Text:
CHACO CULTURE National Historical Park
New Mexico
US-4283257
#19226
This massive 5-story building is the center of a vast architectural complex which developed during the 9th through the 11th centuries in the four-corners region. Photographer-Russ Finley
NHS STAMP:
CHACO CULTURE NHS
JUL 26 2004
NAZEEZI, NM
I don't remember a whole lot of this road trip. I wonder if my dad or my sister do? I remember moments, like pictures in my mind But I've never really thought of myself as a photographic memory. I remember the drive to Chaco Culture. It was 20 or so miles of unpaved roads... I honestly thought the van we were in would fall apart. A lot of these sites in the middle of nowhere have been destroyed. When cattle ranchers and travelers were moving west they would remove the wood from the support beams and rooves to these large structures to use for firewood. So all buildings /ruins have those large gaping holes where the beams once were...Then the elements sneak in. And in time the ruins... become ruined. It eats away at you that when the people were building these ruins they never said "Someday years from now these will all be ruins." Just like we do not say that about our cities and what we build.
Favorite book:
Voltaire's Candide
Sent to REDACTED via postcrossing. So. This gentleman from Germany wanted a postcard of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I suppose it is an interest that is close to him because he apparently lives in close proximity to one. I went through some of the world heritage sites on the website and I learned that Chaco Canyon was listed. I have had this postcard for 12 years. This is one of MY postcards, from one of MY adventures. I went on a cross country road trip with my father and my sister. I got the card at the gift shop at Chaco Canyon and I got it stamped at the National Park Passport station while I was there. This postcard represented the history of my trip and a memento of the trip. I wrote about the trip there. I wrote about how the Chaco Canyon location was falling apart. I figured when I sent it..."Daaaaamn Tom. You really knocked that one out of the park." I honestly thought he would make it one of his favorites or something. That card has to be rare! It was such a pain in the ass to get to...it is one of the least visited national parks for a reason. This cat also wanted to know my favorite book...which I was happy to tell him.
So he got the card...and replied back with this...
I was floored. I read his short note (several times) and the first thing I thought was "Get a load of this guy..." I REALLY want to think something was lost in translation. Perhaps he did not mean for it to sound as rude as he did. But then again, if he liked the card enough he could have just asked me for my name. I think normally I would have eaten crow. I would have apologized for somehow slighting or being unfriendly to this stranger. Instead, I replied:
I love the card I received from you, and I love your stories! I work pretty hard finding just the right card to send to someone, too, and look forward to their responses...so I totally understand your "disgruntledness."
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know about your site. I enjoy it tremendously. However, I would LOVE it if you'd enlarge the writing side of the card just a bit. It's practically impossible to read (my eyesight is pretty bad, it's not the handwriting). I copy and paste it onto WORD, then enlarge it, but that of course makes the writing unclear, and the pleasure of reading your stories diminishes a bit.
Thanks so much!
Chris
So. Four years later. I typed up what is written on the card. I took your advice to heart and I have made it a point to provide text write ups of all the cards Ive sent. So that if someone wants to cut and paste it into a translator they might be able to. Ive started to work through some of my older writings too and get those typed up. Hope you are well. Sorry for the delay. Lol.
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