I never liked Roger

Bad cos it's work?


Or cos of the accident stuff?

Both, Deb. Right now, sitting is the hardest thing I have to do, and guess what happens at work. Also, I really don't like getting tied down to a schedule, though my hours are pretty flexible right now.

Most of us don't want to go to work.

It's a bloody lovely day here - I can tell that from my prison - my cell has a window that doesn't open.

Take it easy, Roger - lad!

Roger, you could sleep in the RV with us. If Osso comes along, she and I could sleep in one bed and Bob and you in the other. No hanky panky either way...or, I think we have a small tent, which I would love to sleep in as long as there aren't too many snakes or scorpions.

If you can't stay over night with us, I think that road might be too bumpy for you at least for another couple of months.

We'll find a way!

(Roger, take the bed close to the door, makes it easier to escape)

Walter! Shame on you, we would all be very nice to Roger. Maybe a few gags, but other than that........

Er, leave me out of this, Diane, much less devise bed arrangements. RV's are your and Dys' thing, and no doubt many other peoples', but not mine. I might explode in one on the road, much less stay in a small one with three people, even three friends; and Chaco is your place, which I'm basically glad to hear about and see photos of.

Were I to visit for a bit in my rental Lamborghini, the one with special tractor tires, I'm sure I could work up a trick or two to play on y'all.

Oh Osso, have we failed to inform you that our RV is a Lamborghini at heart?

Ah well, I hear you. Photos will be taken.

I ennvy you folks. Chaco Canyon just happens to be one of my very favorite places in the entire world.

Well for pity's sake, grab seaglass and come out. We'd love to see you.

Just be sure to rent a rugged car. The road is a washboard, which is the way most of us want it so that only people who are really serious about going there will make the effort.

Many of us will be heartbroken if and when the state decides to 'improve' the road--so many more sightseers will have easy access.

I know that road well. Last time I drove it was in a rented Olds Alero, believe it or not. Gave me a new respect for GM products. Several times I thought I had a flat tire. Got out, looked. No, just the effects of the road and the billowing clouds of dust rising all about us. Have to look out for those cattle guards, too, if you take a wrong turn.

Seaglass was enchanted by a group of Navajo boys driving a small herd of Indian ponies from a corral across the road towards some pasturage. Her biggest disappointment was not being able to snap a picture of that scene. Too much dust for one thing. And by the time she got camera unlimbered and climbed from the car, they were already out of sight, manes flying in the breeze.

I hope to hell they don't 'improve' that road. Too many city slicker tourists clambering over those old ruins now, as it is. I snapped a picture of a particularly interesting rock formation (well, it was interesting to me, anyway). And when the pic was developed and printed, wonder of wonders, I had photographed a ghost. There's a wisp of white quite clearly visible in the developed film which was not visible to the naked eye. Seaglass doesn't smoke and I didn't have a cigarette lit. There was no fog or mist that day, no campfire smoke. So where'd that will o' the wisp come from, huh? You ain't gonna tell me that canyon ain't haunted. And that's fine and as it should be.

Let's wait till after labor day. That way, we'll miss the grand opening of McDonalds Chaco.

Merry, there's no doubt that Chaco is haunted. Dys was there years ago before the visitor's center was built. It was late fall and he was the only one there. When he got up the next morning, there was a covering of snow and there he was, all alone in all that beauty. It makes me shiver to think of it.

Oh shiht, Roger, don't tell me there will really be a McDonald's near Chaco. Will it be out on the highway? Alright, I admit to being gullible especially about fossilized (what was it, a corn cob?) but McDonald's??? Don't get me started. Keep 'em in Farmington.

Right! Fossilized ear of corn.

You jest!

I certainly hope so.

Outside the boundaries of the national monument, of course, but highly visible.
























Of course I jest. Not enough traffic to justify even one golden arch. Note, though, that Cuba, NM does finally have it's own McDonalds.

Cuba? Man, the ubiquitous McD is like an alien invader, creeping into the smallest towns to destroy their innocence. How close to Chaco is Cuba? It isn't very far is it? Close enough for the trash to make its way down that bumpy road?

I was reading a few days ago, probably in the NYT's, that in Shanghai, fast food joints are considered fine dining. The writer said that he and his wife were turned away from the Shanghai Pizza Hut because they didn't have reservations. Blows the mind.

Well, Cuba is 100 miles south of here; the Chaco turn off is about 70 miles south. You could stock up on goodies on the way up.

Roger, I thought of you when I read this article. It could have been written for many of us on a2k who have aged along with loud music--We can't hear anymore!!!


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/12/fashion/12hearing.html?ex=1184904000&en=941001593842eb93&ei=5070