HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!!!! Patrick was a real guy in the 9th Century, who was taken away from his Roman Britain at age 16 by thieves and then was a slave and shepherd, guided by his faith. After going and becoming a priest he returned back to Ireland, making churches and monasteries right and left. Then, he supposedly banished the Devil and the snakes, whacking a stick so hard that it went to the port of Dublin and told all other snakes not to come to Ireland. Supposedly. Most likely that didn't happen, but who knows? God, and St. Patrick, unless he hit his head on a rock and can't remember anything. But nowadays people just wear green, do shamrocks-oh and shamrocks came from Patrick talking to some pagans, and they didn't understand the whole trinity thing, and so he said it was like a shamrock, three in one!- eat cabbage, potatoes, and steak, try to stay away from leprechauns, and go to church and I even read fast facts about the man, and the wonderful country. Hope you have a good remainder of the day and wear green, or you'll be green in the face by how many pinches people give you because of you not wearing the sacred color. Irish people generally are either chatty or totally mean and gruff. Your pick. But top of the mornin' to ya, and celebrate the pride and soul of the Irish people. Now to the blog!(bagpipes in the background.)
(SEE "THE LAND OF ALIENS: ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO PART ONE" FIRST BEFORE READING THIS PART.)
I wanted to go to a cool alien shop, where there were cool things I could purchase and act like I was an alien. Mom and Rebecca were hungry, having not read at the McDonald's in which we had stopped at earlier. We walked down the cobblestone sidewalks, away from our car, and looked at all the signs saying to go to a State Park. We were confused, because how could there be a state park in this town. Crossing the small street with the foreclosed businesses, we walked along and took pictures of The International UFO Museum, and Dad went into a seed store, claiming he had never been in one before. Disgusted with the smell, we quickly went out again. There was an alleyway saying that there was a State Park. Well, we didn't see one, just a large back alley and then some buildings behind that, oh, and desert. That's pretty much all we had seen in New Mexico, was desert. Well, we decided that we would look it up on our GPS, and then thought that it must be a long way off, in the desert somewhere. They called it Bottomless Lake. Well, I didn't see any lake anywhere, but that was either just me or there was no lake. Like I said, it could be a long way away. But every lake had to have a bottom, right? Or so I thought.
We went back across the street and didn't find many open shops for aliens, I mean there were some, but were inappropriate and nightclubs. Like Zone 2, the place we had seen yesterday. There was this one place on a corner, not very big, that we looked around in. Rebecca got a green baseball and Mom purchased a green skin around a cup, a couzi? I don't know how to spell it and I'm not sure that's what it is. The man in there was behind a counter, and was pretty old, but still lived with his mother. Nerd, but kind of nice. He has been abducted before, he told us. I got a little glossy card that said AREA 51, that I could gain access. It's fake though, I doubt I could get in, with all the hand scans and butt scans.(yeah, they do that.) Okay, so this shop wasn't just a little trinket shop for aliens. They had an artistic thing through some curtains, where there were all these paintings and cool sculptures of aliens. Rebecca and I peaked through when the man wasn't looking. It cost money, so we didn't go in there. A lot of money. Like $30 per person or something uneconomical. The man told us also that they have a great parade thing in July, and that that is there bustling time for tourists. Hungry as ever, he gave us some food choices, in response to our inquiries.
We got back to the car after a long walk. Guitarsmellslikedirtguywhowasabeggar still played on the ledge, by that pole where you push the thing and then you walk across? Sorry, I don't know what anything is supposed to be called nowadays.
