Sept. 14, 2004 - 20:15 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Away To Play

Tired and silly tonight, both of them the good kind, I think.

An article by the Rocky Mountain News of today, in full:

Colo. adds 4th national park

"Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton designated Great Sand Dunes National Monument as Colorado's fourth national park on Monday, joining Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde and Black Canyon of the Gunnison."

"Adding the 100,000 acre Baca Ranch afforded protection for mountain streams and a huge aquifer under it all and added enough size and diversity to the monument to gain park status."

"The difference between a national park and national monument is:"

"A national park contains a variety of resources and encompasses land or water areas to provide adequate protection of the resources."

"A national monument preserves at least one nationally significant resource. It usually is smaller and lacks the diversity of attractions of a national park."

"Great Sand Dunes contains North America's highest dunes, rising more than 750 feet against the western flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The new park contains 30 square miles of dunes. It became a national monument in 1932."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

These dunes in the crook of the elbow of the Sangre de Cristos are completely out of place in the Rocky Mountain area. But they are there, unimaginable. I have read the explanation of why they exist, according the the experts. Seems like a combination of the direction of the winds, the crook in the mountains allows the dunes to exist. There are other explanations of why the sand is even there.

The San Luis Valley at that end is pretty bare and dry, the water underground far below. It is good potato country when the water can be found.

The GREAT thing was the addition of the 100,000 acre Baca Ranch with the water below it was, if not a miracle then a victory of common sense over money grubbing.

A while back there was a ? consortium ? that was trying to force their way into being allowed to drill for the water and sell it out of state. But that didn't happen, perhaps cooler heads in our legislature kept them out of the picture.

A flat land with the moutains looming above, fencing along the roads and not much else, an intersection appears and taking that road heading east toward the Sangre de Cristos eventually the dunes come into view and the Wild West becomes surreal. The dunes are immense in scope, and every foot of the 750 foot altitude was hard to plod through to get to the top. I'm not even sure that we did make it to the highest point in the dunes, but it was high enough to make us happy.

To make it there we had to drive through a town where the people were very poor, eking out a living from whatever they could turn their hand to. But they had innate dignity and self esteem. Not the braggadocio macho thing of today, but respecting one who comes in peace and treats them as compadres.

It makes me supremely happy to see not only the Great Sand Dunes become a national park, but also to know that the precious gold of the southwest is protected from the pumping mosquitos who press for money regardless to how they get it or who gets the short end of the deal and hurt deeply.

Tonight I sought good news and found it somewhere in the middle of the paper with a gorgeous color picture of the dunes and the mountains behind them. Then the comic section brought Ashleigh Brilliant to the fore. He said, "Being myself is a full-time job ~ But I'm thinking of going on strike."

I swear the man is looking over my shoulder every move I make.

Tired but happy, tonight this man is Away To Play . . . . . . .

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