Thursday, April 28, 2016

THE ZOZOBRA INCIDENT Due for Re-release by DSP Publications in Fall 2016

As some of you know, the BJ Vinson mystery novels have been picked up by DSP Publications, an imprint of Dreamspinner Press. The first book, THE ZOZOBRA INCIDENT is due out this fall. A specific date hasn’t been set but is anticipated to be in September. THE BISTI BUSINESS and THE CITY OF ROCKS will follow one after the other approximately four months apart. Having recently completed the second edit of ZOZOBRA with Dreamspinner’s editorial staff, I’d like to post a particular scene from that novel. What follows occurs at the beginning of Chapter 3, and is the first time our confidential investigator meets Paul Barton, a young man who will become intimately involved with both BJ, personally, and the difficult and deadly case he is working on.

The following is from the second draft of the novel, which is a "Track Changes" document. Some of the edited changes show up as blue text. I thought that might be interesting for some of you, so it remains in the post.
*****
THE ZOZOBRA INCIDENT

I relaxed on a chaise lounge amid the clashing odors of chlorine from the pool and the summer roses climbing the whitewashed adobe walls as I eyed the North Valley Country Club’s new lifeguard. Lean, loose-limbed, and broad shouldered, he had the ideal swimmer’s build, reminding me somewhat of Del, even though Del was a Teutonic blue-eyed blond, whereas this young man was bronzed and brunette, and his eyes were likely brown. Up close, the dark shape on the left pec would probably morph into a small tattoo. Spandex seldom did anything for me, but his thigh-hugging, well-filled trunks were… interesting.
As the place was deserted at this early hour except for the two of us, the lifeguard turned pool boy and policed the area, scooping fallen leaves and debris from the water with one of those baskets mounted on a long aluminum pole. He worked his way to my side and netted a soggy candy wrapper.
“Kids,” he observed in a pleasant baritone.
Seized by an unexpected need that was 90 percent loneliness, I did something I had not done in twelve long months—reacted to the good-looking guy. Flustered, I fumbled for the orange juice on a table beside me and overturned my glass.
He knelt to recover the tumbler, holding it up and offering to get me another.
Yep, brown eyes, deep and soulful. Dangerous eyes on one so young. He couldn’t be more than twenty. The dark spot above the nipple was a small dragon.
“No, thanks. Nothing left but ice cubes, anyway. But I appreciate your offer, uh….”
“Paul. Paul Barton.”
“Paul.” I was surprised by the family name. There was a strong Latin look about him. Must be the mother’s blood.
“Anytime.”
He rose, our eyes locked—and the penny dropped. This was the young man I had seen dancing so energetically at the C&W last night. He broke first, raking me with his intense gaze. His lips twitched as he zeroed in on a two-inch scar on my inner right thigh. My body looked pretty good except for that purple, puckered blemish. At first I’d been spooked by Del’s reaction to the pockmark and tried to hide it from the world. But after putting up with that foolishness for six months, I said to hell with it. The world was full of imperfections, and it could deal with this one too.
“Bullet wound,” I said.
“Damn, I’ll bet that hurt.”
My throat closed up at his casual treatment of the wound. Maybe I wasn’t as blasé as I thought. “Like you wouldn’t believe. That’s why I swim early in the morning. Therapy.”
“Swimming’s the best exercise in the world,” he declared like a true water bug. “And you were really going at it a few minutes ago. Looked pretty good out there.”
“Thanks.”
As Paul turned back to the pool, a cell phone on a nearby table piped the first line of “Dixie.” The conversation was short. He admitted to someone named Jill that he got off work at five but said he’d decided to cool it this evening, turning down what was obviously an offer of some sort. Was it coincidental he was watching me throughout the entire brief conversation?

*****
There's definitely something going on here. It'll be nice to become better acquainted with this hunky Latin guy.

The cover art of the new release will be different, and there are a few tweaks in the prose (as you can see from the blue text above), so I’m really anxious to see the final product.

Thanks for being readers… and keep up the good work. Let me know what you think at dontravis21@gmail.com.

New posts published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.



Thursday, April 21, 2016

Don Travis: Rio Puerco Aphrodite- Conclusion, A Short Story

Don Travis: Rio Puerco Aphrodite- Conclusion, A Short Story: More of the Rio Puerco Valley Courtesy of geoinfo.nmt.edu Last week, we met Mack Macklerod , an Albuquerque engineer on vacation in th...