In the jeep, we followed numerous signs, all leading to this supposed State Park. We went through that alley from around, came out of the small town of Roswell, and then into the desert with all the shrub and dirt. Man was I ready to see some grass or something of the like! I know I had only been in this desert area for a week at the most now, but dang was it dreary, like something out of an Edgar Allen Poe poem, or Robert Frost. But I did like seeing the desert, as this was the place I had been dreaming of. We munched and chomped on gold fish out of a huge container Rebecca hogged, and we ended up not going to a restaurant of any kind that day. I wished that I would see an alien so that I could add myself to those people that have seen them, but we weren't that lucky, so far.... I wished I wouldn't get abducted, that would be dangerous, but maybe a "close encounter of the first kind" would be satisfactory. Needing to go to the restroom, we drove up to a mound of dirt, and I released the water from my bladder into a snake hole, with only a few cars passing by. Cars pointed us into the direction that we were going to go to, Bottomless Lake. There was actually a National Park there too, Bitter Lake. Or you could combine the two, a bitter lake that doesn't care who dies in it, and people die all the time, and come to their death. Bitter.
More signs, going down a small hill. We pulled around, seeing these small little ponds shallow in the ground, long and with mud on the bottom, the rays from the sun coming down on them and ripples in the clear water. With shrubs on the sides. Were these the BOTTOMLESS lakes? I saw the bottom of them, of course, they were smaller than 2 ft deep. Was this a play on words maybe, or some kind of ironic joke? Our long drive's puzzlements would be settled at a small building with slate buildings and a State Park sign, plus a little U-turn area where a post was, with some mail slots and papers underneath a glass plate. We pulled a thing which asked for us to pay, putting the money in there. Rebecca and I went into the building to ask for some information, seeing a small counter in the middle of a small lobby with a door to a little room with science displays and artifacts, all animal stuff and how the bottomless lakes formed. To my left was a small office with two middle aged men. One, who had grey hair and glasses, a khaki vest and a baseball cap, came out of the spinny chair with a creak, and got out of the room with it's desks and computers. Sitting down at the counter, he told us there were like four lakes and to go up the walk and stop the car, things like that and to take this envelope (and he gave it to us), to tear it in half and put one with the money in the pouch. Then he did it.
Taking out a paper mnewspaper thing, a frog that was really good, and then showed us a few others before we left, thanking the funny man. Outside we told all the info to Mom and Dad, jumped in the car, and ate more goldfish. So far the day had been really great, and fun to see all the UFO stuff, whether we believed in it or not. Now we were going to go to Bottomless Lake, a state Park where supposedly the lake had no bottom. I mean, it doesn't have a head or arms, so why would it have a bottom? Okay, bad joke. Anyway, we went along the flats a little longer, on the left side, before coming up to dirt and a little of trees, with a small hill that you trek up to. Parking the car, we went up to this, our long awaited Bottomless Lake. There was an old man and also a little tan boy, who was large also, kind of like the kid on that show that my dad like's a little too much, Modern Family. We'd be reading and it be all quiet, with Dad on his hulu on the computer, and then the next second you hear great outbursts of laughing like being tickled with some device organized for the one job, and maybe the funniest thing combined with a clown. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....GEE, THAT'S FUNNY! UHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE! (cough, cough) But I'm getting off the subject. Point is, he laughs at that show and the kid kind of looked like that actor.
The fisherman was large also, with some coolers by him and a fishing rod by his side, with facial hair, beard, like a wolf. Then I saw it. There was dirt and rock all over the sides of this small circular canyon, pretty dark blue water, with no end in sight, no dirt or bottom seen. Such calmness I never saw in a body of water before, no flow, but flow, no wind, but still wind, as if in a dream. If I jumped in I could of sworn I had felt an energetic charge or some kind of everlasting piece, despite the cold it would present. I bet that if I jumped in it would be like a gel that just made me come right back up, gelatin that was thick and smooth at the same time. The wind blew, making an unlucky rock stumble off into the lake, and the slight splash, and the slow sink. Rebecca and I leaned forward to witness the spectacle. The spell was broken! It wasn't really gel or jello or anything of the sort, but real water, H2O, clear, tasteless liquid! Oh but I still dream. I took out my video camera, seeing all the shrub and flat small wide cactuses all in a bunch, and all the dirt with the rocks! There was a steep viewing area all around the almost perfectly circular lake. The mountains glowed in the afternoon sun, way out in the distance. A picture fit...for a post card.
