Back to Normal

The rescued poodle was coming along fine. He and my (unnamed) new dog were confused by each other, but they will probably get along.

How nice it was to get back on the road--back to normal--and drift over the high plateaus of the Southwest, those brilliantly-lit, elevated, display cases of geology. It has been a long time since I saw Shiprock near Farmington, NM. The last time I was here a friend and I were such newbies that we didn't know that it trespassing to travel on Indian reservations, off the main highways. We actually boondocked right at the base of Shiprock until a Navajo kicked us out.

The main peak is an old volcanic throat. The surrounding rock, probably sandstone, has eroded away.

On this visit I especially enjoyed the volcanic dikes that radiate away from the main peak. They were formed when igneous rocks oozed through cracks. They extend for  miles, but are only a few feet wide. In places they looked like a crumbling brick wall, with holes.

When you look at the topography of the Colorado Plateau today, you see the erosion-resistant residue of the past. I wonder how many people, living in this era of electronics and computers, are aware that much of this technological progress is based on photo-lithography: which means 'writing on rocks with light,' in Greek. The "rock" in microelectronics is a silicon wafer.

On the Colorado Plateau we see the results of hydro-lithography. Silicon is one of the main components of the earth's crust.