Dry Run to Acoma Pueblo

Sandy and I traveled to the Acoma Pueblo for a second time in the past three weeks to buy a pottery necklace we agreed to purchase when finished. But alas, the famed potter who has probably completed the piece by now was once again not to be found at her home. This visit, however, we took time to ascend the 357 very vertical feet to the top of the Sky City mesa to explore with a tour guide. The inhabitants of this ancient village, continuously occupied since the 12th century or earlier, have no running water. Some is collected in natural cisterns, but the rest is carried up nowadays mostly in plastic water bottles. The image below shows a parched natural cistern. I was attracted to the cracked mud in the middle lower section. Perhaps I can return in the tadpole season, only two months away, to compose a comforting wet view.

(click for enlargement)