There was a young couple that were seated in a small alcove in the rock surrounding it, literally their feet hanging off into nothingness. They were below us, and I wondered how hard that trip would be, all the prickly plants and the big height, with no good path. They were only right below us, but still... well, Mom, Rebecca and I, while Dad talked to the fisherman, went up on the right side of the big lake, crawling and crouching and going on steep little climbs with all the prickly briar patch kind of stuff every where, mostly cacti. (Cacti: plural of cactus that nobody says but is nonetheless the plural. A general misconception that the plural is cactuses, which is in the dictionary but is actually incorrect. This has been "Dictionary time with Andrew.") It was hard, but we made it over the steep, by going easier ways, still hard but easier. We came up to a really high point, and made some very good pictures, as we looked straight down, trying to be safe and not fall in. Coming back down, Mom got pricked by a small cactus in her foot, and we helped her to the car and got her in, and Dad said goodbye to the people there. We went onto other lakes, with Mom bravely taking the splinters out, no more than a wince or two. Strong woman.
Alright so I made a story about our fake adventures in Roswell New Mexico, being abducted by aliens and saving the world. It started at Bottomless Lake, and that was where it began and it's a spinoff. You can find it on Andrew's Inventive Adventures, which is a brother blog of BBT (Bourne's Big Trip), made for my creative stories that I should put on the web and see if I get discovered. If you want to read a funny and entertaining story with some historical info, please go ahead and read it at http://andrewsinventiveadventures.blogspot.com. You have to do the http:// part of it or else it will not work. But I hope you enjoy! :)
We went to a few others, yes we did, but these weren't near as circular and high up, and more of an oval shape. Rebecca and I went out together, really able to touch the water and the little clear sand. It was right on us. We had gone down a little pebbly and dirt path though to get down. Not too much. Rebecca and I talked about her Smells Like Dog book, in which I had been reading for a long time. It was a good book, and then and there I admitted that info to Rebecca. We walked over to where another lake was, cut off by a path of smooth rocks, in which we jumped off and on, finding stable and shaky of the long untouched stones. We got to the other end and then turned back, seeing little marine oddities. Back in the car, we came up to a few more, but not as great as that wonderful first in which our minds were mesmerized by the enchanting water. Now, we set up to go to Bitter Lake, which we hoped would be even better than the previous delight. But if it was BITTER, would it be bad and not worth it? Or should we stop asking ourselves questions and just let the lake flow--sorry if that was too literal---no pun intended.
Across the street, in an actual big parking lot now with some trees and other things. Dad and I dropped off Rebecca and Mom, who needed to go to the restroom, and then just sat in the car at the end of the parking lot. I read some of Smells Like Dog, a little guilty about not reading the book I had started on one of the first day's of Texas, more than three weeks from now. But I needed a break, I supposed. I didn't really want to go in; the last one wasn't as great. I reflected over going to the restroom in the State Park place, and looking at some of the info in the right room. Supposedly the old man had come out and told Mom and Dad that both Rebecca and I were very well mannered, and Rebecca was a witness t0 it, telling me the info as soon as I came out. But then my day-dreamings were brought back to sheer reality. Mom and Rebecca waved and so we came back over. They both told us to park the car and come in, that it was a really cool National Park and totally worth it, having a lot of animals. ANIMALS? We parked right away and walked on in, to a great lobby with sky roof and high ceiling, with displays everywhere and a gift shop to the left. There were stuffed birds that looked like they were really springing, and fish of all kinds.
