Blanco Canyon, Texas

Last week, Texas messed with me. The weather was so extreme that out of six days down there we only excavated for two and a half days and only fifteen to twenty hours at that. Despite issues with the weather, I did enjoy getting to know some more anthropology department students better. And enough can't be said about the hospitality of the locals during the week. They took us out for supper twice and gave us extra blankets.

In the days before spring break, the area of Texas we were heading to was suffering from wildfires. I rode with Mackenzie and Troy, other anthro grad students. We saw scorched grass along the Interstate, but it was foggy, rainy, and fireless during our trip. Mackenzie knew her Ford Escort would not make it down the roads leading to Blanco Canyon with the wet clay-like soil so we pulled up to a sketchy motel in Floydada and the three of us spent the night in a dirty 10' x 10' room with a clanky heater. And that was the last time I was truly warm until the following Friday.

On Sunday morning we tracked down the director of the small town historical museum associated with the Coronodo site we were supposed to be working on. I gave Carolyn a call and she invited us over to her house for a while. The rancher who owns the land in the canyon where the site is has a son who lives in town. He gave Troy, Mackenzie and me a wild ride in the water-soaked soil down to the WSU campsite. The first 10 miles or so out of Floydada were paved, but the remaining few unpaved miles were the muddiest trip I have ever been on. At one point, while Monte was elaborating on all the different kinds of snakes (per Troy's anxious request) we got sucked into the ditch. The side of the truck was almost perpendicular to the ground and Monte kept saying "all we gotta do is get her rockin' and we'll be fine." After a couple minutes of trying to rock the truck to get traction I pointed out to Monte that smoke was rising from his engine. He did not seem to mind and soon we were out. I sincerely hope his truck is alright. Later in the week we stopped by Monte's house to pick up a cot and some more blankets and I saw it sitting outside all cleaned up so the transmission must still be working.

After the rain stopped sometime Sunday night it got windy. Then the wind stopped and it became frigid. By Wednesday night it was snowing, which was actually about the warmest night we had. Thursday night it got down to at least 8 degrees. I mean, seriously, I never thought I would be camping in weather like that. This is definitely one for my personal record book.

Dr. Blakeslee did not make us excavate unless it was over 35-40 degrees so we spent most of the time huddled around a mesquite campfire. I do not think I have ever been so cold continuously for that long before. The nights were pretty bad. It 's hard to have a relaxing sleep when you are shivering. Once we got the extra blankets and I realized I needed to put a blanket between my air mattress and my sleeping bag it got better. Also, when we were in town, I purchased a few packets of those hand warmers you expose to air and shake to activate. They last six to eight hours so I would get a few going before I went to bed and then throw them in the sleeping bag with me to try to keep warm. One night two of the handwarmers mysteriously ended up in my sweatpants. I must have put them there in my sleep without even knowing and found them later when I was changing - made me laugh.

During the days we tried to think of things that would occupy the time and keep us warm so we went on hikes up the canyon walls and through the canyon (it was not a very deep canyon - only took us about ten minutes to walk up). Wednesday we went into Floydada to check out the museum and sit around in a heated building. Part of the day I, along with a few other students, spent exploring the town on foot. On Thursday the rancher gave us a propane powered flame thrower and let us burn some big mesquite wood piles from the cleared area around the site and the camp. That day I actually got hot.

On Friday it was finally warm enough to work, but it was the last day we were there so David and I finished up our unit. Dr. Blakeslee found a dark soil stain on the floor of the unit that extended into the ground to the south, but we did not have time to excavate that area so we covered the floor in plastic and filled it back up with dirt so whoever works on the site next could investigate the stain further.

Now I am back in Kansas and school starts again today. The pile of reading and research lurking over me is causing that unpleasant stressed feeling to return. Ughh ... school. I think I'm going to feel this way for the next two years. On the bright side of things, the rest of my student loan money was disbursed to me last week so I am going to go pick it up this morning. I really need a new pair of running shoes and I should pay off the credit card I have been using to purchase things in the last three months. Using a loan to pay off a loan - this is life.

Thanks to all who sent their birthday greetings (it was March 20, in case you didn't know) either through voice mail messages, emails, or cards. Know that you are all important to me and I'm sorry if I don't have the time I would like to devote to each of you. I'm trying, but I feel so incredibly busy it's hard for me to manage much of a personal life right now. I guess some people are just better at that than others.