An Outdoor Life

Me? The West.

Today I started reading House of Rain, Tracing A Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest by Craig Childs. I’ve been debating off and on for the last few months about a trail run in Monument Valley. It’s an ultra race – 50 miles. But in reality, I’ll probably just do the 50K. I hope.

I’ve been reading books about the southwest these days. I lived in Arizona for over three years and now I can’t stop reading about anything west of the Mississippi.

I’ve always been fascinated with the West. Really, the American Northwest. However, I moved to Colorado in 2004 and then in 2012 moved to Tucson not knowing anything about the desert except that I could bike year-round. I learned a lot about the desert when I was there, but now I’m really studying it.

Sometimes it takes distance to learn and understand people and places.

Tonight I am reading about the Colorado Plateau, canyons, mesas, mountains at 13,000 feet, Anasazi, flash floods and geomorphology. Words that sound so western.

I want to be a Western American writer, Western American literature reader, and Western American Literature scholar. The third thing – I know – lofty.

But I’ve always had lofty goals. Sometimes I reach my goals and sometimes I fail miserably. I know what I like and what I need to learn. Tonight I’m just trying to learn why the Anasazi disappeared and to go on an adventure with Mr. Childs. First stop, Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico.