Purple Mountain Culture Shock

The Front Range of the Colorado Rockies with the town of Cripple Creek in the foreground

When I travel, I like to try to get a good feel for the people of the area, their culture and their history.  I like to compare the environment, the weather, the terrain, what makes an area unique. Taking a trip to the arid southwest of our beautiful country presented a variety of features in each of the above categories and created in me a culture shock.

Mary and I set out to visit the northern part of New Mexico and the east central portion of Colorado.  But to get there and back, we would also explore a part of Texas that neither of us had ever seen and our return would take us into Kansas and Oklahoma, again states we had never visited.

To go from a heavily forested area like our home in Alabama to the flat lands of the southwest inspired a certain awe in me.  In the west, one can visit an area where a tree can become a landmark, as in travel directions:  "Go down the road until you see the tree and turn right at the next road.  If you get to the second tree, you've gone too far!"

New Mexico

One also gets to experience and see geological features and use the terms learned in elementary school, things like mesa, butte, arroyo (although I think I learned that term reading Louis L'Amour novels),  high plains and prairies.  We don't have many of those items in Alabama!

One also learns that although it's the end of May and temps in the southeast are soaring above 90 every day, the middle of Colorado hasn't gotten the message with temps staying in the 40's with record snow fall still occurring in the high mountain peaks.

Pike's Peak and the Cog Railroad

Determining the culture of an area can be difficult when the area has had so many strong influences.   Areas like Santa Fe have the cultures of the Native American tribes that were in the area  as the country was being explored and settled.  Add to that the Spanish/Mexican influence of the first European settlers which also brought the heavy influence of the Roman Catholic Church.  The influence of the military services is readily evident in and around Colorado Springs.

Then add the affects of the environment.

Getting on a state highway and seeing a sign that warns that there are "No Automobile Services for the next 95 Miles" adds to the culture shock!  And following that road for well over 100 miles with only one curve, the road's path otherwise straight as an arrow's flight.

Most of the areas of north Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma that we traveled through are areas of huge farms with the fields stretching as far as the eye can see.  It made me wonder about the logistics of planting, feeding then harvesting those fields.  I can only imagine the equipment and people that it takes to make it all happen.

And it reminds me of the story of the Texas rancher who dropped by the feed store and was on the porch chatting with other ranchers and farmers.  Someone asked him how big his spread was.  He replied that he had a large spread, his ranch was so big that if he got in his truck at daybreak and drove until sunset, he still couldn't reach the other side.  A farmer, a wizened older man, sitting in a rocking chair, whittling on a stick, said, "Yup, I once had a truck like that!"

Near Kit Carson, Colorado

I grew up in an era when the "western"  was a staple of movies and television, where places like Dodge City, Boot Hill, the Santa Fe and Chisholm Trails were common settings for action and adventure.  For me to visit those places on this trip invoked a lot memories.  I almost expected to see the guys who wore the white hats ride out of the heat haze, just in time save the day!

Then there are the large feed lots where cattle are gathered while they wait to be turned into rib eyes and hamburger meat.  I've visited barn yards and cow pastures and experienced the fragrances they provide but that is nothing to compare  to a feed lot where there are thousands of cows gathered in a relatively small area.  These lots aren't necessarily isolated either with most on the edges of the towns and cities.  I wondered how people could live with that smell permeating everything until I realized that to them, it's the smell of money!

It's easy for us in our daily lives to get a sense of having experienced almost everything and knowing about everyplace until we get outside the confines of our usual world.  For me, a visit to the "big sky" part of our country was very humbling.  To realize that this country and our earth is so vast makes me feel so tiny and insignificant.

Throughout the trip, I was reminded of the words of the song "America the Beautiful" with references to "spacious skies", "purple mountains" and "amber waves of grain,"  While some would decry miles of highway with little to see but open fields as ugly and boring, I see beauty.  When I see forests, I see beauty, when I see no trees, I see a different beauty.

My wanderlust and quest to see the beauty and bounty our country has to offer was not sated with this trip but was whetted.  I can't wait to see more!