"May the wind be at your
back
And the world sit at your
feet
May you waltz across
Wyoming
With a rose clutched in
your teeth
May the answers to your
questions
Fall like raindrops right
on queue
May you set up shop in
Heaven
'Fore the Devil knows
you're due"
(The Flyboy & The Kid, Rodney Crowell)
if you want to listen here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUaomJOAWi8
(you'll probably need to copy & paste into your browser)
if you want to listen here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUaomJOAWi8
(you'll probably need to copy & paste into your browser)
Recently made a quick jaunt over to Arizona: the main
purpose of the road trip was to teach a one-day session on Heritage Resource
laws & protection at Northern Arizona University (NAU). It was a month
earlier than most spring trips to Arid-zona (MLB Cactus League Spring Training
games start March 3), but it was well worth the “white line fever” and
driving-daze. My first stop was just down the road at UNM to umpire a college
women’s tennis match (Grand Canyon vs. UTEP);
"Ooh, here's to love
Here's to life
All the fair and tender
ladies
And the plain dirt
farmer's wife
Yeah, here's to you
Here's to me
Some ol' mad dog mountain
flyboy
And the kid from Tennessee"
Followed by full-speed-ahead to
Mesa/Gilbert and visiting Mom (she is 90 now) & Sisters for a few days. Of
course, there were some chore-lists that got worked through. Plus, the dreaded
hospitalization of a family member (Rudy Noriega, my nephew’s father-in-law)
was synched with my visit. Rudy has been battling Stage IV cancer; he is back
home now with hospice care. When I think of my journeys I realize they are
nothing compared to his: born in Peru, he emigrated here with his young family
and his son (Carlos) went onto a couple of space shuttle missions (including a
spacewalk) with NASA. How is that for a trip? Anyway, lots of
prayers-n-thoughts for Rudy & his family.
"May your nights be filled
with laughter
And your days with honest
work
May you wake up smelling
roses
When you're facedown in
the dirt
If you had the sense to
come in
When the storm clouds
start to grow
You wouldn't be my right
hand
And the best friend that I
know"
From the “Valley-Of-The-Sun” I made the quick trip up to
Flagstaff and got to share some time with participants NAU’s Park Ranger
Training Program (PRTP). *-OK, I also got welcomed by chance to an Irish Whiskey tasting competition (Luck-of-the-Irish?) Certainly refreshed my optimism regarding the future
protection of our special places (National Park areas).
"Ooh, here's to life
Here's to love
When your heart beats like
a lion
And your shoes fit like a
glove
Yeah, here's to you
Here's to me
Some ol' mad dog mountain
flyboy
And the kid from Tennessee"
It also occurred to me,
it is amazing
how much archeology and crime scene management have in common sometimes: early
during my basic course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center the lead
instructor asked if any in the class had studied archeology and two of us
raised a hand. He stated to the class that we'd make the best accident scene
investigation maps (and I remember thinking: "he obviously hasn't seen MY
maps). Turns out he'd been a grad student of Jesse Jennings at Univ. of Utah.
"May you always stay in
touch with the things
That keep you young
When you're staring at
injustice
May you never bite your
tongue
May the bear tracks in
your future
Find you downwind in a
glade
Where the grass as green
as absinthe
Comes in forty different
shades"
Fast-forward to last week: after teaching I was asked by the NAU/PRTP lead
instructor if I’d share my PowerPoint program on Heritage Resource Crime Scene
Investigation, as they'd be studying crime scene management this week. I was
happy to accommodate.
"Ooh, here's to love
Here's to life
All the fair and tender
ladies
And the old fishmonger's
wife
Yeah, here's to you
Here's to me
Some ol' mad dog mountain
flyboy
And the kid from Tennessee"
I returned to the “Land of Enchantment” in time for the annual State
SiteWatch Site Stewards Conference. It was held at the Maxwell Museum at UNM
this year, and had some great presentations on the professional use of metal
detectors in archaeological research (vice the hacks often shown on TV); the
forensics from Confederate burials post-Glorieta Battle (Civil War);
Paleo-Indian sites in the U.S. Southwest. I also received a great surprise,
that left me “Speechless.”
"Yeah, set 'em up, drinks
for free (*)
It's the mad dog mountain
flyboy
And the kid from Tennessee"
 |
| Gamin |
Watching the Westminster Kennel Club last night, I found myself cheering
for the Skye Terrier (Charlie). Not only because Meme’s family had & showed
them, but she & I had one too for 12-years; it was Justin’s 1st
dog. Ours was named “Gamin” and he was related to the only Skye to ever win
Westminster. Charlie didn’t win, he got
“Reserve,” or second-in-show. A Beagle named “Miss P” won: it was her night
(but, in the world of sport these days one never knows what results might
change after the “P” test). I miss Gamin, but congratulations to Miss P.
 |
Many of us involved with protecting our cultural patrimony
have been watching as the Islamic State has been allowing the desecration and
wholesale destruction of archaeological sites for profit. The below link has to
do with the middle men/the pipeline of traffickers. For those that say the
looting of heritage resources is a victimless crime (yes, there are those that
contend just that), I say: “You are wrong. It funds criminal organizations and
brutal acts of terrorism. May karma be with you…”
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31485439
"Here's to life, here's to love..." Many Blessings to you-n-yours…
"Here's to life, here's to love..." Many Blessings to you-n-yours…
