Our national parks uniquely reflect our nation's identity, revealing as much about ourselves as the landscapes they conserve. They serve as complex symbols of America, embodying the nation's contrasts, struggles, and beauty. These parks are like holograms, layered with the shadows and light of our history, dreams, kindnesses, as well as our cruelties and sins.

According to poet Rumi, water is a vessel that absorbs stories and truths, much like how the parks absorb the collective memory of the nation. In "The Hour of Land" by Terry Tempest Williams, it highlights how these parks are repositories of America's complex narrative, embodying the nation's contradictions and history.