A bit o' reflection.

[PaleoRob]

Thought I'd post this here. Its a little tidbit from something I've been writing (a story of sorts), and thought some folks here might like it (or rip it to shreds, whatever ;))

On the road then the rowdy thrill-seekers went. Seeking enlightenment, certainly some of them. Seeking fun. Seeking something to do. Off to read deep meaning into something that just is, and to gather meaning known only to its makers. Such is the problem with attempting to derive secret, sacred knowledge from the meaningless and mute. What “meaning” does sandstone have? Records the passing of a desert, or a sea, or a river, yes. But meaning, as a deeper purpose? Unlikely. Sandstone slickrock has as much inherent meaning as a fetid swamp – both parts of this earth. It is man (or woman) who derives meaning from the inanimate...derives or contrives, who can say?
And yet...there is something about sandstone. That slightly rough, slightly smooth feel of it under foot, under hand. The lyrical sound of the individual grains blowing loosely against the whole. The stains, fractures, crevices, and oh-my-go that gorgeous glow when the sun hits it at just the right angle before slipping below the horizon. Its look of liquid mercury after a thunderstorm. Its rounded humps and deep, dark defiles. No place else our intrepid hero wants to be. So he returns again and again to the sandstone wilderness.
And the ruins. Don’t get started on the Anasazi. Too many New Age gurus and wilderness wannabes have overblown the whole thing, claming so many spiritual and metaphysical ties to places we non-Pueblos can’t even begin to truly understand. Too much Sedonafication of the Ancient Ones, mystery devolving into pithy phrases in tourist handbooks. Any Anasazi secrets that remain, remain with their descendants. Far be it for anyone who doesn’t need to know to find out.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? Love or hate? Ambivalent?

[joebartels]

That slightly rough, slightly smooth feel of it under foot, under hand. The lyrical sound of the individual grains blowing loosely against the whole. The stains, fractures, crevices, and oh-my-go that gorgeous glow when the sun hits it at just the right angle before slipping below the horizon. Its look of liquid mercury after a thunderstorm. Its rounded humps...

whoa :-#

[hippiepunkpirate]

The interesting thing about sedimentary rocks: they are built by wind and water only to be destroyed by wind and water.

[nobert15]

Awesome!... I instantly thought of Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire while reading it.

[fricknaley]

it made me want to go outside, so therefore....i like it!

[PaleoRob]

it made me want to go outside, so therefore....i like it!

Excellent, that's the response I'm hoping to elicit.

[Davis2001r6]

Don’t get started on the Anasazi. Too many New Age gurus and wilderness wannabes have overblown the whole thing, claming so many spiritual and metaphysical ties to places we non-Pueblos can’t even begin to truly understand. Too much Sedonafication of the Ancient Ones, mystery devolving into pithy phrases in tourist handbooks.

My favorite part, love the "Sedonafication".

[Hoffmaster]

Good job Rob! It's like you're reading my mind.

[PaleoRob]

Thanks!

This is actually a brief bit from that story I had alluded to in an earlier post dealing with the different ways people view wilderness/wilderness protection/etc. I'll get back to typing up some more of my handwritten parts and see if I can't come up with another sample, if y'all are interested.

[tibber]

Don’t get started on the Anasazi. Too many New Age gurus and wilderness wannabes have overblown the whole thing, claming so many spiritual and metaphysical ties to places we non-Pueblos can’t even begin to truly understand. Too much Sedonafication of the Ancient Ones, mystery devolving into pithy phrases in tourist handbooks.

My favorite part, love the "Sedonafication".

May I say "DITTO".

And knowing where you travel, I'm sure this reflection goes so deep. Yep, I like it.

[cathymocha]

if y'all are interested.

Am interested.

[dinochelle]

Yup, interested....but partly b/c you said "y'all" instead of "you guys" ....and btw...do you really track condors?

[PaleoRob]

Yup, interested....but partly b/c you said "y'all" instead of "you guys" ....and btw...do you really track condors?

Yep, I certainly do. I get the y'all from my Texan wife.

[PaleoRob]

Per some requests here, here's another quick passage. Possibly more to come...almost done with the typing and looking for an agent/publisher hopefully by the end of the year...

