The Res

I spent my last night in Utah in a town named Bluff, population 300. There I met a  79 year old woman named Faye Belle with a weather worn face and crusty attitude. She ran a cafe, RV park and rented room; did it all alone and with only one hand. She proudly proclaimed her spartan lifestyle, showing off her faded, threadbare jeans. She drives 70 miles for groceries and parts for her business, putting it all on her skymiles card. She breaks away by scouting out deals on cruises and says she's been all over the world. I forgot to ask if she wore those jeans on her vacations. I want to grow up to be just like her.

Bluff, Utah

Northwest Arizona is Navajo reservation land. The gov sure did know what they were doing when they gave the tribes this land. It doesn't look like it supports much of anything being drier and dustier that what I drove through all the day before. Dirty trick, I say.

The first town of size I drove into was Chinle. When I stopped for gas I was accosted immediately by one begging Navajo woman and five begging dogs, ribs in plain view. I bought the dogs kippered beef, even gave the woman some but did not give her money. Chinle is sort of like this. Sure, it has Burger King, malls,a brand new sports complex and new government buildings, but it also has an alarming number of beaten mobile homes. The land is hardly more that bare dirt except along the roads where horses graze untethered and nobody seems to think that's odd. Stray dogs, stray horses...hmm. What really strikes me is the litter. Fortunately, all the towns on the Res don't look so bleak.

Chinle is the town where the road turns off to Canon de Chelly, a gem that the gov evidently didn't think had value when they signed this land over. Otherwise, surely they wouldn't have. The roads lead to overlooks where one can see canyon walls, formations and a green valley floor. There are some Anasazi ruins but it just isn't as much fun at a distance as it was back when one could still wander in and among the ruins in places like Mesa Verde. Modern day Native Americans sell their art, pottery, paintings and jewelry spread out on blankets at the overlook areas.

I asked a young native man about the hogans and if there was a significance in their being round. He said its easier to stack the logs in rounds. It makes sense to me when I look around and notice a dire shortage of trees in the area, especially tall ones. But there is something about the universe being in circles and the dirt floors bringing them closer to mother earth that is part of the tradition. Maybe the young aren't so much into the old tradition. There are lots of these around, though.