Quiet Blog, Busy Life

I've heard it said "when the blog is quiet, life is not."  So true.  I really want to document this year of our lives, but it may be 2015 before I get my thoughts typed.

Most national parks are dedicated to the preservation of wildlife and nature.  Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado is the only national park purposed with the preservation of the "works of man."  Mesa Verde was established to protect the ancient cliff dwelling of the Pueblo people who lived here from A.D. 600 - 1300.  It was one of the coolest places I've ever been.  I found the archeological sites fascinating.  I highly recommend the Cliff Palace Tour.

Spruce Tree House.  Notice the "T" shaped doors and windows. 

CER climbing down into a kiva.  Kivas are underground ceremonial rooms, though they also may have been used as retreats from extreme weather.

CBR and LAR inside a kiva.  The short stone wall behind the ladder was built to spread the draft of air that was vented in so that it wouldn't extinguish the fire in the fire pit inside the kiva.  Considering their limited tools, the thought and craftsmanship in these dwellings is truly respectable.

The park ranger used our children as models for what the Pueblo children would've done in this very spot.  They were demonstrating the mano and metate practice of grinding maize/corn.  The mano is the handheld stone, and the metate is the long slab used for grinding.

One perk of visiting national parks in their off-season is that the park rangers often have plenty of extra time to spend with the kids.  This guy had a laser pointer, and was showing the kids thumbprints in the mortar, paintings on the walls, how to tell where the children slept, etc.  I learned so much!

Cliff Palace.  This dwelling had 150 rooms!

We hiked down to Cliff Palace and took a tour.  You could still see paint on the interior walls.  It was so incredible to stand where an ancient civilization once bustled with activity.

At the visitor center we learned about the weaving looms, the pottery, and the culture of the Pueblo peoples.  It's incredible to see all the archaeologists have uncovered about this civilization.  From their remains, they can tell so much about what they ate, their lifestyle, and even clues about what was important to these people.  It made me wonder; what will people 800 years from now surmise about us?  What will they say was important to our culture?  This park is remarkable - a must see.

Downtown Durango, Colorado.

We enjoyed the cool weather in the mountains of Colorado.  We went out for some yummy Mexican food.  The kids learned a great new "Happy Birthday" song that the wait staff at the Mexican restaurant sang to a customer.  Information we learned while sightseeing may not stick in their brains, but that "Happy Birthday" song has been recited a couple thousand times.

We spent the night in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Durango.  I have a snapshot memory seared in my brain from our last night in Colorado.  I was preparing dinner in the motor home (in the Wal-Mart parking lot), and the kids were playing in the .00000025 acre green space with one tiny tree in the parking lot.  I could hear them laughing from inside the RV.  I look outside and they are swinging on the tree limbs, playing some invented game, and having the time of their lives.  They had not a care in the world.  They were in a busy Wal-Mart parking lot - and they didn't even notice!  Up on the hill under the Wal-Mart store sign sat a homeless man.  He smiled as he watched them play.  The sharp contrast between this moment and our lives back home hit me.  I can't explain why, but in that moment I preferred this version of us.  The us that can be completely content with no toys, no friends, no trampoline, no playground equipment, no cares for how people perceive us -- just simply content.  Strangely, it was one of the most beautiful moments of our journey.  I felt so full of all the things that matter.

We're still finding holes in the right shoulder of our button-down shirts.

The pile of button-down shirts that need mending is growing faster than our laundry pile.

That's it for now . . .