After the sun set, things got interesting. There was a lot
of action over at Dubya’s camp across the gully from us. Headlights from a
whole fleet of vehicles came on and lit up the whole park, then a procession of
black sedans and white trucks exited the park at high speed down the road to Amarillo. While all this
was going, on a distant lightning storm that appeared to be hanging over
Dubya’s compound (but was actually much farther away) lit up the sky in a
really eerie way. It reminded me of something from “The X Files” or “Close
Encounters of the Third Kind”. In my mind the plot line would go like this: an
alien spacecraft descends and abducts Bush. The world is kind of ambivalent
about that. So are the aliens. Then they change their minds and put him back.
The End.
What do you think?
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| The George W. Bush camping compound |
Another storm fired up on the western horizon in the wee
hours. Great flashes of soundless light woke me up, and gradually the thunder
started to rumble as the storm approached. Fearing a deluge I scramble to tie a
tarp over my tent to enhance the water damage clause on my camping insurance
and did a poor job. It was too small to do much good anyway, but the rain was
light and brief and I came to see it as a test by the Texas Rain Gods. What it
revealed is that I need to be better prepared for such a thing.
While I was fumbling with it the storm parked directly over
my head and let loose with some simultaneous blasts of light and sound that
were stupendous. One in particular was something I will never forget. We were
hit by a burst of intense light together with a crackle and a blast that nearly
knocked me over. It felt like a direct hit with a bomb that had no percussion. It
made my ears ring and I nearly wet my pants.
I bid farewell to my camping neighbour who is facing some
tribulations and big decisions in his life. He fell apart after his wife died
and is struggling to find a foothold. Scott is a really decent guy and I wish
him well. Good and bad fortune are not evenly distributed among us, it seems.
With the exception of one restricted region in the
southwest, Texas
has been very hospitable and friendly. I have changed my mind about it., That
said, it is finally time to get myself out of it.
 |
| The back of the "Welcome to Texas" sign. |
Hwy 87 takes a NW diagonal
from Amarillo all theway to Raton, New Mexico.
Gently rolling hills and the odd curve made it more interesting than much of
the riding we have done in Texas.
My nemesis the wind kicked up again and threw me around soon after crossing
into New Mexico.
The temperature dropped and dark clouds and rain shadows appeared on the screen
ahead of me.
 |
| An approaching storm. |
 |
| The Capulin volcano is a fairly recent (700 year) cinder cone. |
When I though rain was imminent I pulled under the roof of an
ancient and dilapidated service station at Capulin. Timing could not have been
better. What a storm! Punishing rain became a thunderous hail storm with stones
½ inch diameter. When the show was over a half hour later the ground was
thickly covered with hailstones, forcing me to wait for the slush to melt
before I could put myself back on the road. Within 20 minutes the temperature
rose from 7C back to 26C, the roads were dry and it was as if nothing had
happened. Still wearing my winter gloves, sweater and rain gear I entered the
visitor centre at Raton on an otherwise hot and summery day and tried to get my
bearings.
 |
| No, that's not the Rio Grande. It is Hwy 87. |
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| And as soon as the plow trucks come, I'll be on my way. |
This is in the vicinity of an exposure of the Cretaceous-
Tertiary (K-T) Boundary that was a motivating theme for this trip. (More
blather was written about this on the March 15 blog). My destination for
viewing this exposure was just over the New Mexico-Colorado border near Trinidad. Imagine my dumbfounded delight when the guide
at the centre said, “oh, you’re looking for the iridium layer? You can find
that in the park at the edge of town.” Not only is it well known in these parts,
it is handily accessible as well. She even gave me a little printed map to show
me the way.
I was very excited! Off we went, up a gravelly hill that The
Bruiser handled bravely, and around a corner, and…..
Yes!!
 |
| And there it is, Folks! |
 |
| The dust and pulverized rock that settled out of the atmosphere was primarily glass, melted from the asteroid impact. Over time it chemically altered to clay. When exposed to air and moisture it weathers to a white material. Fossils of dinosaurs and their neighbours are found in strata below this layer, but not in the younger strata above it. This indicates a mass extinction event. Life on earth changed as a result of it. |
Truly, this is a thing with extraordinary significance to
me. It was like visiting a shrine of some kind. What it represents in terms of
a history-determining event is staggering, yet it appears as nothing more than
a thin layer of clay.
The asteroid was like a 10 km wide assassin’s bullet that
changed the course of earth history.
Hmmm… there is a theme that has been explored before.
But that is the value of knowledge, I told my students. Erstwhile
mundane and common things become imbued with significance, and it empowers us to see the world that we
encounter as a limitless collection of deeply rich and meaningful
things with connections to innumerable elements of history and current condition. Life is enriched. Learning is good.
Bummer about the dinosaurs, though.
