Harley Snow Glide

 Lookin' like no matter where you are across the US, this has been a cold long winter.  My driveway has been covered with snow and ice for it seems like a very long time.  LowRider is sitting here in the studio connected to a battery tender.  These conditions cause bikers to get a little bit crazy.

Yesterday got a text from my ridin' buddy next door.  Ask me if I had seen the new Harley Snow Glide.  Why no, I hadn't.  That all started a bit of finger typing back and forth.  Felt the need to share it.  Went something like this...

"Have you seen the new Harley Snow Glide?" 

"Quick...we need to get one of these for the neighborhood" 

"Maybe they have one that attaches to a LowRider"

"Tried to just order one.  Out of stock.  Backordered until June.  They did have one for BMW" 

"Interesting.  I just checked, and while they have the blade part, sadly the attachment hardware is backordered until August.  I guess it's been a rough enough winter all around the country that demand has exceeded supply.  Oh well...perhaps next winter"

"Well sorry to hear that.  But, if they have the BMW blade I could weld some angle iron onto your BMW frame.  We could then use some  spray cans to touch things up.  What do you think?  Could be pretty f@#king bad boy looking." 

"Hmm, hadn't thought of that.  Tell you what, when it comes in I'll give you a shout and we can jigger something together.  Sound like a plan?"

"Perfect.  I will get things ready.  Thinkin' about 4 inch angle iron would be good.  Maybe thinkin' NOT to paint it.  Leave it rusty.  Really bad boy stuff." 

"When you get the materials, could you get some extra so so we can embellish the blade with little curlicue decorations and the like?  Also need a little platform to hold my dashboard Jesus."

"Absolutely.  Sorry I should have thought of the platform.  I'm on it." 

Sure hope spring gets here pretty darn quick.

be strong, be safe Talon 

HWY83 Unspoiled, Unbroken, Dead North

The current issue of Harley-Davidson HOG® Magazine features the HWY83 story I rode, photographed, and wrote last summer.  With the Polar Vortex across the country causing some mighty cold conditions, thought the story might warm you up a bit.  Even my bike is sitting in my heated studio with the battery tender keeping things warm today.  Here is a link to the pdf copy of the full story.  HWY 83.  

Keep warm.  Hope you enjoy reading the story as much as I did creating it!

Thought for the day:

I love being on the road.  It keeps me present. Because I'm not allowing my brain to get into any sort of pattern, where I start worrying about things that don't matter.  If I'm in a new place every day, I have to be alert, I'm forced to be in the present moment so I can take what comes.

be strong, be safe, Talon

Chaco Outliers

 After Chaco Canyon monument was established in 1907, subsequent exploration led to the discovery of outlying sites, some as far as 100 miles from Chaco Canyon.  These sites, spread out over 30,000 square miles, were the remnants of a network of outlying communities, all linked to Chaco Canyon and the other sites by an extensive system of prehistoric roads.  In the late 1920's, the monument was expanded to include additional sites that were part of Chaco Canyon.

In the 1950's and 1960's, increased energy and mineral exploration and development in the region led to the discovery of a number of additional Chacoan outliers.  In 1980, Congress passed Public Law 96 550.  Title V of that Act renamed the monument to Chaco Culture National Historical Park, enlarging the site by approximately 13,000 acres to a size of approximately 33,990 acres.

The legislation also created a system of Chaco Culture Archeological Protection Sites, consisting of 33 outlying sites totaling approximately 8,800 acres.  Unlike Chaco Culture National Historical Park, these sites are not administered as units of the National Park System.  Instead, they are managed primarily by the Bureau of Land Management.

Large deposits of uranium, natural gas, oil and coal are believed to lie beneath the San Juan basin. Energy exploration and development are permitted on and adjacent to the archeological protection sites as long as such exploration and development does not endanger the cultural values of the sites.  The Bureau of Land Management is the Federal Agency responsible for the proposed leasing of an additional 4,000 oil and gas wells adjacent to many of these sacred sites.

To learn and see more visit Question of Power. 

be strong, be safe, Talon

The Great North Road

The Chacoans built elaborate road systems covering over 1,500 miles.  Most of the roads connected to Chaco Canyon.  The Great North Road leads from Chaco Canyon to Kutz Canyon.  To the Puebloans a road is a type of altar, a channel for the life's breath, and to travel the straight road to the center place is to strive for equilibrium.

Approaching Kutz Canyon the North Road becomes a narrow corridor crossing a private commercial fracking fluid soil recovery farm.  The North Road is criss-crossed with bulldozed roads for fracking soil trucks.  Surrounded by the fracking fluid soil recovery fields Arena Alto Great House is several hundred yards from Kutz Canyon adjacent to the North Road.  This sacred site's great kiva was recently bulldozed by road construction.

The North Road is more tha a guide or corridor linking Chacoan Great Houses and features.  It is a map to a lifeway, it holds the stories of the Chaco civilization. 

 Click here to view the North Road at Kutz Canyon. 

be strong, be safe, Talon