Sometimes one reads the neatest things tucked away in the midst of the day’s news headlines. Take, for instance, the following piece titled “Amazon Delivers to Bottom of Grand Canyon, in a Unique Way: Company Can't Use Its Vans to Reach Workers at Phantom Ranch, But Mules Do the Trick” that caught my attention.
The article, posted earlier today (August 4, 2023) on www.Newser.com by Jenn Gidman, was brief but informative…
You may be accustomed to seeing those ubiquitous dark-blue vans with the Amazon logo puttering around your town, especially around the holidays when package deliveries are at a peak. In the northwest corner of Arizona, however, a different mode of transport is employed: mules, saddled up with sealed boxes as they trek down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There are no suburban neighborhoods nestled 9 miles below the South Rim, but there is the Phantom Ranch, described as a "historic oasis" where visitors can spend the night—and where Amazon delivers to the staffers who both live and work there. In a Wednesday blog post, Amazon deems the Phantom Ranch "one of the most remote places Amazon delivers [to]," explaining that the only way to get to the site is by foot, river raft, or the mules.
The equine hybrids typically deliver mail and such supplies as produce, TP, beer, and fixings for the ranch's steak dinners, as well as the Amazon packages, which are transported down four days a week. The packages are initially dropped off at a warehouse on the South Rim, then are loaded up onto the mules, who set off down the Bright Angel Trail just after sunrise to avoid traveling during the hotter parts of the day. It usually takes the two human pack leaders, each with a set of five mules, about four hours to descend to the bottom of the canyon, then another four or five hours to get back up to the top, an Amazon rep tells USA Today, adding that the delivery method is "one of the most unique ways customers can receive their deliveries."
Mules who regularly make the trip can pretty much get to their destination by heart. "The more you take them down, the more they memorize the trail," one of the mule packers says in a video Amazon features on the blog, showing the animals in action. "Most of the mules that we have at this point could probably walk the trail with their eyes closed." "The supplies that our mule team brings down are a critical part of making sure that life can exist down at the bottom comfortably and happily," says a spokesperson for the ranch's owner in the blog post. "Having a service like Amazon available to employees, especially in a place as remote as Phantom Ranch, is fantastic."
Wow! To begin with, I, for one, did not know that anyone lived at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. That, in and of itself, surely takes considerable resilience. But apparently, it also takes a little help from above. After all, how else are the guest to enjoy meals, bathrooms, and the like? And it is in this sense that the story has a spiritual application.
No matter who we are, no matter where we come from, no matter what our present circumstances or location or predicament, we are fooling ourselves if we think we can get by in this world without regular help from above!
It behooves us to be aware of this. More to the point, it befits us to be appreciative of this! After all, we are fooling ourselves if we think we can get by without regular and abundant assistance from beyond.
In his New Testament letter to the believers at Philippi, the Apostle Paul gave this reminder (chapter 4, verse 19): “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
We all have needs. There is no denying this. No matter where we are or what we lack or what we face. But praise God, we all also have One who meets those needs, no matter where we are or what we lack or what we face. And He does this day in and day out!
For that, all of us who purport to follow Jesus Christ should be grateful. I know I am. Are you?
STORY SOURCE:
https://www.newser.com/story/338496/amazons-transport-for-grand-canyon-deliveries-mules.html.
NOTE: Check out a video of the above described process at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGtaESzl3w&t=78s.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/philippians/4-19.htm.
The article, posted earlier today (August 4, 2023) on www.Newser.com by Jenn Gidman, was brief but informative…
You may be accustomed to seeing those ubiquitous dark-blue vans with the Amazon logo puttering around your town, especially around the holidays when package deliveries are at a peak. In the northwest corner of Arizona, however, a different mode of transport is employed: mules, saddled up with sealed boxes as they trek down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There are no suburban neighborhoods nestled 9 miles below the South Rim, but there is the Phantom Ranch, described as a "historic oasis" where visitors can spend the night—and where Amazon delivers to the staffers who both live and work there. In a Wednesday blog post, Amazon deems the Phantom Ranch "one of the most remote places Amazon delivers [to]," explaining that the only way to get to the site is by foot, river raft, or the mules.
The equine hybrids typically deliver mail and such supplies as produce, TP, beer, and fixings for the ranch's steak dinners, as well as the Amazon packages, which are transported down four days a week. The packages are initially dropped off at a warehouse on the South Rim, then are loaded up onto the mules, who set off down the Bright Angel Trail just after sunrise to avoid traveling during the hotter parts of the day. It usually takes the two human pack leaders, each with a set of five mules, about four hours to descend to the bottom of the canyon, then another four or five hours to get back up to the top, an Amazon rep tells USA Today, adding that the delivery method is "one of the most unique ways customers can receive their deliveries."
Mules who regularly make the trip can pretty much get to their destination by heart. "The more you take them down, the more they memorize the trail," one of the mule packers says in a video Amazon features on the blog, showing the animals in action. "Most of the mules that we have at this point could probably walk the trail with their eyes closed." "The supplies that our mule team brings down are a critical part of making sure that life can exist down at the bottom comfortably and happily," says a spokesperson for the ranch's owner in the blog post. "Having a service like Amazon available to employees, especially in a place as remote as Phantom Ranch, is fantastic."
Wow! To begin with, I, for one, did not know that anyone lived at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. That, in and of itself, surely takes considerable resilience. But apparently, it also takes a little help from above. After all, how else are the guest to enjoy meals, bathrooms, and the like? And it is in this sense that the story has a spiritual application.
No matter who we are, no matter where we come from, no matter what our present circumstances or location or predicament, we are fooling ourselves if we think we can get by in this world without regular help from above!
It behooves us to be aware of this. More to the point, it befits us to be appreciative of this! After all, we are fooling ourselves if we think we can get by without regular and abundant assistance from beyond.
In his New Testament letter to the believers at Philippi, the Apostle Paul gave this reminder (chapter 4, verse 19): “God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
We all have needs. There is no denying this. No matter where we are or what we lack or what we face. But praise God, we all also have One who meets those needs, no matter where we are or what we lack or what we face. And He does this day in and day out!
For that, all of us who purport to follow Jesus Christ should be grateful. I know I am. Are you?
STORY SOURCE:
https://www.newser.com/story/338496/amazons-transport-for-grand-canyon-deliveries-mules.html.
NOTE: Check out a video of the above described process at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZGtaESzl3w&t=78s.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/philippians/4-19.htm.