the shock of the real

i was a teenager, living in a semi-detached aluminum sided home in willowdale when i read edward abbey's desert solitaire . . . .
"The shock of the real. For a little while we are again able to see, as the child sees, a world of marvels. For a few moments we discover that nothing can be taken for granted, for if this ring of stone is marvelous then all which shaped it is marvelous, and our journey here on earth, able to see and touch and hear in the midst of tangible and mysterious things-in-themselves, is the most strange and daring of all adventures.”

Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire