A Percussionist's Notebook

 One of our very special places is Bandelier National Monument. We backpacked here for the first time in 1974 and returned nearly every year into the late 80's. As I mentioned before, we celebrated our 50th anniversary with a trip to the area in 2019. We also celebrated our 24th one there during one of our backpacking trips. We were joined by another couple during this 7 day trip. I had packed a small bottle of champagne, a checkered table cloth, and a candle (which was not lit because of fire danger).  The guest list included our friends and one passerby. One of the places we visited in the back country was called 'Shrine of the Stone Lions'. Two large boulders in the shape of mountain lions lying together front paws outstretched. A 20 foot circle of upright boulders surrounding them. We had visited this shrine many times on our trips and each time there were always many religious offerings: antlers, feathers, personal items. After so many hundreds of years it was nice to ...

 I'm getting ready to take my not so annual trip to Picketwire Canyon. I have my solar charger, a new tablet, the new trail recorder, cameras, instant potatoes, water, and Spam. One minor setback was my tent. I have used a Camp 7, 1 man tent for years. It's small but roomy for a 1 man tent and it was well made. I recently loaned this tent to a friend who was going on a trip to the Tetons in Wyoming with 3 other guys. Following social distancing guidelines they decided for each to sleep in a separate tent. Unfortunately the guy (not my friend) who used my tent had the subtlety of a porcupine in a balloon factory.  My tent was returned with a broken section of  the front pole assembly. This tent uses only a front and rear pole assembly and both are put under extreme tension when inserted into the tent. If the sections are not fully inserted into each other then it's very easy to break that section. This is what the tent is supposed to look like when properly assembled. This...

 I have always enjoyed maps and orienteering, particularly when backpacking and especially when going off trail. Since so many of our trips involved exploring prehistoric Native American sites and photographing petroglyphs, reading and using a map and compass gave us the freedom to see so much more than just staying on a given trail. Some of the National Parks require staying on designated trails for personal safety and/or protecting the environment, but many other places have fewer restrictions. When GPS became available I purchased a Garmin handheld device to record my trips and record specific sites (petroglyph panels, rock shelters). This was a tremendous advantage since I was able to locate these sites on a topo map for future visits. With Garmin's system I found that I was always having to purchase software whenever I had to upgrade computers (Windows Vista, Windows 10) or use my Mac. Recently I found an app that I could use on my phone that would sync to any of my computers....

Recently there was a news article concerning a protest march in New Mexico in which some of the marchers tried to topple a statue of Juan de Onate. He was a Conquistador who in 1599 ordered a massacre of the Acoma Pueblo killing hundreds of the residents and sentencing the remaining men and women to 20 yrs. of servitude. As an added act of inhumanity he ordered that each man would have a foot cut off. This caused much anger and hatred to the Native American population and eventually to the Spanish Crown. As I watched the scene on TV, I was reminded of another act of anger towards this man that happened as much as 200-400 years ago. While in New Mexico last year, my wife and I toured the Mesa Prieta petroglyph site. One particular petroglyph was an outline of a man with a cross on his shoulder and his right leg mutilated. The tour guide referenced the story of Juan de Onate and took us to this image.  This seems to be a more historically correct tribute to this man than the statue...