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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
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Published On: Apr 26, 2006 10:02 PM
From Deepfried to Petrified
Today I visited the Petrified Forest National
Park. Amazing place. Check out the photo galleries I set up of my
pictures here
(same place as always if you have it bookmarked).
As you can see, I was once again followed by ravens. These I believe were hungry, and were used to being fed by tourists. At least, I'd rather believe that than that I'm garnering that much of Odin's attention. I also indulged my obsession for petroglyphs, with excellent results -- those are some awesome pictures, apart from the overly-zoomed ones.
I met a nice German couple; they are from Heidelberg. Because of the nature of the park, we kept running into each other over and over again.
The National Park Service really does an amazing job. It's easy to forget that they don't just wear uniforms and charge admission and chat with visitors. They protect our national sacred places from the ravages of visitors. TONS of petrified wood are stolen each year from the park. They do their best to keep this from happening; to ensure that our children are able to learn about this amazing occurrence, apart from fairy tales:
Once upon a time there was a beautiful magical forest of trees. The land that the trees was standing on became covered in silty mud, which was full of minerals, and the trees became covered. The trees did not die, but rather exchanged the wood they were made of for the minerals in the silt, and can still be seen today!
Well, yes, they CAN still be seen today, but possibly not for much longer. We've got to give up this idea that we can own such treasures. Nature's not making any more pieces of petrified wood, at least not here. Those pieces that were made need to stay where they are so that everyone can enjoy them, not be taken home to be used as paperweights, or forgotten in the desk drawer.
For me what makes it worse is that it's perfectly legal to sell petrified wood that wasn't harvested within the park boundaries (I'm not sure exactly how they know, but that's their problem). In fact, go 500 feet outside the park gate and you come immediately to two gift shops selling petrified wood. Further down the road is a veritable petrified lumberyard, where you can actually buy almost any size you want, from a log to a twig.
It seems strange to me. I dunno. I remember being out here as a kid and getting petrified wood from a gift shop.
Sigh. Don't mind me. Just ranting. It was a beautiful place, and I highly recommend it to anyone passing through this way. And don't forget to thank the rangers for helping to preserve this unique and wonderful place.
As you can see, I was once again followed by ravens. These I believe were hungry, and were used to being fed by tourists. At least, I'd rather believe that than that I'm garnering that much of Odin's attention. I also indulged my obsession for petroglyphs, with excellent results -- those are some awesome pictures, apart from the overly-zoomed ones.
I met a nice German couple; they are from Heidelberg. Because of the nature of the park, we kept running into each other over and over again.
The National Park Service really does an amazing job. It's easy to forget that they don't just wear uniforms and charge admission and chat with visitors. They protect our national sacred places from the ravages of visitors. TONS of petrified wood are stolen each year from the park. They do their best to keep this from happening; to ensure that our children are able to learn about this amazing occurrence, apart from fairy tales:
Once upon a time there was a beautiful magical forest of trees. The land that the trees was standing on became covered in silty mud, which was full of minerals, and the trees became covered. The trees did not die, but rather exchanged the wood they were made of for the minerals in the silt, and can still be seen today!
Well, yes, they CAN still be seen today, but possibly not for much longer. We've got to give up this idea that we can own such treasures. Nature's not making any more pieces of petrified wood, at least not here. Those pieces that were made need to stay where they are so that everyone can enjoy them, not be taken home to be used as paperweights, or forgotten in the desk drawer.
For me what makes it worse is that it's perfectly legal to sell petrified wood that wasn't harvested within the park boundaries (I'm not sure exactly how they know, but that's their problem). In fact, go 500 feet outside the park gate and you come immediately to two gift shops selling petrified wood. Further down the road is a veritable petrified lumberyard, where you can actually buy almost any size you want, from a log to a twig.
It seems strange to me. I dunno. I remember being out here as a kid and getting petrified wood from a gift shop.
Sigh. Don't mind me. Just ranting. It was a beautiful place, and I highly recommend it to anyone passing through this way. And don't forget to thank the rangers for helping to preserve this unique and wonderful place.
Posted: Sat - May 29, 2004 at 05:11 PM