February 20, 2003
Strange scenes in the Jemez . . .
2/18
-- While driving between Jemez Springs and Los Alamos, I spotted one of those “Adopt a Highway” signs, this one informing me that the local Wiccan’s were keeping the highways clean. Very cool. Don’t see many of those in the Bible belt . . .
-- Just say no: I’ve been kind of amazed at the anti-war sentiment here, something you see very little of back in Tennessee. There are several billboards along Interstate 25 north of Albuquerque with strong anti-war messages, and a lot of bumper stickers and yard signs.
-- I skirted around Los Alamos yesterday, and it struck me how similar it is to Oak Ridge, Tennessee’s national labs. There was just something about the place. Maybe the feel of “base housing,” as Lara calls it, that reverberated across the nation and linked these two atomic cities.
-- Dog days: While driving into Jemez Springs the other day, I passed a massive Newfoundland lying in the red clay in front of a driveway gate. He reminded me of Xena, and it took everything I had not to pull over and spend some time with him. Then, on my way to Bandelier yesterday, I saw a large coyote skulking along the treeline. I pulled over to try to snap his picture, but he vanished into the pines. And to complete the canine hat trick, after I’d scattered Bubba’s ashes into the Jemez River, I was smoking my cigar and looking around for nothing in particular. There in the muddy red riverbank, only a few yards from where I’d scattered those ashes, I saw dog prints. Clearly a large dog. Probably about the size of Bubba.
-- At Los Ojos last night (yes, I had dinner there two nights in a row, though this time I upgraded from a cup of green chile stew to an entire bowl), there was a group of leather-clad lesbians at one booth, a few wandering yuppies at another, two Buddhist monks at the bar, and the usual assortment of lumberjack-looking locals playing pool and socializing. None of these disparate groups seemed fazed by the others. Jemez harmony, I guess.
Posted by Bob Benz at February 20, 2003 12:11 AM
'sounds like a soothing trip. i still use my woven wool duffel that i got when we went to los ojos with you. nice memories...
Posted by: jo at February 21, 2003 12:14 PM