#3 of  the series.

I’d only met Joe Pachak once, and it was sad to hear that he had passed just a few months ago. But even in that brief encounter he left a lasting impression on me.

This Saturday, we drove up to Edge of the Cedars State Park where they were hosting an indigenous art fair and a memorial for him. His imprint is all over the visitors center. The stucco walls of the interior are covered with rock art he has painstakingly replicated, pulling you into the liminal spaces where his friends said he lived. A plain stairwell now alive with the mystery of the ancients, a high panel above the lights in the room maybe bearing down on you just a little bit. Outside, playful and thought-provoking sculptures adorn the grounds. The Sun Marker, in particular, celebrates the liminal space the solstices represent, harbingers of lighter days becoming darker days, but also hopeful messengers of brighter times ahead.

I think Joe will live on, maybe in the ravens who, according to those that knew him, always seemed to be nearby. But I digress…

The entrance “stone” for Bluff states that it was established in 650 A.D. The Mormons arrived in 1880, after an arduous journey from Cedar Flats, the only wagon train to ever travel eastward as I understand it. But the Chaco culture had established a community here dating back to 600 A.D. and constructed a public Great House sometime around 1100 A.D. So five centuries of occupation before even the Great House was constructed. The Mormons had nearly abandoned Bluff by 1930, apparently due to the short growing season and the overgrazing of cattle. Quickly becoming a town of “outlaws and misfits” as one writer puts it, Bluff has today evolved into a unique little community.

I like it.

And we have arrived! A leisurely 2700 miles through Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah. Not all who wander are lost, although I think we got close a couple of times.

Before we started our new stint, we connected up with the BEEC team. Kirsten, Carolyn, Sarah, Semira, and Molly all welcomed us in. And we have a brand-new volunteer joining, camping next door in his truck camper. I say “brand-new,” but this man has wandered these canyons for a couple decades, and we are excited to join him this month. And since Brandon is going to split the schedule with us, we have even more time to explore area and Visit with Respect.

So I’ll keep this post short as I attempt to transition from describing a traveling journey to perhaps a more spiritual and reflective one. It’s a challenge, partly because the days are full and flow by quickly, but also because I may entertain ideas and thoughts with which you may not agree or that may come across as more whimsical. There’s always a risk of sounding, well, silly.

But then again, when I started a blog I made a decision that, if nothing else, it’s just for me. A way to capture memories and the feelings that surround them.

So let’s see where this goes.