Mesa Verde

Cows are very important. Very. Were you aware of this? If you were not, you should be. Respect the cow. This is why...

Big Red was waiting bright and early as the clouds settled heavily over Crow Canyon. The faded white and red paint stood out against the vegetation of the grounds, signaling a change was to take place today. Doors, opened wide, we climbed into Big Red and were on our way to Mesa Verde, the richest archaeological site in North American (for sure) and arguably in the world. Up the winding roads we went, faster and faster as our master driver, Ted, led the way with an authority that comes only with years of experience. Soon we had climbed to the top of the Mesa and disembarked at the first site--Spruce Tree House (oddly named since there are no spruce trees; to poor discoverers were apparently not arborists...). From the look out point, we gazed in awe at the most amazing site I had ever seen. Words and pictures cannot do the experience justice as I took in the magnitude of the cliff dwelling house. The structure, though in ruins, had a magnificent aura that really spoke to all of us. Tessie, our new Pueblo friend from Santa Clara, was asked for her thoughts and I believe her response describes exactly how I felt about this aesthetic moment. A moment of silence passed as we waited for her wisdom, and then, without looking at any of us, she quietly answered, "I don't think as much as I feel while I am looking at this." I felt a sense of wonder for this civilization. And they were VERY civilized. I would not last even one moment in this culture as the hike down into the cliff dwelling was steep and I could only imagine what it could be like without the paved path we were trekking on. Once inside I could barely believe what masonry and dedication went into the building that stretched about 100 feet back into the cliff. The cliff dwellings only scratch the surface though, because as we began to explore, we also discovered the underground Kiva. The park service has beautifully restored the roof to one of the kivas at Spruce tree, so despite claustrophobic apprehension, down I went into the kiva, all the while feeling the presence of the past and marveling that about 5-7 people most likely shared sleeping quarters in the kiva to keep warm in the winters. Can you say crazy? But not as crazy as climbing back to the top of the Mesa. All I could think about was how in shape the Puebloeans must have been! I'm sure obesity was NOT an American problem then!

We traveled back in time then, viewing some basketmaker sites (pre-cliff dwelling) at the top of the mesa before heading to our last cliff dwelling site of the day, which I'm very proud of myself for climbing down and up to experience, and also acquired a new found respect for the cliff dwellers as they did NOT have sturdy ladders to climb as I did. They climbed in and out of Cliff Palace by chiseling handholds in the rock (!!!!). There was only one image I couldn't shake from my mind then...Women had to do that with BABIES on their backs. Ah! I barely like watching my nieces climb on the monkey bars (haha)! Yipes. (the ladder is VERY tiny in the upper left side. In the middle to lower right you can see the people about to climb up...and yes, I did climb up!)

But that still doesn't tell you why cows are so important, but this will. Can you believe that if two cowboys (ranchers actually) had not brought their cows to the valley to graze (in the 1800s) these dwellings may have remained uncovered for hundreds more years? Thanks to our lovely dinner hostess a 91 year old retired archaeologist, I learned this very valuable lesson. Man, cows, you really did us a favor this time. So I'm going to advocate with the chic-fil-a mascots--let's all eat more chicken.