Sand and Salvation

One of the most educational experiences of the century was a tour of the farms of Imperial Valley, major supplier of the world's produce and bringing over $1 billion annually. The land is so fertile it will produce at least 3 times more than the usual average crop (in, say, North Dakota)... if only you give it water. Thank you, Colorado River! Besides learning a lot and being in awe of the complex operation these friends of ours were running, we couldn't help but be appalled at the bizarre way our country is fed off the mass manipulation of nature.... and made us never want to eat romaine hearts or beef again.

On a lighter note, has anyone seen Into the Wild? Just a few minutes north of our uncle's hotel (attention birders: check out the Calipatria Inn and Suites!) we encountered an unexpected but delightful surprise: Salvation Mountain, a mound of adobe-topped straw covered in layers of paint by its late creator (may he rest in peace... we missed his memorial service by just a week). Quite the interesting pronouncement of a God of Love.... in the middle of the desert. We would have stayed and added a few strokes of paint if we'd had more time.

How Grand

Our week-long camping and hiking retreat went from Arches to Bryce to the Grand Canyon...

In the morning light the canyon walls

are charming, iridescent,

welcoming your awe, basking in your praise.

Effortlessly fly to its open arms,

foolishly take its gilded paths.

From within its depths it beckons you further;

the sirens of its silent pulse.

Scarcely can you resist its allure!

Yet within its bowels the devil dwells.

All at a glance the facade is stripped

and freed from its rosy and warming enchantment

you blink at the blazing, noon day sun

and the miles of stone from whence you've come.

Your senses with you, you know it is time;

put the river forever at your back.

The gentle walls that pressed you downward

have stiffened their posture and steepened their slopes,

transformed from stones to stony faces

laughing in the face of your noble ascent.

It is a battle now, or a game perhaps,

and the cliffs know the way oh so well

and you have begun to feel the strain

of the years you aged as you passed, unsuspecting,

through the ages of time in the canyon's depths.

So now, no longer young or foolish

you feel the weight of the lofty climb

and turning to face the gaping abyss, you shout,

“Why not just take me now?!”

The echo taunts your final plea,

Yet up you must go, so up you do.

And as each food beats out the other,

and as your lungs refuse to breathe,

you find yourself, agains all odds,

higher than you were before.

Foreboding rocks glare at your progress

and shadows seem to block your path,

But look: the surface of the earth in sight!

No longer walk, but break its hold and dash

with the last of your might to the sun.

Feel the level ground beneath you,

feel the laughter in your lungs!

Turn and face your proud opponent,

be in awe of such a worthy one.

Love

Denver held some unexpected discoveries, including meeting Shauna, owner of the barely beginning the Long i Pie Shop... a person and place with so similar a vision it's almost freaky. When we met she was in the process of building out her airstream to hold the mobile shop. 

Also got on a mini Tolstoy kick while sitting and drinking coffee one day...

 "Love is life. All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love. Everything is, everything exists, only because I love. Everything is united by it alone.”    

--Leo Tolstoy

Don't Mess With Texas

If Congress decided to outlaw diesel trucks Texas could secede because its state constitution reserves the right to leave the Union whenever it wants to. And it probably would if Obama decided to sign that law into effect.

Texas law says the state flag can fly as high as the national flag.

In Texas there is a radio station that only plays songs about Texas.

If Texas was its own country, it would have the 3rd largest incarcerated population in the world (the whole world!!).

In Texas you can go to jail for skipping school.

In Texas, at the time a gang-related the crime is committed all the present members of a gang are charged for the same crime...so if you're hangin with your buddy and he decides to get caught after he shoots someone, you get the same sentence as he does.

Don't mess with Texas.

Additionally, Texas has some of our wonderful family members and some wonderful people we met that could quickly feel like family members. For this we were roped into a longer Dallas stay than expected, and were able to witness the rapidly-growing Cafe Momentum in full swing. This non-profit cafe that works with incarcerated young men impressed us with their efficiency, effectiveness in tracking results, and their big dreams for the future (which shouldn't have surprised us... everything is BIG in TEXAS).

And, well, lets face it -- we're utterly behind on our blogging. We left Dallas for the longest, flattest drive, camped in New Mexico, and hiked it up to Denver (making sure to stop by the great White Sands on the way). More to come...