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Formula Jr
03-11-2003, 07:02 PM
Crossing Over Part VII.
Which Way Was I Going?

The Eastern section of New Mexico along I 40 reminds you of every Clint Eastwood Westerner movie you ever seen. The colors are extra-ordinary. The clays are a brilliant red, deep brown and silver gray. Its the start of sunset and I pull over several times just to sit and wonder at the different vistas.

This land reveals the whole breath of the geological time line. Far too arrid to support much of a biosphere in the last 10 thousand years, the layers of time are scooped out in pockets by wind and streams. There really isn't any "soil." Soil is a living medium of microbs, insects and fugi that quiver with movement. Soil is kinda like water. Its fills and covers the bed rock. Soil is like an inland sea that covers the valleys and depressions of the earths surface, With soil, comes anchors in the form of root systems that hold down and retain any moisture. With out soil, the wind, "boils off" the loose dirt into wind sweep lifeless alien terrains, more akin to Mars or Venus than Earth. It's hard to imagine that this area was once a vast ancient forest before th
It's here also, that some 10 thousand years ago, a small group of Siberians, maybe as few as two dozen survived the journey, crossed over,
and established this place as the cradle of the native people of the Americas. These became the Anaza, a peaceful, agrarian society that developed ingenious and eligant methods of water storage and irrigation. They lived here for thousands of years in peaceful co-existance, until an outcase band of violent Aztec arrived from the south bringing with them a culture of horrifying slaughter and conquest. The Anaza quickly retreated from their low, placid valleys into the fortified cliff dwellings that still exist to this day. This is America's Eygpt, filled with stories and history as facinating as any from the time of the pharaohs.

I once had a chance to explore the Puye Cliff Dwellings just east of Los Almos. This is an ancient site. The most memorable experience, was when some of the tribal members wanted to carry my car, containting my mother to the top of the plaza. She had said something like, "My son has the keys." Well, you have to respect a culture that says, keys and cars are meaningless. And I watched as these guys picked up my car and started carrying it up the hill. Yes, my mom was very secure in her role as a modern day Goddess. but I was not, so I had to scramble down the ladders and get some control of this. Two hundred yards later, they dropped the car, but she was very surprised that women were not allowed in the Kiva once we drove up top. I tryed to explain that it was not culturally cool to call people f-heads to their faces while on indian lands, but I could see her point. So we left, under-guard to the border. Cause they had pissed me off too, and I ended up saying some stuff they didn't want to hear also.


Oky, did I go through Oklahoma?

<small>[ March 11, 2003, 11:20 PM: Message edited by: Formula Jr ]</small>

Terry0341
03-12-2003, 01:52 PM
Great stuff! are you comming to AOTH III?

Formula Jr
03-12-2003, 03:04 PM
Nope. And I really wish I could.. there are alot of new people I very much wanted to meet. wink
Oil futures as they stand now, are going to surprize everyone in May. So I'm hunkered down.

EricG
03-12-2003, 03:09 PM
Ya know Owen....I've been listening to a lot of Talking book lately - any chance I can get the Unabridged Talking edition of the Crossing Over Series?

As I've been playing catch-up here a few days I've discovered some of the great gems this board provides. Your stories are definitely at the top of that list!!

Thanks for your hard work on this stuff....it really is worth it.

EG