Walnut Canyon - Sunday 2/6/11

A few things I forgot to mention on the last post, which I could edit, but this is easier:

One of the signs mentioned a tension between past and present indigenous communities with the Park Service and modern archeologists because of a difference in belief about items of the past. It said that the descendants of these pueblo people have a belief that the things of your life should die along with you - that if these items are saved they will fill up the world and people will lose sight of the meaning of life. Something like that. Very interesting. Also, that every place that people have lived and died are sacred places, and to disturb them in the name of documenting history and collecting evidence and information about past societies is offensive and disrespectful to the people who lived there. Interesting...and I'm not sure, but after walking through there...it really did feel like a sacred place.

This is actually a great segue - Walnut Canyon was perhaps my favorite of the places we visited...perhaps because if I had to live in any of these places this would be the one I'd choose.

It's a beautiful canyon, and must have been even more so when there was actually a creek running along the bottom. The trail goes down steep steps onto an "island" where you get to walk around a layer of the canyon through the ancient cliff dwellings. There were distinct differences between the sunny/dry sides and shady/damp(er) sides - prickly pear and juniper trees on one, firs and small oaks on the other... We saw a western red-tailed hawk...and I could easily imagine a mountain lion stalking the cliffs... Absolutely beautiful, and looking out over the bluffs it had a spiritual air to it...that of cathedrals and canyons and deep blue skies...







Afterward we headed back to the hotel where I passed out for most of the afternoon. We watched the Superbowl and half-heartedly cheered for the Steelers (I picked them because they're my black & gold colors and my old friend/coworker was a Steelers fan...I have no interest in football, but I liked the Doritos commercial).

Nick dropped me off at the station this morning. Despite being sick pretty much the entire time, it was still a wonderful week. And nice to see a familiar face and get off the dairy for a few days.

And now? Well...I think I'm going to let my ears settle. They've been popping like mad all day every day since I left Estancia, so hopefully I'll start hearing again soon... Starting to really look forward to the babies coming, though it sounds like that won't be until closer to late February. :/ The bosses have some projects for us to work on...and I'll need some time to heal my relationship with Maddy.

I'll keep you updated.

Love, j.