Roswell, NM
This adventure gets weirder and weirder the further away from the starting point I get.
Today I spent most of a gorgeous sunny day 800 feet below the surface at a constant temperature of fifty-nine degrees and ninety percent relative humidity. I had lunch down below. Wrote postcards down below. And wandered several times around the passages open to me. Honestly, I am less than impressed by Carlsbad Caverns. I suppose the great selling point is the sheer size of the underground spaces. For me, that somewhat defeats the purpose of a cave. Caves should be tight spaces, filled with wonders. Carlsbad is so big the wonders are always distant and even then are mainly grey and dead. There’s a whole essay to be written on human interaction with natural wonders pro and con. Carlsbad comes down mainly on the con side.
This evening I am in Roswell, New Mexico for no other reason than I was told Carlsbad was worth seeing and if I went there I couldn’t see any reason not to swing by Roswell for the sheer silliness of it. Surprisingly, it ain’t that silly here. It is, in fact, the most prosperous town I have seen since San Antonio. It seems a bit strange to come upon such a normal looking town in the middle of this desolate country. Even stranger to find this place after building up such a weird reputation for the place in your mind. So here it is. Not what I expected and not bad for all that.
And now I’m off to look for little green men. Maybe I can hitch a ride on a UFO a complete the collection of travelling by every means of conveyance on the earth, under the earth, over the earth and on the seas.
Hopefully they’ll be friendly.
And share their booze.