Scouting and Shooting

People in the U.S. head to Egypt, China, Europe, and many other foreign locations to see examples of ancient history. For Arnie and me, while we think those are wonderful locations, we feel that so many here are missing what is right under their noses.

According to a 2010 issue of National Geographic News, “The question of who colonized the Americas, and when, has long been hotly debated. Traditionally, Native Americans are believed to have descended from northeast Asia, arriving over a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska some 12,000 years ago and then migrating across North and South America.”

That’s 10,000 B.C., or in modern parlance, B.C.E. (before current era). To put it in perspective, Ancient Greece was around loosely from the 8th to 6th century (not millenium) B.C.E. Or, many believe that the beginning of the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza was in 2,470 B.C.E.

And according to the article, archeologic discoveries in the California Baja suggest even earlier settlements.

We have many treasures in the U.S. with rock art and ancient ruins that speak to some of our early civilizations. We are in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced Shay) National Monument, a set of canyons that is second in size in the U.S. only to the Grand Canyon. Home to the Ancient Ones, as the Navajo call the Anasazi, for about 1,000 years beginning in 300 C.E. (current era), there are hundreds of sites containing ruins, some pretty well preserved, and rock art. Compared to other U.S. sites, this is “modern.” That said, it still holds a lot of mystery for many historians and archeologists.

For me, it is a very spiritual place, and one that I always love visiting. This is my sixth time here and Arnie’s third. Not only are there wonderful sites to visit, there are the patterns that nature and man produce, such as this road set amongst the Sage and other plants.

We always do final scouting before a workshop. After all, Mother Nature may have changed something, and it is a reminder to us of what features are at each of our locations, including plants, nooks and crannies, and other intimate features. As I was wandering with our scout-and-shoot participant, I saw this Yucca that begged to be turned into a black-and-white image.

We checked the weather, and the forecast was not for sunny skies. Well, didn’t I just finish a blog series on Blue Skies, Who Needs’em? Those stormy skies certainly add drama to a scene.

It was a good day, and we looked forward to the arrival of the rest of the group on the morrow.

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