Rio Puerco Aphrodite- Conclusion, A Short Story

More of the Rio Puerco Valley
Courtesy of geoinfo.nmt.edu
Last week, we met Mack Macklerod, an Albuquerque engineer on vacation in the Rio Puerco Valley just as a vision seemed to rise from the waters of the Rio Puerco... to his mind, a local Aphrodite in need of help. Mack is perfectly willing to go to her aid, but circumstances dictate that they spend the night together in his camp beside the river. Let’s see what comes after a night of energetic love-making in the conclusion. I’ve included the closing chapters of last week’s post to ground us in the story again.

*****
RIO PUERCO APHRODITE (Conclusion)

I’d claimed I wasn’t a savage, but I morphed into one as soon as she turned to me in the tight confines of the sleeping bag and planted a wet kiss on my mouth. I’ve had my share of sex, but no one had ever given me a ride like Linsey. And she barely let me get my wind back before she came for a second helping. I went to sleep with her murmuring “Thank you” in my ear.
Sometime later, I came half-awake as she started squirming around.
“Sorry,” she said. “Call of nature. And it can’t be denied.
The campfire was dead, but she was silhouetted against a starlit sky as she performed a delicate dance pulling on her shorts and tank top.
“Brrr!” she said. “Can I borrow your boots and parka?”
“Sure. You don’t have to be bashful. I won’t peek. I’m going back to sleep.”
“Thanks, cowboy, but I like my privacy. I’ll go over by the Jeep.”
I was almost back to sleep when a common ordinary noise I’d heard a thousand times brought me upright in the fart sack. The sound of an engine struggling to turn over and catch. Disoriented, I reached for my keys where she’d thrown them last night on my pack. They were there. I shook my head, trying to make sense of things. Had someone driven in at this time of night?
Then the engine caught, and I recognized the sound of my own vehicle. I held the keyring up to the starlight. It didn’t take long to realize that the long, distinctive key to the Wrangler was missing.
I came up out of the bag and scrambled to find my boots.
My boots! She had them. As she did my flashlight and my vehicle. Bright lights stabbed the night, blinding me and revealing my nakedness. I thought I caught a wolf whistle just before the Jeep slammed into gear and began moving.
Infuriated, I tried to give chase, but was reduced to hurling rocks at the retreating vehicle. Through a red haze of anger, I realized to give chase barefoot in the darkness was to invite cutting up my feet and possibly crippling myself. It was going to be hard to maneuver the rocks and weeds when the sun came up. In the dark, it was impossible.
Still muttering to myself, I crawled back into the sleeping bag for some warmth. No way would I get any more sleep this night.


