"A" is for Anasazi

It all started somewhere. Pretty much everybody agrees - but where?.

a) The Big Bang? Scientifically likely but ultimately unprovable.

b) Prime Mover? Philosophy, Aristotle's in fact, but still just so much intellectual speculation.

c) Eden? At best a myth designed to make a point - or many different points depending...

d) The entry point to the Fourth World from the three underworlds of the Navajo creation story?

e) Six miles from El Rito Campground on New Mexico State Road 559? Yep, that's it!

It's not like we haven't been given clues as to the importance of the land of Enchantment: The one and only guaranteed authentic (however involuntary) personal appearance by Extra Terrestrials in Roswell. What were they really looking for? The first atomic bomb explosion at the Trinity Site in White Sands. Why not pick someplace truly dispensable, like New Jersey.

The ETs and PhDs clearly were seeking "THE SOURCE" - or the humidity-free, sunny weather and largely unpopulated lands - but more likely "THE SOURCE". And now Mars and I have found it.




Not that we were looking for it. But New Mexico is the kind of place that you've just got to get out and walk around in to really know what's there. Which we did. And look for the signs - which sometimes are so obvious you have to wonder why no one noticed them before.

Next time we will start our trek at Mile Zero and hike slowly and observantly towards the freestanding mountaintop "E". With luck and good perception skills we should happen upon at least one of the first four letters of the alphabet and be that much closer to the start of it all.

We will keep you informed as events warrant.

("E" photo by Mars)