Mesa Verde

I walked out the door of my room to my car parked right outside, and the silence . . . the confident unpretentious quiet of the night . . . It whispered in my ear ‘this is how it is suppose to be.”  I stood listening -- to a full, strong emptiness.

The Lodge at Mesa Verde

I woke up early and was greeted by the fluttering of two mountain blue birds. Then I went to the visitor center at 8:15 to buy my ticket for a ranger guided tour of one of the cliff dwellings.  I was on the first tour of the day before the sun was full force.  I have always been attracted to the Pueblo people and seeing their handiwork in the face of the cliff, I had a misplaced longing to live there.  The view and the daily opportunity for rock climbing, what more could I want?

Long House

I got to climb these ladders!

This little boy is going to grow up to be a good man.  He deferred to me, letting me climb up the ladder before him.  At another time in the trip, he said to his grandfather, “I just made a happy face. I don’t know why I like making happy faces.” And he smiled broadly – my guess he is 8 years old, maybe 9.

After the guided tour, I hiked to a few smaller sites and came upon one of the park’s herds of wild horses. The stallion keep driving off a few unwelcome males and made me a little wary of working my way through the herd to the tram station.  A few other people arrived and the horses parted to let us cross the street.    

Then I headed south to Arizona, making a brief stop in New Mexico.  I feel a bit dishonest saying I have been to New Mexico.  It is what it is.

I will reserve my musings on Arizona for tomorrow (does anyone live here?).