But I must have because I woke later that morning to a clear, beautiful day. Then remembering what had happened a few hours earlier, I charged out of the bag swearing a blue streak. After venting my rage, I settled down and accepted my situation. It might be days before anyone wandered within hailing distance. I’d have to figure out how to save myself.
My backpack gave me a couple of pair of thick socks to put on my feet to make walking easier. But this volcanic rock would soon shred wool socks to pieces. So I sacrificed my backpack by cutting out two hunks of canvas to fashion into sandals. I always carried spare laces, so I had a way to bind them to my feet. That took an hour, but I had a little mobility now. Enough so that I could at least try to walk back up to the mesa where there would be more people moving about.
I had just finished eating a breakfast of cold cereal—that I didn’t really want but ate to keep up my strength—when I caught the sound of a helicopter. I made my careful way to the river bank and spotted the craft high in the western sky. Although there was little chance they’d see me, I waved my arms until they were out of sight.
An environmentalist to the end, I hid my things in a clump of juniper, keeping only those items I needed for survival… such as my half-full canteen. The Rio Puerco is a dirty river, meaning that it carries a high amount of suspended particulate matter. Nonetheless, I would have to fill my canteen before starting on my difficult journey.
As I knelt at the riverbank to accomplish that chore, a horrendous racket momentarily transfixed me. I twisted around in time to see an olive green helicopter clear the mound behind me and pass overhead so close that the wash from the rotor toppled me over. I caught myself with my right hand, but the canteen became dislodged and began to float away. I recovered my balance and grabbed at the strap, but it eluded me and went on its merry way to join the waters of the Rio Grande.
The loud, whacking noises persisted, drawing my attention back to the chopper. The machine now hovered twenty feet above the swift-moving river. The big white letters on the side spelling out the word “Police” were reassuring until two men in camouflage gear appeared at the rear door bearing mean-looking rifles. One of them spoke into something at his mouth.
“On the ground now, Haynes!” ordered an amplified voice struggling to be heard over the roar of the big machine’s motor.
I waved my arms. “I’m not—”
“Now!” the voice roared, clearly audible now. “Or we open fire!”
I dropped into the mud and had to support my torso on my hands to keep my head out of the water. I heard rather than saw the two men splash into the shallow river and slosh toward me. In a moment one stood on each side of me. Arms caught me beneath the shoulders and hauled me to a sitting position. Now my butt was in the water.
“Where are your weapons?” one man demanded as he turned to give a thumbs-up signal to the helicopter hovering over the river. The machine immediately whacked its noisy way off to the north.
I blinked into the face of the speaker, a weathered man with a hawk nose who carried an air of authority. “Weapons? I don’t have any.”
“Yeah, right. Take a look, Gilpin.”
His companion took time to cuff my hands behind my back before complying.
“W-who are you, and why are you holding me prisoner?” I struggled to put some strength in my voice.
“Sergeant Joe Mora of the New Mexico State Police. And you know damned well why you’re in cuffs, Hastings.”
“Hastings? Who’s Hastings.”
“You are, and don’t try to deny it. Where's your partner?”
“What partner? And my name’s not Hastings. It’s Macklerod.”
“Right, and that’s not your red Nissan Xterra disabled in the middle of Leaping Frog Arroyo a mile north, either. Right?”
“That’s right. My Jeep Wrangler’s somewhere on the way back on its way to Albuquerque or wherever with the woman who stole it last night.”
It’s hard to sound indignant when telling a take-charge, go-get-um cop you got snookered by a pretty woman.
One of the two men dug around in my pocket and extracted my wallet. A moment later, he confirmed my ID said I was Macklerod.
Mora released my hands from the manacles. “Okay, get up.”
I rose and started trying to swipe mud off my face and clothing.
“Hands up. Hold still.”
“But you have my—”
“IDs can be phonied.” He held up a photograph, stared at it, and then transferred his steely-eyed stare to me. “Okay, so you aren’t Julian Hastings. Put your hands down and tell me what happened.
During the telling of my tale, we heard the chopper clatter back and land nearby. Another couple of officers approached through the trees as I finished.
“Found Hastings in the Nissan. Dead.”
Mora relaxed a bit. “Shot?”
The officer who’s helmet had the letters P-I-L-O-T painted on it nodded. “Yep. The witnesses were right. The guard shot him during the escape, but why didn’t Breckers leave him at a hospital somewhere. I didn’t have her pegged as a callous killer.”
“She’s a trained nurse, remember. Maybe she was going to treat him herself. Besides, they were being pushed hard. APD wasn’t far behind her until she finally gave them the slip in Rio Rancho.”
“Breckers?” I asked. “Was her first name Linsey?”
All four law enforcement officers turned their attention back to me.
“That’s the name she gave me, anyway.” I explained.
“Yeah, Linsey Breckers. That’s the name she’s going by now. Who knows what her real one is.”
“What’s she done?”
Mora ignored me and turned away to take care of the business of broadcasting a description of my vehicle, but his headset wouldn’t reach, so he snared the pilot to give him some altitude in order to accomplish that chore.
Before leaving he turned back and answered my question. “Jewelry store heist. One that turned deadly. Hastings shot the guard when he blundered in on the scene from a coffee break. But the guard got off a round and apparently hit his killer. Tit for tat, I guess. Was Breckers carrying anything when she showed up on your doorstep?”
I frowned in concentration. “Yeah. She had a bag. You know, the usual kind women carry. It had a shoulder strap.” I paused. “It wasn’t that big. Maybe 8x12.”
“Doesn’t take much to carry a million dollars’ worth of diamonds and rubies and gold,” the pilot responded.”


