trees and dwellings

i think it might be fair to say that one must live in a certain place long enough to see its seasons in order to really appreciate it.

seeing flagstaff through the end of her summer, the entirety of her fall, and now into her winter has awakened my innards to her beauty. and she certainly is beautiful. take, for instance, the lovely little tree outside my bedroom window. i wish i had a photograph of him from every day since i've been here...my, what a journey he's been on! when we first met, he was a bright, happy little green guy. gradually he faded with fall into yellow-greens and oranges until BOOM! one morning i awoke to find him wearing the deepest shade of crimson. not only has he since shed his garments, but they are all now buried beneath a few feet of jack frost's breath.

of course, this is not at all what i wanted to talk to you about.

i took advantage of my first saturday back in flagstaff by visiting montezuma castle and tuzigoot, two national monuments found in less than one driving hour of our house. here's proof:

exhibit a: montezuma castle. one of the first four national monuments (as declared by teddy roosevelt in 1906). a 20-room sinaguan cliff dwelling, 5 stories high, overlooking beaver creek.

and here's tuzigoot. fun to say, fun to see. an ancient 110-room sinaguan pueblo excavated as part of the new deal, providing jobs to out-of-work copper miners.

how amazing it is to see what humanity is capable of! as i gazed upon these homesteads, i couldn't help but continue to think on communal living, something that's been rattling around in my brain and heart for a few years now. i can't imagine the joy, love, growth that would befall lifetimes and generations of 20- to 110-room dwelling places; i've learned so much simply living with three "other" people, just one "other" family, for these last five months! we humans have so much to teach, so much to learn from one another! i cannot help but wonder if something similar to this native american model was not what Christ had in mind for his people...a place where there is no room for the poor, because all are housed under one roof. a safe place where members of the community seek to be of unified mind, heart, and ownership...