#987 the July calendar photo

This is the picture that I've been able to look at every day this month because it is the July photo on the calendar. It's one of my favorites. For one thing, T is smiling and it reminds me how happy he was that day in Tikal, Guatemala.

We are on the viewing platform of Temple IV looking over the valley at Temple I. That's the building you see in the background there. We had to climb a bunch of stairs to get to the platform, but as you can see, the view was spectacular. We had walked through that jungle you see there get to Temple IV. We saw frogs and lizards and tarantulas. We could hear howler monkeys, but we didn't see any. The guide told us there were spider monkeys there also, but we didn't see them, either.

It was incredibly hot and humid. I was swabbing my face with a washcloth that I'd brought with me from the hotel. I'm so thankful I had it. I don't really know if T was sweaty. He was climbing any of the structures that he was allowed to climb on.

Our guide didn't come up to the platform with us. He told us he'd seen it many times and wanted us to experience it by ourselves. Temple IV is massive. I remember thinking about how long it must have taken the Maya to build such a structure, knowing there are other large structures in the area. It's pretty awesome.

Even with all the great memories of that day in Tikal, looking at the picture brings to mind my favorite memory of all: how happy we all were to be there that day and how excited we were at the opportunity to be at such a beautiful, amazing place.