The “Burban rolled on, climbing through and out of the Painted Desert. The Hopi Buttes standing on the horizon like evil volcanic castles, the remains of volcanoes long dead before any human walked through North America, slowly drew closer. North, ever north they went, the land flat and dead around them, punctuated by the coagulated black spires of the buttes and the tan of far off mesas. First Mesa, Second Mesa, Third Mesa, where the modern Hopi live. Antelope Mesa where the ceremonial center of Awatovi, greatest of all the Hopi pueblos, lived and died well before the birth of the American nation. In silence they rode, quiet settling over the group like an ill-sized quilt. Only the hiss of the tires over the rough pavement and the roar of the big V8 could be heard, reminding them they hadn’t gone deaf in this dead wilderness. Outside their tin-can, the Rez whipped by. Mobile homes, white against the dull desert colors, appeared and then disappeared. Surely they’d crossed into Hopi territory by now, but no signs were seen to say so. More puffy clouds were gathering in the west, joining their brethren steaming steadily from the snow-capped Peaks.
The mesas seemed to rise slowly into the leaden sky. This was no colorful land of contrasts like Cedar Mesa, Moki Canyon, or even the Painted Desert they’d left behind them outside of Winslow. Brown, gray, and tan predominated on the ground, on the plants, on the cliffs in the distance. The occasional stripe of black marking a coal seam on the cliffs, and old burnt log on the ground. This is not the landscape that draws millions of tourists a year, clutching their cameras and US dollars, driving their rental RVs.

[desert spirit]

Too many New Age gurus and wilderness wannabes have overblown the whole thing

I must be one of those "New Age wannabes" .. lol .. I feel intensely spiritual inside ruins. It can bring me to tears.

[PaleoRob]

Too many New Age gurus and wilderness wannabes have overblown the whole thing

I must be one of those "New Age wannabes" .. lol .. I feel intensely spiritual inside ruins. It can bring me to tears.

Ruins can be deeply moving places, and to their residents from 700 years ago, they were usually more than homes, they were also churches/holy places/etc. We, however, can't know what the religious ideology attached to these places was, not exactly. Any spiritual feeling we attach to these places is "cultural overlay" from ourselves. I like to see ruins in as complete and unaltered form as possible - no reconstruction/rebuilding/etc., and that includes any religious predispositions I may bring along. Do I feel a powerful connection to these places? Absolutely. Otherwise, why would I keep going back, right? Do I enjoy things like this: http://hikearizona.com/phoZOOM.php?ZIP=66692 Acoma dancers dancing in the plaza of Pueblo Bonito? Sure I do. Something like that took place back when Bonito was occupied - but not exactly what we saw.
This is not to say your feelings/thoughts/way of approaching the ruins is invalid. Far from it. And if/when this book gets published, I think that'll become clear. The story deals with ideologies and ways to approach things, questioning if the so-called "purist" approach is the best way, or if it is elitist and actually takes away experiences from others. Among a myriad of other topics it brushes against. Layers over layers, if I may be so humble to say, of complex meaning. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on this!

[desert spirit]

Any spiritual feeling we attach to these places is "cultural overlay" from ourselves.

Oh yah, I totally agree. How could it be otherwise? The psychology of spirituality is mysterious, for sure. But at the same time, I don't think a 31-year-old Anasazi woman would have been that different from me in the way she thought and dreamed and interacted. In that respect, I feel the same "sisterhood" toward her that I do toward my own friends now ...

I look forward to reading more of your writing on the subject. I have visited pretty much most of the major ruin sites in the Southwest and love them so much ... it will be wonderful to see your impressions of them. I also feel a sense of pride that our civilization feels that they're important enough to expend money and resources to preserve them. I have strong "deja trail" of particular ruins ... the time at Wupatki in the middle of the night with a full moon ... the time at Hovenweep ... at Keet Seel ... the Chaco outliers.

A funny little story ... I was in Canyonlands and being hounded by deer flies. It was horrid ... there was an absolute fog of them buzzing around me ... god, how miserable are those things? They followed me for a couple miles, and then I found a little ruin in the canyon and went to sit and rest. The instant I walked into the ruin, the deer flies disappeared!

Well, of course I realize it was probably the difference in air temp or something that drove them away, but my first thought was that it was some sort of Anasazi magic ... lol ... see? Told you I was a "new age wannabe" ... ;)

[PaleoRob]

Well, not to toot my own horn too much (*toot toot*), if you're interested in some of my non-fiction writing about ruins, I have a few in-depth triplogs here, such as:
Painted Desert: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN= ... XT=T#39802
Chinle Wash II: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN= ... XT=T#37571
Chinle Wash I: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN= ... XT=T#18237
Bullet Canyon - Grand Gulch Loop: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN= ... XT=T#12683

[desert spirit]

Thanks Rob ... I appreciate your tooting for me ... LOL

I've hiked quite a bit in southern Utah, but never in Grand Gulch, so that one caught my eye first. Interesting trip! I was kinda disappointed that you saw so many other people, though. Especially ones who didn't seem to hold much stock in wilderness ethics. And I knew there were lots of ruins there, but I guess I didn't realize how many. It sounds like you can't spit without hitting one!

Chinle Wash I ... cold water and quicksand ... whew!

I'll be back later for the others ...

[PaleoRob]

Glad you enjoyed!
Related to the original writing I posted, the story should be submitted to an agent later this month now.