Once we escaped the clutter of billboards, oil rigs, auto salvage yards and cookie cutter fast food eateries in the Farmington-Bloomfield area, we saw a huge looming, almost otherworldly land form in the hazy western horizon. Its silhouette was dark, starkly solitary, and almost brooding.<\/p>\n
It is known as Shiprock and indeed looked like a gigantic ship, impossibly frozen in a sea of desert. ( Photo by focalworld.com ) One story I heard was that to the Din\u00e8, it is the legendary great bird that brought them from the north to their present lands.\u00a0 We traveled on, the land rising to forested mountains, dropping again to bare sandstone cliffs of the Lukachukai Mountains. We were nearing our destination when suddenly without warning, the canyon opened visibly before us.<\/p>\n
On our first full day, we were immersed in the canyon on a journey with Beauty Way Jeep Tours https:\/\/beautywayjeeptours.com\/<\/a> when my watch stopped.\u00a0 Me, who was leader of the pack and so focused on dates, itinerary, agenda, checklists and movement of participants at specific intervals of time.\u00a0 But we were in some ways in \u201ctime without time\u201d and a wristwatch actually seemed like a superfluous anachronism.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t prepared for the spirit of the land next taking away my prescription glasses, but I didn\u2019t even miss them until hours later.<\/p>\n Kathryn Pamala, Cary Arden and Doug Conwell<\/p><\/div>\n The following day we were back in the canyon gathered around Kathryn Pemala who knelt before the web of her hand crafted loom, weaving threads of wool from her sheep into a multi-colored tapestry of wind, sunlight, stars and ancient stories of hope, tragedy, sadness and laughter.\u00a0 Kathryn lived on this family farm all her life, raised sheep and goats, grew fruit trees, corn and a family as had generations before.<\/p>\n \u201cI hear the songs and stories.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I weave,\u201d Kathryn told us.\u00a0 \u201cPlus it\u2019s good physical work.\u201d\u00a0 We came to hear her story, but also to help on the farm, so we got busy with physical work. One can feel an eternal return in the canyon, however\u2014a coming and going and coming again of countless seasons that have shaped both the land and the people who live within her protective embrace.\u00a0 It was hard not to feel a part of this immensity, to shed our limited physical skins and become a part of the place\u2014to Walk in Beauty, as the Din\u00e8 say.\u00a0 It was especially so on our last night as we overlooked the great spire of Spider Rock, full moon rising on the eastern horizon.<\/p>\n Oh, and that watch of mine that stopped?\u00a0 I took it to the jeweler who checked the battery and found nothing wrong and returned it to me ticking right along.\u00a0 And the glasses?\u00a0 On the second day, our group kindly stopped in the side canyon where I thought I might have dropped them, and we fanned out in a search party.\u00a0 Suddenly overhead, a red tailed hawk circled and sent out its screeching call, resonating against the canyon walls.<\/p>\n Soon after, the glasses were found where they had spent a night under the nearly full moon.\u00a0 \u201cNew vision,\u201d someone said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was late September 2016 and the planet was in its eternal autumnal dance of change.\u00a0 Eleven people including my nephew Greg and I were on an Earth Walks journey from Santa Fe westward to the 1,000-foot red sandstone canyons … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/earthwalks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Doug-Cary-Kathryn-Paymala-CdeCh-12-12016-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/earthwalks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Judith-Chaddick-Milton-Cooper-in-corn-field-Canyon-de-Ch-2016-225x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Dust flew, people sneezed, goats greedily munched the weeds we chopped and everyone chatted and chuckled.\u00a0 It was time to go all too soon, but we crammed into crowded jeeps amidst smiles, appreciation and promises to return next year.<\/p>\n