Cabin Fever, Pueblos and the Four Corners

April 13, 2024

 

     I stopped in to visit with Gus and his missus last week.  The two of them have cabin fever.  They are tired of winter and anxious for spring to arrive.  They have plans for the garden and had a catalogue from Frey’s Hatchery in St Jacobs, Ontario.  They were looking at chicks and different breeds, along with turkeys and ring neck pheasants.  Luckily, they don’t have a chicken house and coop built, or they would be on the phone ordering some of those birds
 

     They had another brochure on the table.  It was from the US park service with great photos of beautiful places.  They had been thinking about the southwest.  There is the Four Corners area where Colorado and Utah and a couple of others join up.  I guess whoever drew up the state boundaries liked straight lines.  They probably have straight roads as well.  Around here, you just get around one corner in time to meet the next one.
   

     Along with the beautiful vistas, rocky headlands and pinyon juniper forests, there are the cliff dwellings.  According to the brochure, the Ancestral Puebloans lived there from BC up to about 1500AD.  The cliff dwellings were built around 1100AD to 1300AD.    There is also evidence that some of the dwellings were abandoned in the 12th and 13th centuries.  Multiple explanations include drier climate, more people moving into the area and increasing warfare.  Modern Puebloans live in the southwest, many in Arizona and New Mexico, and carry on some of the same traditions. Apparently, the term Anasazi, which many of us are familiar with, comes from the Navajo language and means “ancient enemy.”  Naturally, the modern Pueblo people object to the term.

     There appear to be a lot of pueblo ruins to visit with several parks in the general area.  I gather it is lightly populated with towns spread apart.  There are campsites, but not many motels.  Gus and his missus are thinking about tenting.  They belong to that rare breed who have survived this far into the twenty first century without a big truck and travel trailer.

     I pointed out how much money they would save with a big Canadian rig.  A trip to the Corners and back would take about ten days, and that’s is a lot of motels, and you won’t have to sleep in a tent with bare ground and rocks for a mattress when you reach your destination.  Gus agreed, but the missus was unconvinced.  She said she liked tenting and could not afford to drive 3000 miles at 10 miles per gallon.
   

     Gus and I thought a diesel truck would have the power and fuel economy needed for the long trip.  The modern diesel engine runs pretty cleanly and is surprisingly quiet, a marvel of modern technology.  Unfortunately, the Bush Wife has a computer and found the price of new trucks; say 120 thousand for a diesel.  Add another 30 thousand for the 45 foot camper.  So, for a cool 150, plus or minus, you can save on motels and visit pueblos.  When I left they were onto the Amazon looking at tents.

     Some people just will not accept good advice.

Ricky

PS.  When I reached home that day I recalled why the Four Corners seemed to ring a bell.  Back in the early 90’s, they had an outbreak of hantavirus related illnesses.  It was the first I had heard of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome.  As the name implies, the virus causes lung problems in humans, with something like a 30 percent fatality rate, especially before it was recognized.  It turns out that hantaviruses are a group and occur globally.  It is associated with rodents, frequently mice, who as the host species are unaffected.  There have not been a lot of cases in North America.

Typically, it occurs when someone cleans out an old building that has mice living in it.  The virus is present in mouse droppings and urine so when we sweep or vacuum, it gets into the air and we inhale it.  The best approach to this cleaning seems to be adding bleach, about ten percent, to water and spraying the whole area.  Let the bleach solution dry and wear a good mask when you clean up the mess.  I like to spray the area a couple of times just to be sure. 

 

If you live close to nature, there is no shame in having some mice.  They are cute, friendly and enjoy running across your bedspread in the dark.  It is best not to encourage them.

 

PPS.  Now this seems a bit far-fetched, but as they say, “Sure, I wasn't there, I swear I have an alibi, I heard it from a man who knows a fella’ who says it's true!”  (Gaelic Storm, Johnny Tarr).  Stop in at Earl’s hardware store, he has the CD.
 

You know Thor, of course, God of Thunder, big hammer, loud voice?  Well apparently on a bet, possible after some libations, he climbed the Empire State Building, in broad daylight, swung himself around three times and hurled his hammer westward.  Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico meet where the hammer landed.  Be sure to ask about it when you get there.

For useful information about Thor, the gods of Asgard and the goings on at Valhalla, please refer to The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, by Douglas Adams.