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Wednesday, January 6, 2010 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood NM

Poolside, Mule Creek Road, Guthrie AZ, March 30, 2008
Poolside, Mule Creek Road, Guthrie AZ, March 30, 2008

Yesterday I mentioned the spectacular ride up through the Apache National Forest to Mule Creek NM. I had forgotten how spectacularly beautiful the rolling grasslands are along the New Mexico stretch of Mule Creek Road. It's rare to find grasslands like these out here that are not overgrazed. As usual I spent all my time gawking and I have no pictures to share with you.

Night camp

Site 14 - City of Rocks State Park, Faywood NM

Proficiency in Knowledge of the World

There are all degrees of proficiency in knowledge of the world. It is sufficient, to our present purpose, to indicate three. One class lives to the utility of the symbol; esteeming health and wealth a final good. Another class live above this mark to the beauty of the symbol; as the poet, and artist, and the naturalist, and man of science. A third class live above the beauty of the symbol to the beauty of the thing signified; these are the wise men. The first class have common sense; the second, taste; and the third, spiritual perception. Once in a long time, a man traverses the whole scale, and sees and enjoys the symbol solidly; then also has a clear eye for its beauty, and lastly, while he pitches his tent on this sacred volcanic isle of nature, does not offer to build houses and barns thereon, reverencing the splendor of the God which he sees bursting through each chink and cranny.

Essay VII, Prudence Ralph Waldo Emerson

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