I cast nervous eyes skyward as the helicopter lifted off and gained some altitude. I needed a ride out of this joint, but Mora wouldn’t leave his own men stranded here, would he?
As I puzzled over this, one of the remaining two state troopers wearing a name tag reading Wilson grabbed me to identify anything Linsey Breckers had touched. Unfortunately, I’m a neat camper and the mess gear she’d eaten from was already sand-scoured and washed clean. When he learned she’d spent the night—or part of one, anyway—in my sleeping bag, Wilson confiscated the sack so the lab could look for DNA. Oh, lord! What else would he find in there after our energetic romps?
Eventually the state police were finished on the Rio Puerco and condescended to give me a lift to their office in Albuquerque. No one seemed inclined to offer me a ride to my house, so I called a taxi.
As I was paying the cab driver, my neighbors, Dennis and Bunny Wharton came flying out of their house and halted abruptly on their way to the orange Chevy Blazer sitting in their drive.
“Mack! You’re okay?” Dennis shouted.
I dropped my gear on the driveway and walked to meet them.“Yeah. Shook up, but okay. Why?”
“We got a phone call a few minutes ago saying you were stranded over in the Rio Puerco.”
I felt my eyebrows climb. “You did? Who called?”
Bunny spoke up. “Some woman. She didn’t identify herself. Just said you were stranded and needed help. There wasn’t any caller ID. Blocked, it said.”
“How long ago?”
“Not more than five minutes. I just took the time to check the computer for your email message before heading out to find you.”
Dennis and I habitually informed one another of our camping plans whenever we went off alone on a jaunt. Our emails usually included a Google Earth map of our planned route.
Goosebumps prickled my back. Promising an explanation later, I raced for the front door. I fumbled my way inside and checked every room. No one was there, but someone had been.
Linsey had taken time to heat one of the Healthy Choice frozen dinners in my freezer—and confiscate a couple of others for the road. She’d also left me a note on the kitchen counter.

Lovely home. Didn’t see any sign of a woman in your life, though. Shame, you’re so good at taking care of one. Wish I’d met you before… Well, before.
You’ll find your Jeep in the garage, if you haven’t already. Undamaged and a bit cleaner than I found it. Used the garage opener to gain access to your house. You really should install a home alarm system for frustrate people like me.
Thanks for your help, even if it was unwilling help. Wish things could be different. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll look up and there I’ll be, standing right in front of you with a big smile on my face. And there would be if my eyes were looking at you.
For the record, I didn’t simply abandon Julian. He kept insisting he’d be okay until we reached a safe spot. I should have suspected he was hurt worse than he thought when he fell silent. I’ll always feel guilty about not halting—even in plain sight of the police—and helping him survive.
I didn’t abandon you, either. I took the liberty of getting your neighbor’s phone number from your Rolodex. I’ll call them later when it’s safe to do so and let them know you need help.
                                                Love…Linsey

The Jeep Wrangler sat in the garage scrubbed cleaner than it had been in some time. She’d gotten my address from the insurance card in the glove box and put my car where the cops would never have found it. They’d be scouring the roads and highways thinking she was fleeing in my vehicle. But it was hidden in my garage before the police helicopter ever found me. How had she made her way from my house to wherever? She was a clever gal who apparently found a way.
I wrestled with my conscience for a good quarter of an hour before concluding I needed to turn the note over the police. But I was tired and needed sleep. I’d do it after I snatched a few hours of zzzzs.

*****
Was that what you expected for the concluding part of the story? It wasn’t for me… and I wrote it. It’s a case of characters grappling control from the author’s hand and doing whatever they want. It seems that way sometimes, at any rate.

I hope you enjoyed this little tale. Let me know what you think of it at dontravis21@gmail.com.


New posts published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Don Travis: Rio Puerco Aphrodite- Part 1, A Short Story

Don Travis: Rio Puerco Aphrodite- Part 1, A Short Story: Last week’s blog was about a trip I took to the Rio Puerco Valley a few weeks back, discovering for myself that one didn’t have to drive hu...

Rio Puerco Aphrodite- Part 1, A Short Story

Last week’s blog was about a trip I took to the Rio Puerco Valley a few weeks back, discovering for myself that one didn’t have to drive hundreds of miles to find hoodoos and broken bluffs. That trip inspired the following short story. Unfortunately, it grew to the point where I need to break it in half. So we’ll get he opening of the story this week and the conclusion next week. I hope you enjoy the tale.
*****
The Rio Puerco with Cabezon Peak
in the background
Photo Courtesy of geoinfo.nmt.edu
RIO PUERCO APHRODITE