There were nice people in there, brown haired couple that were pretty young, and the man was named Greg. They showed us to a movie, after we had gotten all these things and were going to get birds for Jason and Joan (dealership employees) that were enchanted by them (but we didn't because they had ordered some and there was no reason to do it) and it was in a dark room with good chairs in which we sat. They told us why it was bitter, the whole environment and habitats of all the animals, with videos right down there, where the fish swam, the birds flew, and the moles burrowed in the dirt. It was interesting to learn all the different kinds, and amazing to see the bugs and worms in the holes, pink in form but having brown clusters of dirt on it's oily skin. I'm really glad we watched it. On our way out of the very nice place, Greg and his wife told us about that they were part time campers, doing this one half of the year in a trailer, not getting paid but not having to pay for all the facilities, and all the other places that they had worked at. We got some binoculars for siting all the birds that they said it was impossible NOT to see, that we might see in bonus a mammal or reptile. Thanking them, I stepped outside on the threshold.
Greg stopped me, saying that there was a document hot off the press from the local high school, North Junior High, that was written that day and that it told about the history of Roswell, New Mexico. That's where I got all that information from in the beginning of the first blog post of this two part serial. I thanked him, and have read the 6 page document of paper and photographs at least four times, maybe more. The first time I read it was like that the next day or the day after, but that's another story for another time. You can look at the document and read it, and it was written by a Scotty Moore, at, http://scottymoore.net/roswell.html We went out into some reads and saw not many things, before pulling over. There were several little seagulls, or a species close to it, that were by the water of the lake. Dad had come off a dirt road and now stopped, parking. He told us to get our cameras ready, as he did something that was so unexpected yet so cool. Earlier in December he had gotten a little PA under the wheel of the car, and it made all these funny noises. He put some of the loud stuff on, and then all the birds started to shift uneasily. The cool day, that had featured a weird McDonald's, a cool UFO Museum, although kind of nerdy, a few bottomless lakes, and now this. And the next part of the blog will tell you what THIS is.
It was thousands and thousands of birds, white and broad and small. taking off like the Exodous, all swirling in the sky like commuters of a L.A. traffic chase, all going left and right, nearly no spots where a bird was not occupying. It was amazing, transfixing, splendid, and complete. The pictures can do it more justice, but I do wish that some of my readers see as many birds like that alone someday, it is really cool. I can't find words to describe it. All the white, you would think it was a kite in the sky from a long distance, and all the noises of the creaks and mating calls, all into one everlasting choir---that song in church had rung true, the "HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD!" And didn't those birds. It would bring tears to an old man and sure delight from a small child. I must sound like Henry David Thoreau, but I really loved all those birds coming around, all the planning that you thought must go into it, how simple and easy those birds made it look. It's times like those that you just drop all your worries and thoughts of the day, needing to blog or personal trifles, and just look to the sky, glad that you are alive in a world and country so great and so privileged. I can't even begin to describe that beauty......
We had a few other moments like this, looking up at the sky and spotting them with our binoculars. We were on a small hill when we looked at them on the shores, and that one was even larger than all the ones that came before it. Long story short, we went back in as the lights were off and they were closing off, and went to the restroom after handing them the borrowed binoculars. Very nice people. We came home and had a very good meal at home. Roswell is a cool city, not near as cool as the one in Georgia, which is my opinion, but pretty cool. The aliens seem to like it. But, little town though it may be, Roswell will always be known as the town of the aliens, for better or for worse. It's changed forever, the mark of UFO's, E.T.'s, and a lot of other abbreviations will always stay in the hearts and souls of those who visit. Whether your a nerdy boy who likes star trek, a bird watcher, a deep lake diver, or fisherman, or a person who likes planes and pilots(they have a base, center, and museum) Roswell, New Mexico is a really fun and interesting road-stop pleasure. In a nutshell, I think that Roswell...well, it's Roswell. And that's all I have for tonight. Goodbye for now.
Alien: TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!
Mayor of Roswell, New Mexico: Our liters of water in Bottomless Lakes?
Alien: No your leader! Like person in charge!
Mayor: Oh that would be me.
Alien: Then you will be assimilated. Die!
Mayor: I'm not the mayor! I'm really just Joe the plumb...AHHH!----
Andrew.
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