A friend and I had a conversation about the genre of realism; we were talking about painting, but really what we said applies to photography and writing, I think. Our discussion: What is the value of realism in art, and how do you achieve it? Her first reaction was that realism in painting these days […]
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West Slope Is the Best Slope
West Slope Is the Best Slope is something people say who live on the Western Slope of Colorado, which I now know (because I’ve asked Tracy a million times) means west of the Continental Divide—and not east of it, which is called the Front Range. We were on the Western Slope at Colorado National Monument […]
The Drama of Colorado National Monument
We’re at the very western edge of Colorado, at another amazing national monument. Feels like we’re seeing one after another of these places while they’re still protected. From Our Campsite Tracy scored a spot at Saddlehorn Campground, which is in the monument and therefore tricky for two reasons. You have to pass through roughly blasted […]
While This, Then That
Last pictures while looking here, and thoughts while seeing that.
Surrounded at Three Borders
The three borders of our current spot—where Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado meet—is the reason Wild West outlaws used to hide out here. If the law from one state was chasing them, they’d simply ride over the line to another state where the fellers chasing them had no jurisdiction. And, at this spot, they’d have two […]
Campground Surprises at Dino
Unexpected small joys (and one small rattlesnake) at Dinosaur National Monument.
When Housekeeping Is the Barrier-Breaker
There’s a beautifully written book entitled, Housekeeping, in which author Marilynne Robinson’s radical hero, a vagrant, estranged aunt, moves into a rural house to be the guardian of two teen girls. What could be seen as her neglect of housekeeping allows nature to slowly take over the old house. What’s really happening is a breakdown of the […]
El Morro and El Malpais
These are national monuments in western New Mexico: off the beaten path, managed by the National Park Service. There are 138 national monuments in the United States and 63 national parks. El Morro Roughly, this means “The Headland.” El Morro is a giant sandstone outcropping with a life-saving pool of water at its base (created […]
Camping and Hiking along the Gila River
We’ve spent a week boondocking in a horse corral between the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument visitor’s center and the trailhead to the cliff dwellings hike; in short, along the Gila River in western New Mexico. The Gila is one of the longest rivers in the West, with a gigantic watershed. People have lived along […]
“Cliff” Being the Operative Word in Gila Cliff Dwellings
I’ve never had a problem with heights, so all I was thinking about as we climbed the 180-foot ascent to see this archaeological find was my knee when it was time to go back down. Jeez Louise though, the second we approached the caves in the side of the cliff and I saw that there […]
