Having the privilege of living only four hours from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, my husband and I drove up for the day a few months ago.  It was National Park Week and all entrance fees were waived at all the national parks in the U.S.

We were celebrating our 20 year wedding anniversary and there would be a full moon that night.  The weather forecast called for partly cloudy skies.  Perfect!  Visions of pink clouds at sunset with a full moon rising were filling my head.

Our plan was to drive along Desert View Drive towards the East Rim and to Desert View, scouting for where to watch sunset and the full moon rising.  When we reached Desert View, we toured the Desert View Watchtower and had a picnic lunch we had brought with us.  After we ate lunch, it was time to go back the way we came and stop at several points.

Our first stop was at Navajo Point.  While I was taking a few shots, my husband walked around with our dog Molly.  After several minutes he said there was something he wanted to show me.  I couldn’t imagine what he found that was so interesting.

There, hanging in a tree, was this heart pendant.  What a great find!  I had to photograph it.  So many questions came to mind.  Who left it there?  How long had it been there?  Was the heart left there for a happy occasion or a sad one?

Because we were celebrating our anniversary I believed it was for a romantic reason.  A couple who got engaged while visiting this spectacular place.  Or maybe they were celebrating an anniversary as we were.  Perhaps it was a first visit to the Grand Canyon and the person fell in love with the view and left the heart as a symbol, you know something like the song “I left my heart in San Francisco”.

The true story will most likely never be known.  What’s your story about this heart left hanging in a tree at the Grand Canyon?  Please share by leaving a comment!

©Tamara Becker and Different Isn’t Wrong, It’s Just Different, 2013.