White Sands

PEACE ECLIPSED

Already it had not been so relaxed a day-hike. Then later in the day came the rush to transition into backpacking gear. Then it was fleeing in the dunes like a thief in the night. A creeping tension that won’t let up…

With no camping or night hiking allowed i am in violation of Park policies. Sorry, Mr. Ranger, that your colleague wasted 2 hours looking for me (good luck finding someone at night in this place!) but you guys knew what i was up to (per my courteous note left on windshield). Correct me if i’m wrong but your roaming around on foot or ATV, whichever it was, smacked of law-enforcement, not search-and-rescue.

At another time that may have been ok. But not tonight on 4 grams of psilocybin. You stressed me to no end and spoiled what could have been a fine journey on eclipse night. * 

Yes, Mr. Ranger, that eclipse was “rad” (your word). I even managed to enjoy some of it. You guys are mostly courteous, friendly, even worth getting acquainted to. But the National Park Service you work for too often feels like an abusive entity with policies designed, intentionally or not, to curtail the movements of dirtbag-type folks and other wildcats like myself. In the case of White Sands, you even go further by kicking out throngs of people seeking to partake in the magic of a rising moon over the dunes. I could go on... Let’s leave it at that.

* Could have been fine, not gentle. Not with Pluto now squaring my Sun. I estimate myself lucky (though counted on it, and factored it in) that the eclipse impacted my chart harmoniously, so as to angle the experience into something i could handle.