prompted this. My mother calls me jaded.

The irony of it all is that the place, the REFUGE, is one of astonishing beauty. When I am up at the canyon, all I can think of is the power of God....of creation...of good and wonder in the world. I wonder why bad things happen to innocent people in the world.

I take time out to look at the tiniest bloom of the tiniest flower I can find. I jump up on the rocks, as if I were a kid again. I get dirty. I go barefoot. I smell the fresh air, look for the endangered species who live there.

Sometimes people I don't even know piss me off.