She was just there. Suddenly. Unaccountably. Standing motionless twenty yards away like a Greek Aphrodite risen from the sea foam. Or this case from the Rio Puerco, which translates into Pig River, giving the illusion an ironic twist. Even clad in short shorts, halter, and canvas walking shoes—inappropriate for the environment—the erotic image still lingered.
I had been perfectly content to be alone in this rugged section of the Rio Puerco Valley. So far as I knew, I was the only soul in this volcanic wasteland served by the ephemeral Rio Puerco, even though not more than twenty miles to the east lay Rio Rancho and Albuquerque. I say ephemeral because that’s what they call a river without streamflow for a good part of the year. At the moment, it was semi-full of water flowing peacefully past my campsite on its journey south to join the Rio Grande somewhere below Belen.
The population of my little Eden doubled when the blonde-tressed, alabaster statue came alive and stumbled toward me with a delicate hand shading her blue eyes. “Thank God! Can you help me?” she asked in a throaty alto.
I rose from where I had been cleaning my solar cook stove to face her. “If I can, ma’am. What’s the problem?”
“I’m stranded. I need a ride back to Albuquerque.”
“Well, sure. I’ll be happy to help you.” I frowned. “How’d you get here? I mean, where’s your vehicle. If it conked out, maybe I can get it running. I’m a decent home garage mechanic.” I clamped my mouth shut to keep from babbling on.
“About a mile north, but don’t bother. The engine froze, and there’s oil all over the ground.”
“Must have high-grounded and tore out the oil pan.”
“I guess.” She glanced at my Jeep Wrangler in the near distance. “But your car works all right, doesn’t it?”
I saw the puzzlement in her eyes and explained why the vehicle was parked so far from where I’d made camp. “The Rio Puerco has a reputation for sudden flooding, and I don’t want my lifeline to civilization to be caught in one.”
“Oh.”
“I’m happy to help, but it’s a little late to tackle the road back to town.”
She turned to glance west where the low-hanging sun was painting a brilliant landscape for the folks of New Mexico. “We should be able to make it.”
I shrugged and reasoned with her. “The best road back to town is north, the way you came in. And you tore out the bottom of your car in broad daylight.”
“Can’t go that way. It’s blocked. My dead Nissan is sitting right in the middle of the road in a nasty wash.”
“Well, there you go. I’m not about to tackle the south road this time of day. We’d lose the light before we even get to the bad spots in the road. You’ll just have to stay the night, and we’ll start out early in the morning.”
An irritated look flashed across her features for a moment. “I guess you’re right. Does your cell phone have any bars? Mine’s useless.”
“So’s mine. Don’t worry. I’m not a savage. You’ll be safe with me. My name’s Mack, by the way. Mack Macklerod.”
She smiled and became beautiful. “Linsey. Is Mack your Christian name or a takeoff on your family name?”
“It’s Russell, but everyone calls me Mack.”
“Well, Mack. Do you have any food left?”


The evening was enchanting… at least for me. And she seemed to loosen up and begin to enjoy herself once she accepted the idea she was here for the night. Her low voice was enchanting, soft on the ear. Her laughter floated away on the night breeze. The sight of her moving by the light of the campfire reminded me I was a man.
She asked lots of questions and soon knew I was a civil engineer roughing it on vacation, divorced with no kids, and pretty well satisfied with my life as it was. But I learned very little about Linsey. In a way, that was appropriate for a Greek goddess who had risen from the waters of the river. I did learn there was no one in her life at the moment, yet the way she said it left me wondering if that was really true. Or perhaps it was a relationship that had ended abruptly in the recent past.
The days might be hot in the Rio Puerco Valley, but the nights are quite chilly. As soon as old Sol signed off on his light show, the temperature dropped significantly. I offered to get a spare jacket out of the Jeep, but she said she needed a walk. I tossed her my keys and watched the glow of the flashlight I’d loaned her bounce its uncertain way to where the jeep was parked.
A short time later, she returned with my jacket thrown across her shoulders and hanging halfway down her long, slender legs. She tossed my keys on my pack and sat down beside me.
“Thanks. You’re a life saver.”
Linsey had apparently had a difficult day because her lids began drooping soon thereafter. When I offered her my sleeping bag, she gratefully accepted, but protested when I said I’d wrap up in a blanket beside the fire. We’d both fit in the sack, she insisted. And when she stood to strip off the shorts and halter before climbing into the bag in brief panties and skimpy bra, I lost the urge to protest.
I’d claimed I wasn’t a savage, but I turned into one as soon as she turned to me in the tight confines of the sleeping bag and planted a wet kiss on my mouth. I’ve had my share of sex but no one had ever given me a ride like Linsey. And she barely let me get my wind back before she came for a second helping. I went to sleep with her murmuring “Thank you” in my ear.
Sometime later, I came half-awake as she started squirming around.
“Sorry,” she said. “Call of nature. And it can’t be denied.
The campfire was dead, but she was silhouetted against a starlit sky as she performed a delicate dance pulling on her shorts and tank top.
“Brrr!” she said. “Can I borrow your boots and parka?”
“Sure. You don’t have to be bashful. I won’t peek. I’m going back to sleep.”

