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| Mexican Ghost Market |
On just about every trail around here, a hiker will come upon a ghost market full of wire sculptures depicting scorpions, cacti, and other mystical creatures. They're made by Mexicans who spirit themselves across the border (At night, I guess). They leave a small jar for money, and though it's technically illegal, it must pay enough to be worthy of the risk. In the news info the park hands out, the official policy requests that patrons of the park ignore these trail side market places. In fact, they warn that if a person is caught with this contraband, it will be confiscated. The rationale is that the ecosystem around her is so fragile, the marauding Mexicans cause erosion and destruction of the natural habitat just by walking over the land. This morning, Judy and I took a twenty mile bike ride from Panther Junction down to the fossil exhibit and back. While we were there,we ran across a trail crew busy sweeping and raking a hillside to return it to its natural state because tourists had climbed atop the small precipice for a better view so often the hillside has begun to crumble. The ranger we talked to said his crew would put up brush barriers to discourage hikers and climbers from entering the area. I have no doubt that this area is fragile, and from the millions of years of evolution until now, there's been a stewardship effort to preserve this place. Imagine then, when the land movers, bulldozers, and thousands of men handling shovels and pulaskis , not to mention the road graders, and dump trucks, temporary housing sites, and whatever else it will take to build a wall along our Southern border. I disagree with the wall concept on several levels, but having seen this beautiful landscape, I can hardly imagine the blight a thirty to forty foot steel mesh and structure will put on the place. Let's hope some sense comes to our current leadership before this travesty occurs. On another note, our ride in the open desert this morning, and our sunset hike last night put us in a place of ecstasy. The fresh air, the panoramic views, and the silence so enveloped us, we felt transported. It's just beautiful. Tomorrow morning, we're going to hike early down the three mile river trail to the hot springs that sit next to the Rio Grand River.. We hope to catch a view of some wild life at that time of day, and also, we think there will be less of our friends using the hot springs. And just to remind myself why I'm not in Spokane: no snow, 75 degrees, and a sense of grandeur that reminds me that I'm small. Humility is a good thing. Maybe I should mail a batch to the White House. Regardless, life is good, especially today.
The Rio Grand Rivers, sans wall.
Glorious sunset. The wall will block the view of the river.
Me, hopelessly trying to capture God's grandeur.
More impressive than the expanse of the desert is the vastness of the sky.
Strangely, this bridge spanned a quite large wetlands area.
This spiny guy swam here a few million years ago when this was the bottom of an ocean.
Imagine being this guy's midnight snack.
Or tryng to dodge this flying predator.
How many of us would it take to snap this wishbone?
This pioneer woman died in child birth at the age of twenty nine. She left her husband with three children. She wanted to be buried on this bluff next to the spring under the cottonwood trees. The only remaining sign of her home is this grave site.
Selfie of the day. Miles, and miles of Texas.
Papa taking a break at the fossil exhibit.
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