a work away day.  longish one.  and on the way home, i stopped at the little grocery, Supermart,  and walking out to the parking lot see an elderly man getting into a truck with the Cement Sand and Gravel sign on it's door…A-1 Sand and Gravel.  so i went around and asked him,  the difference between gravel and crusher fines.  he was, as people ARE here,  very interested in my question and very willing to take however much time to answer me.  he wanted to know what i was going to DO with the gravel?  listened intently all about the Goats, their path,  their sleeping shelters,  the low area on the Other Side where the truck was sitting stuck.    crusher fines he said.  and more, COURSE crusher fines.  and he said "you can trust me.  all my life i have hauled stone.  it's what i know".  so.  ok.  and if we were wondering about taking on the 3x/wk Alz. B responsibility…well, it buys 10 tons of crusher fines plus delivery.  so, ok.    and getting Home, 

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the first thought was to do Nothing or take a nap.  but this is an example of what having the Goats has done for me.  it has enlivened the NEED to Just Go.  so….i dug the rear tires out, put pieces of bark under the tires and…..TaDAA!  OUT!   and now that area can dry up some so i can have the crusher fines delivered.  and Then, i thought, do nothing or take a nap but….why Waste a completely beautiful and DRY early evening, so….

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Chinche and i hopped in the truck and went to see the river.

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for a few years, she has diminished.  just a week ago, she was sand.  wet sand.  but sand.  up further north, on the Isleta Pueblo,  they call her the Blue Mother.  Blue Mother has been reduced to sand mother by the stealing of her beingness for water use.  both in New Mexico and cubic water feet sold to Texas years ago.  she was sold.  she was Reduced.  enslaved.  

today, she flowed.  all mud colored and blue and there were flood plains like in the old days.  like, but not real flood plains, but enough Like flood plains.  it brought tears.  and as we stood on the bridge across her, me and Chinche, now and then other cars and trucks would stop.  people would get out and stand, looking.  silently.  looking at our River.   she is no longer the Rio Grande of old, but today she was Big.  a Big River.  in spite of us all.

 

 

 

 

 

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18 responses to “200 so it must be a significant point in 365, yes?”

  1. Michelle in NYC Avatar

    I would have wept too…it’s so sad when a river is sold…a region sold out to finance what? Where does the money go. That she is coming back, well, that’s a fine little miracle. The stone man is probably exactly what he says he is. Worthy of your trust. I can see the path in my mind….

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  2. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes. the Selling of Water is like the selling of Life.
    a long and difficult story for New Mexico.
    today she flowed but, it’s hard to say she is coming back.
    maybe only for this moment.
    we have had more rain in a week than we have had in 18 months.
    and i believe the stone man. he is of the generation
    where your Word is all you have.
    the path will be Good.

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  3. KAMFreeman Avatar

    wonderful to see the river, the texture in the water as it swirls about filled with sand…it is water, thankful for that for this day. As I look I send to my heart friends on the Trinity and Klamath for now getting water needed for the fish…a good judge this go round.. again water sold to others for their farming in central CA…right to water, surely to become more and more of an issue…gratitude flows through me for this gift of water in your river this day…good that you were witness to this gift…and the stone man will be bringing some solution to the muck that invades the goats land..all good things..all fitting together in a good way…a day with so much of how things keep going…

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  4. patricia Avatar

    oh Grace. 200. can you believe it. this is such a wonder full post. the marvel of the gravel man being there, at the store, just when you needed him. and his tutorial on gravel. yes. coarse base. finer top dressing. and 10 ton sounds like a lot until it’s spread–a ton for the earth, a ton for the goats. and will he spread it as well? and Chinche sniffing mud on the rear tires.
    amazed at the greenery surrounding the RIVER. the big RIVER. the delicacy and resilience of an eco system that continues even in the face of our taking away its life blood. isn’t that a wonderful example of just “keep going?” but still, for how long? and the thought that water has become such a commodity to be bought and sold, with such little consideration for the highest good. the short-sightedness of man’s endeavors. yet she prevails, yes?
    thank you for these images. reminders.

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  5. jude Avatar

    all points seem significant, love the muddy waters. i hear music.

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  6. Deb G Avatar

    Thinking about movement. How things flow.

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  7. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    When we came here in May, she was but a trickle, the sand bottom so prominent, it was sad to see. She came roaring back with the rains that some say are historical, not seen the like since 1929 but water moves through sand so quickly returning things to the way they were and Rio Grande will not be the same. On Friday, we looked and for the first time could see no bottom, water flowing and we smiled and I think all who live close to the land or have a wonder and awe of her gifts, and truly, what is more precious than water, sighed and felt a quiet joy even while worried about flooding and the damage that comes. The joy is short lived for already yesterday on our way to Albuquerque, Rio Grande was reverting back, receding, the flow less and more river bottom was seen.

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  8. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes…in CA, that need for farming..to feed the masses.
    here, it has been Building of new areas of housing. more
    and more, the city extending out, new businesses with
    hundreds of flushing toilets, things like that, Casinos.
    the conversation has gone on for years while the river
    gets smaller and smaller.
    but yesterday, yes. i’m glad i went. glad i Witnessed.

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  9. grace Avatar
    grace

    10 tons sounds Enormous. but it’s really not a lot at
    all. i think he said that one ton is 3 cubic feet. ????
    i really am no good at picturing these kinds of things.
    but, we’ll see. no. i want to spread it myself. will
    work at a little every day with the wheelbarrow. have
    had enough experience with others doing those kinds of
    things and i always want to scream STOP! i need to make
    this little world here myself.

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  10. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes…liquid mud makes a song

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  11. grace Avatar
    grace

    it’s something…flow….it carries things from someplace
    to someplace different

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  12. grace Avatar
    grace

    yes. and we keep on building.

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  13. beth Avatar

    So much here to look at, listen to, wonder about. I love sharing the journey of life with you. And the 200 days.

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  14. kathyd Avatar

    great post …200 amazing ! i love the rio grande and have been sorry to see it shrink . think of all the stories it can tell .

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  15. Mo Crow Avatar

    cry me a river…(the Joe Cocker version from 1970 live Mad Dogs & Englishmen)

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  16. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    And yes, there is a level of guilt to know that I live in one of those “keep building places.” Rio Rancho came into existence as part of the old Spanish Alameda land grant of 1710. Rio Rancho in the early part of the twentieth century was sold to land developers who promoted the city heavily in New York as a great place to retire and the New Yorkers came… The city incorporated as a city in 1981 partly due to the coming of Intel. (Info from Wiki)
    And it has just been announced that Intel is “deploying” 400 people from the Rio Rancho site. Deploy a word that simply in this context means loss of 400 jobs…so where will they go and what will become of their houses…

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  17. mimmin Avatar
    mimmin

    This is the first time i have ever seen water look like the Hokusai woodblock print of The Great Wave. So sculptural in the 5th photo, the water thick with clay. 2OO full-life days!

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