Only On Sunday

Or else it’s run away to find a new home. Or I’m just not listening. Whatever the case, I’m not writing at the moment and for the preceding several thousand moments. Getting a little squirrely I must admit. So, if you happen to see a ragged, half-starved, surely pissed by now muse running about, send it home, ok?

Ever been inside a lava tube? Yeah, me neither, leastwise until this last Saturday when I ventured out to El Malpais National Monument. El Malpais is 590 square miles of exactly what the name means in Spanish: bad country. Beautiful, mind you, but oh my is it rough, an area half the size of Rhode Island composed of trackless lava stretching between the Zuni Mountains, Cebollita Mesa and Mesa Negra in northwest New Mexico.

In geologic time, the volcanic eruptions in this area are fairly recent, occurring during the last three million years. The most recent of these were late enough to have impacted early humans occupying the area, an occupation that goes back to about 10,000 BC, and creating some interesting legends.

Hot, black lava-blood flowed from the eyes of the angry KauBat’. His sons, the Twins, had blinded their father to punish him for his ruthless gambling. He had wagered with their people until they were destitute.

Now the Twins watched awestruck as the foul liquid poured from KauBat’s eyesockets, chasing them home to the pueblo where they were born. The mass of lava curled into deep ravines and wide canyons. Heat waves wore paths into the sky and singed the feathers of birds flying overhead. The curious raven flew too close and was instantly turned the color of charcoal.

The kachina’s thick lava-blood destroyed all that lay in its path. As it cooled, it solidified into serpentine ropes and cresting waves of black rock. Eons of rain and snow had little effect on the frozen lava-stone.

El Malpais as it is today was created by lava flows pouring from some thirty volcanoes and more than eighty vents and spatter cones. This is some serious rock strewn about and you wouldn’t think anything could grow here and yet life has a way of overcoming all obstacles. On the surface you’ll find aspen, pinyon and juniper growing alongside towering ponderosa and Douglas fir.

Continue Reading In, and Under, El Malpais

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