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Show THE ZEPHYR OCTOBER 1995 PAGE 26 a Behind the Rocks ORGANICALLY GROWN VEGETABLES By Mary Grizzard I IF KIRAN WERE A PUMPKIN, HED LOOK LIKE THIS. THE FARMERS MARKET WILL REMAIN OPEN ON SATURDAYS ONLY UNTIL 'MOAB FREEZES OVER. From the Heart of Texas to the Heart of the Universe ..Some Thoughts on Public Land Years ago a friend of mine christened the Four Comers region The Heart of the Universe." No other place on the planet could take your breath away for quite so many reasons: a vast, intricate, spectacular system of slickrock canyons; Whitewater rivers carving their way through wild and surrealistic layer cake geology; rugged mountains reaching to 14,000 feet, dressed in perennial snowficlds and trembling aspens, bejewelcd with alpine lakes and Rocky Mountain wild flowers; a plethora of archaeologic treasures from primitive man as well as historical times; dinosaur fossils and petrified wood; healthy and abundant populations of deer, elk, bear... Add to all of this the fact that most of the country is largely untouched by industrialized man, and the Colorado Plateau and neighboring terrain becomes a place of beauty and diversity unlike any on earth. I fell in love with the Four Corners a generation ago, and I chose to live my life here. After spending a summer in Houston...Tnas, however. I've come to fully appreciate perhaps the greatest feature the Heart of the Universe has to offer. It belongs to the people. Treasures of wild colors and forms, deep and tall, are hidden in our public lands. Like it or not, everyone has the right to enter. Sage, fool, beauty, beast, overclass or underclass, these lands belong to us all. For years I gave little thought to the concept of public vs. private land. Crowing up in northern Michigan, I never once considered who might have owned the forested hillside across the street from my parents' house. It was simply there, lovely and undeveloped. To any kid who wanted to climb its beech trees, pick wild strawberries, toboggan or take a shortcut to school, it was our back yard. That someone actually owned this land would have shocked us. There was no house buiit upon it. To us, hills and trees belonged to Cod and everyone else who enjoyed it. The same code of land ethics guided my adventures when my family moved to and 1 decided to hike the high open Albuquerque. One day my brother, sister-in-lamesas from our house to the Sandia Peak Tramway at the base of the Sandia Mountains, about seven miles away. In those days only cactus and sagebrush stood in our way. The possibility that we might be trespassing, that we might need permission for this trek, never occurred to us. We just packed a lunch and a canteen and made a beeline for the hills. 1 spent a lot of time in those mountains over the next several years walking and wandering away from the clamor of the city. Whenever I had the need to escape to reality I could be there in less than twenty minutes. 1 never knew if I was on National Forest or BLM land, Indian Reservation or Spanish Land Grant or just some lucky 259-886- - CANYON NURSERY HOME ON THE RANGE 125 N. Main w, 275 Williams Way St 4 FUN FURNISHINGS: WHO NEEDS Extraordinary furniture, Blankets, Rugs, Baskets, Lamps, Clocks, Mirrors ... EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK . (And we're working on it) THE TRAM? WALK THE SIDEWALK TO NOWHERE... ITS 10 DISCOUNT ON YOUR BIRTHDAY FREE! 259-82- 74 |