strange people in a strange land

badlands?

after sahra and i left sedona, we headed north back to flagstaff and then east on 40 to winslow, holbrook and the petrified forest national park. i got my picture taken with jackson browne while standing on a corner in winslow, arizona. we spent most of the day stopping at funny old route 66 hideouts and slept that night at a KOA along the highway in holbrook. in the morning we woke up early to get to the national park - we knew it'd be too hot to enjoy anytime after noon. the national park was ugly - i mean. i talk about the grand canyon sometimes being ugly to me - but this, this was ugly. it was difficult for me to remember that i wasn't on a construction sight - and the white stuff wasn't cement, and the piles weren't piles of coal. instead, it's a fantastically old, prehistoric sight, full of history, and remnants that give proof of the power that nature and time have. beautiful petrified wood. awesome color, pattern, movements of textures mixing together, stuck like something dead in the middle of a dry, lonely, desolate and unforgiving landscape. not beautiful in spite of it - but beautiful because of it.

i want to be petrified wood is maybe what i'm trying to say.