http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/posts/tags/navajo/page/1/ en Vox Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:33:52 -0400 Copyright 2007 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss navajo http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/post/saturated-air.html?_c=feed-rss-full nobody@vox.com(Liza Myers) http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/post/saturated-air.html?_c=feed-rss-full http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/post/saturated-air.html?_c=feed-rss-full Mon, 17 Sep 2007 14:33:52 -0400 <p><span style="font-size: 1.25em;"><em><strong>Home of the ancients</strong></em></span>, these canyon walls, baked flesh of the earth, burnt naked by the unrelenting sun. <br />Anasazi walked these canyons and mesas long before they were flooded by a trapped river. They too heard the song of the canyon wren. <br />Lilting, descending melody, calling us into the cool shadows.<span style="color: #cc6600"><br /></span> <div at:enclosure="asset" at:xid="6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398a9842a0001" at:format="medium" at:align="left" class="enclosure enclosure-left enclosure-medium photo-enclosure" style="text-align: center; float: left;"> <div class="enclosure-inner" style="padding: 9px; border: 1px solid; width: px; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" > <div class="enclosure-list"> <div class="enclosure-item photo-asset last"> <div class="enclosure-image"> <a href="http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/photo/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398a9842a0001.html"><img src="http://a2.vox.com/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398a9842a0001-200pi" alt="Hole in the Rock, Utah" title="Hole in the Rock, Utah" /></a> </div> <div class="enclosure-meta"> <div class="enclosure-asset-name"><a href="http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/photo/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398a9842a0001.html" title="Hole in the Rock, Utah">Hole in the Rock, Utah</a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div><!-- end enclosure --> <br />More than 100 years ago, Mormons labored to construct a road down this chasm, lowering wagons and teams of horses by rope where the heights were too great; where the cliffs were too steep. Long conquered by the elements of wind and water and the force of gravity, the road has nearly vanished. <br />Storm torrents have swept sweat and stone <br />into the secret depths of the lake. <br />Beautiful water, filled with secrets.<span style="color: #cc6600"></p></span><p>We gathered high above these waters to let the ashes of my cousin fly to the wind in his favorite place. A joyful, playful man, flung into the air, riding the breezes. A bittersweet moment, to be there with, and without him.<span style="color: #cc6600"></p></span><p>The full moon rose before us, giant and glowing against soaring, shadowed cliffs as we returned. Through the night the light was vivid; color softened, but still warmly intense, even in the greatest distance. <div at:enclosure="asset" at:xid="6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398ab168a0005" at:format="medium" at:align="right" class="enclosure enclosure-right enclosure-medium photo-enclosure" style="text-align: center; float: right;"> <div class="enclosure-inner" style="padding: 9px; border: 1px solid; width: px; margin: 0 0 20px 20px;" > <div class="enclosure-list"> <div class="enclosure-item photo-asset last"> <div class="enclosure-image"> <a href="http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/photo/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398ab168a0005.html"><img src="http://a2.vox.com/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398ab168a0005-200pi" alt="Desert Moon " title="Desert Moon " /></a> </div> <div class="enclosure-meta"> <div class="enclosure-asset-name"><a href="http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/photo/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398ab168a0005.html" title="Desert Moon ">Desert Moon </a></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div><!-- end enclosure --> <span style="color: #cc6600"></p></span><p>We lay under the stars, stunned by the beauty. To our great surprise a red crescent crept over the face of the moon, made all the more marvelous by the fact than none of us were expecting it... too busy in the journey&#39;s preparations to notice that tidbit of celestial news. <br />A lunar eclipse. The shadow of the earth on the face of the moon. <br />Distances and dimensions beyond my comprehension.</p><div style="text-align: right"><blockquote><p><strong><em><span style="color: #cc6600; font-size: 1.25em;">What would the Anasazi have thought?</span></em></strong><br /><span style="color: #cc6600"></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">Beauty is</span> <span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">before me,</span><span style="color: #cc6600"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">And beauty is behind me.</span><br /><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">Above and below me hovers the beautiful.</span><span style="font-size: 1em;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">I am surrounded by it.</span><span style="font-size: 1em;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">I am immersed in it.</span><span style="font-size: 1em;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">In my youth I am aware of it,</span><span style="font-size: 1em;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">And in old age I shall walk quietly</span><span style="font-size: 1em;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large; color: #cc6600; font-size: 1em;">The beautiful trail.</span></p><p>Navajo wisdom resonating throughout the canyon lands, and my heart.<br /></p></blockquote></div><p><br /> </p> <p style="clear:both;"> <a href="http://elizabethmyers.vox.com/library/post/saturated-air.html?_c=feed-rss-full#comments">Read and post comments</a> | <a href="http://www.vox.com/share/6a00d09e453ffbbe2b00e398a984390001?_c=feed-rss-full">Send to a friend</a> </p> eclipse navajo lake powell anasazi