“Thanks, cowboy, but I like my privacy. I’ll go over by the Jeep.”
*****
Where is this going? Are we seeing the beginning of a love story? Or is this a brief meeting, giving two people fleeting insights into themselves. We’ll find out next week.

Thanks for being a reader. As regular readers of this blog know, I’m a fan of anyone who takes the time to read.
Feel free to contact me at dontravis21@gmail.com.


New posts published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.

Thursday, April 7, 2016

A Short Journey to Otherworld, New Mexico



This blog was originally intended to extol the beauty and marvels of this great State of New Mexico, but over time has wandered into many other fields, such as last week’s post highlighting the faults and foibles of one Don Travis. This week, I’d like to share a little more about our state.

One of my favorite spots… aside from the Valles Caldera area, which is extra, extra special—remains the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, an area of around sixty square miles in the badlands south of Farmington. Its otherworldly appearance inspired me to write a novel featuring the area, which is appropriately called The Bisti Business. The book is off the shelves at the moment, but Dreamspinner Press has picked up the BJ Vinson mystery novels (of which this is one). I just completed an edit of the first, The Zozobra Incident, for the publisher, and although the release date isn’t yet set, it’s expected to be sometime in September. Bisti will follow that one by about three months, and the third as yet unpublished book in the line, The City of Rocks, will follow the second one by about three months.

But back to my tale. While I love the area and the spooky rock formations of Bisti, it is such a long trip from Albuquerque that I haven’t been back lately.  So imagine my surprise, when my photographer/geologist/computer guru neighbor and friend, Joe Bridwell, told me about some hoodoos lying just west of Rio Rancho. Folks, that's no more than fifty miles from where we were. Now Joe has traipsed this country both by foot and by vehicle far more than I and is totally fascinated by the Bisti hoodoos. Any hoodoos. I should have known better, but I opened my mouth anyway.

“Rio Rancho. Our Rio Rancho. The one across the river and up the way?”
“That’s the one.”
“Don’t believe it,” I scoffed. “Hoodoos are up in the badlands country.”

Never one to permit a challenge to his veracity, Joe plopped me in his four-wheel drive Nissan SUV and headed west at breakneck speed. Now, I don’t entirely deserve credit for the trip for two reasons: Joe just spent an immense amount of money on a new camera he wanted to try out, and he had convinced himself by studying Google Earth Landsat photographs he’d discovered three new hoodoos in that area simply by looking at shadows.

At any rate, we raced to Rio Rancho, sped through the town on Northern Boulevard until we ran out of road, turned right, jogged left and somehow headed west to the Rio Puerco country. And sure enough, as we dropped off the mesa a whole new world appeared. There were distant buttes rising like monoliths from the desert floor. Broken country... not like badlands, but getting closer.

Then to my delight and amazement, we came upon an area of real hoodoos carved by wind and rain and time. For those of you unfamiliar with hoodoos, they are eroded columns of softer stone and shale capped by stone of a harder material (sandstone, for example) which often take the shape of flat dishs or French berets. These produce very exotic-looking images which remain with the viewer for a long time.

After feasting our eyes on a dozen or so of these geological wonders, we spotted a big column of rock about a half mile to the south which looked to be what threw the shadows on the Google Earth photos. On closer inspection, that proved to be the case. Joe identified the projections at the edge of the rock shelf as hoodoos, but they appear to me to be rock columns rather than hoodoos. Remember, he’s the geologist, and I’m the writer. Nonetheless, our dispute remains unresolved. Joe captured a magnificent shot of the formation with its stone pillars in the foreground with the night sky in the background. So tell me what you think. Are they hoodoos or not?
 
Courtesy: Dr. Joseph Bridwell, Rio Puerco Hoodoos
 *****
Thanks for reading. I really appreciate someone who takes her or his time to read something of mine… or something of anyone’s. Readers are absolutely necessary for the orderly function of our world.

Feel free to lodge your comments at dontravis21@gmail.com. I’d be interested to know if you consider the spires in the photograph to be hoodoos or not.


New Posts published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.

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