monument
valley
Monument
Valley is a place with an incredible 'ancientness' about it, as if nothing
here has changed for untold millions of years. It could just as easily
be a landscape of the far distant future, after a thermonuclear war has
wiped the Earth's surface clean of humanity. It's beauty is something from
a different kind of world, all right. It's easy to see how the Hopi and
Navajo developed such interesting mythologies, surrounded by such foreboding
sights such as this.
Monument
Valley has a mythological symbolism for me, as well. Mine was created by
John Ford and the Duke.
The
only signs of human life that I saw there were standing behind me when
I took this photo. Two Indian children, a boy and a girl, neither could
have been much older that ten or twelve. They sat at a folding table just
off the road, selling jewelry. I had already bought plenty at the roadside
tables outside of the Grand Canyon--- and in the Painted Desert--- and
at Keams Canyon, in the heart of Hopiland. I perused their merchandise,
but didn't buy any. They asked me for a Coke, and I only had one. I looked
at my little girl, six years old beside me, and I looked up this long,
dry, lonely highway--- and told them I couldn't spare it. I wasn't entirely
confident that my old warhorse '79 Monte Carlo was going to get us back
to civilization (since it had mysteriously overheated the day before) and
my daughter might need that one cold drink. I felt terrible about it the
rest of the day. But you gotta take care of your own first.
Of
course, I had some cold beer in the back, but I couldn't give them that.
You
can tell I took this picture on the fly. I was going to Durango, Colorado
that afternoon, and it was getting late. The wind was coming up, and it
looked like it might storm. I got up to Mexican Hat, Utah, and turned back
south towards Mexican Water, Arizona, there being no road directly east
to Cortez and through to Durango. The drive from Mexican Water to Mexican
Hat was harrowing. First, the wind was howling, blowing up a lot of dust.
Second, no human being (or seemingly any vertebrate life-form) has ever
set foot in this area, except to build the highway and then immediately
leave forever. And third, I was convinced the Monte Carlo was trying to
overheat. I began hearing a voice in my head, "Captain, we're losing the
warp engines! I canna keep 'em from going critical!" Come on, Scotty, you've
got to get us to the Arizona border. "Sir! The transporters are off-line!"
Great....
The
little First Officer asked me if we were going to die out here; she was
so relieved when I told her "no" that she immediately went to sleep.
The
lonely Starbase, uh, village of Mexican Water looked very, very good to
me when it came into view. Cancel Red Alert!
All text and photographs
1997,
Randal P. Dean
E-mail me at
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