You Got Here When?!!

It was a couple of years ago...

I was camped too close to a water trough when the Ranch Manager pulled up on his ATV and parked at a discreet distance. (We're ALL armed and ready, don'chya know.) Leaning over the wheel, he yelled "Whatcha doin' out here, jus' piddlin'?" It's the perfect description.

Piddlin' muh way around on highway 45 south of Vernal, Utah, I pulled over and downloaded this pdf on Bears Ears Natl Monument.

Produced by Archeology Southwest and Friends of Cedar Mesa,

"This report shares the outcomes of a two-day gathering of archaeologists who work or have worked within what is now Bears Ears National Monument or in southeastern Utah more generally."

The following paragraph is at the end of page 4:

Despite consulting with experts and official records, we are still obliged to estimate the number of known sites and the projected total number of sites present on the Bears Ears National Monument landscape. It is estimated that at least several thousand known sites within Bears Ears are not included in the official state database, and it is also estimated that no more than 10 percent of Bears Ears has been surveyed. Based on this, a total of at least 100,000 sites is a very reasonable minimum estimate for the entire monument.


It's a heady statement when contrasted with the contents of the myriad Historical Markers that talk about when So-and-So founded some hole-in-the-wall 150 years ago.

Dinosaur National Monument (DNM)

The Heat!

Escape was a mere 20 miles north. But there, the altitude of 8400+' soon had me barely able to get up. No WAY could I perform my galumphing "sprint" of 300 feet. (I really should be an advert for White Boots. Weighing in (each) somewhere around 5 pounds, they keep my legs in superb condition.)

Descending, the view is dominated by the red wall of Split Mountain. Looming behind its equally dramatic ramparts, it prompted a fierce attack of: MUST locate on GPS!

(Split Mountain vies with Dinosaur National Monument (DNM). More prosaic, we get: Split Mtn Lodge, Split Mtn Eatery, Split Mtn Hair & Nails.)

Safely sequestered with their generators...

It sat on the wire above the Green River, giving the hairy eyeball as I maneuvered forth and back.

 On the 2nd click it flew off 200 feet...and I, tail tucked in embarrassment, drove on. But you don't see cummerbunds like that every day!

Horoscope

Ms. Cook, ever mindful of potential influences, sent my horoscope. Along with it she posits that crocs are related to dragons.

Bob Brezsny, Free Will Astrology

I was born into the Chinese calendar as a Complex-and-Eccentric Dragon (December 24, 1952).
Having chanced upon this splendid specimen in a Michael's, as I completed the unwrapping she announced, "This is you!"  (And so it is.)



It adorns my rearview mirror.

Dinosaur Bones!

I camped in the desert about a mile from Fantasy Canyon. Trail-less areas interest me. It's been my experience you don't find the things on trails you do elsewhere.

Large for a coyote and the bones aren't even well-chewed. Cat?

Exploring the badlands, I found fossils even I could recognize as bones. But I have no clue as to what they might have been.

Close together, I moved them closer.

Attached at the upper right to a completely diff kind of rock.

The heat from 11:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

while creating space (in time) for sedentary

activities

makes it essential to be able to create shade.

And as the mosquitoes emerge (where in god's name do they breed out here?!!) Phoebe dons her Mombasa Double ($16.00 from REI...check it out!) veil.

Fantasy Canyon - Utah

She'd read about it somewhere. Now, after having seen her in action several times, I look forward to her discoveries.

I arrived just before sunset and the sun god, apparently feeling beneficent, emerged from behind the clouds.

Note reflections in hood. Monsoons!

Settee

Smug Observer (face at middle upper right)

And it goes on and on.

Several reviews mention the smallness. I suppose, relative to the wide-open spaces, it is small. But the comment about being able to blow through it in half an hour was, after being there, ludicrous. It's 33 miles to Vernal. Iffen yer gonna plan on seeing it in 30 minutes, youse might wanna consider turning on yer TV instead. Temps hoverin 'round hunnert-plus degrees mid-day. 

A Couple by Bach

I'm not a big fan of J.S. Bach, but Hans-Andre Stamm brings him to life.

Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565

Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor BWV 582

Twisted Windows at Folsom 2019

As part of the Folsom Street Fair, they'll perform at SOMarts (Incubating Creativity to Change the World) on September 27.

A link to a brief article about Saki Kamijoo, a featured performer.

Link to ticket info for September 27 event.

Saki Kamijoo in Mexico

Kalra (2007)