When I was still a child in the 1950s, I had a thick long-playing record, an LP, by Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers. They sang about Pecos Bill and how the Painted Desert got its name. That was the first time I heard about this desolate yet fascinating place in Arizona that my wife, dog and I visited on Easter, 2023.
At many turnoffs along the drive, we could see time’s passage, in the wild erosion of the rock layers, but we could imagine also how slowly those layers were formed over millions of years. This photo has the colors and contrast pumped up to show you how a young boy might see it, the colors more vivid, the contours more defined.