Darkness Over the Land
Michael Collins | Nov 20, 2009 | Comments 5
I won’t be coming at all, though, if I don’t secure us a Road Warrior-type vehicle to get out to the Racetrack. The roads are treacherous. That’s par for the course in Death Valley.
Heart of Darkness
Our first day in the valley greeted us with a dust storm that lashed the land with 60 mile per hour winds as Darkness and I navigated our way south. Thousand foot-high walls of sand blew across the basin blotting out the blue skies above. Tumbleweeds and dust devils blew across Highway 190 as Darkness and I made our way through the Devil’s Cornfield.
As we descended below sea level to visit our favorite haunts, the dust storm cleared a bit.
We walked through a blazing white canyon covered in fantastic carpets of salt crystals sparkling under a clearing sky. Next, we strolled through Darkness’ Rock Garden, a surreal expanse of volcanic boulders that somehow landed ages ago next to the salt flats. We then drove down to Mormon Point at the southern end of the massive salt plain where the salt is the thickest at over 9,000 feet deep. This is where, like a bat, the winged Goth goddess clings to the cliff’s side.
Returning north, Darkness and I descended from the Dúath of Darkness and made our way onto the salt.
“Life as we know it is coming to an end,” Darkness said gazing far across the shattered salt. “We must make decisions about how we spend our days.”
Normally I would shun such morbidity, but I desperately wanted a taste of her wind-whipped world.
“Whadaya doin’ tonight?” I asked suggestively. “I could help you lighten up.”
Darkness turned swiftly and stared into my soul.
“Do not disparage my words! I would that it were not so, but the wretched writing is on the wall.”
I started to resign myself to her doom when she continued, “Do not despair. This most astonishing and miraculous land will survive, and our love is eternal. With this knowledge we shall battle on.”
She moved in closer and with a sinister smile added, “Let’s give ‘em Hell.”
Filed Under: Blog • EnviroReporter
I enjoyed your post. Regarding Marta Becket, she hasn’t entirely quit performing–she just does it sitting down now.
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her on two occasions, and wrote about her over at my blog MERE WORDS:
http://chidder.livejournal.com/4132.html
http://chidder.livejournal.com/19300.html
Enjoy!
Kevin
Makin’ Tracks Max,
In 2008, Dawn Wilde and I eased into the Furnace Creek Garage needing to plug a tire and what did we hear? The chunky crunch of Angus Young’s guitar on “Rock and Roll Train.” We asked one of your successors what the racket was and, wild-eyed grinning ear to ear, he shouted “Black Ice – AC-DC’s new album!” Of course we were thrilled as you can imagine after reading “Hell’s Belles.” And we were thrilled that this gent opened the garage and plugged our tire.
That surely ain’t all the pluggin’ going on in Death Valley, reading your witty and hilarious comments here. Your Death Valley tails have the reporter in me wondering what exactly did you do when you woke up with Death Valley Sally? And our imaginations are running away with us trying to conceive of who “The Wall People,” Crazy Carl and the Bongo Sisters are. Don’t leave us hangin’, MTM… who are these folks who make up this wildlife? Inquiring minds want to know!
Regarding your informative response to Marge Brown’s sweet comment, we see that Marta Becket retired from performing at the Amargosa Opera House at the end of the season this year. We applaud her long loving run. Now that Denise Anne has created two dozen characters, with more to come, she could be the Bad Girls In Residence, performing a different girl nearly every night of the week with no repeats in an entire month! I wonder which gal of hers would be the most popular… I’d be tempted to say Dawn Wilde but then Darkness might curse me for eternity which is something I would try to avoid.
Oh, one more thing… Regarding Marge Brown’s comment, the opera house to which she is referring would be the Amargosa Opera House, which Marta Becket started in 1967. Because Marta would often perform without an audience, she painted balcony scenes on the walls complete with painted patrons to watch her. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marta_Becket
I enjoyed reading your Darkness Over the Land story, or vignettes… I lived in Death Valley from 1979 to 1981. I was a mechanic and tow truck driver at the Furnace Creek Garage. Met some interesting people that way. I also made friends with some of the employees. There were times when there was more wildlife IN camp than outside of it
I sometimes wonder what became of Death Valley Sally, the gal with whom I had evidently slept with in my trailer. I awoke to the sun’s rays screaming through the trailer window early one morning, and there she was, lying naked beside me. Yes, Death Valley has a lot of wildlife. I could tell you stories about Crazy Carl, or “The Wall People”, the Bongo Sisters, etc. One of these days, I’ll get around to compiling my stories, maybe put them on my website (q.v.).
I left Death Valley and moved to Lone Pine, where I lived from 1981 to 1987, then moved to Bishop where I lived until 1992. I have returned to the DV area, including Panamint, Saline, Eureka, and Deep Springs Valleys many times. I have loads of photographs, not to mention unwritten stories… I know the area well: I have backpacked, hiked, and driven my old IH Scout many places where others fear to tread.
If you have any questions regarding “Death’s Valleys”, I may have answers. Appetite whetter: In an attempt to preserve Zabriskie Point, the Nat’l Park Circus in 1941 gouged out a diversion ditch to keep floodwaters away. This resulted in the man-made creation of Gower Gulch, which can be explored today from the Badwater Road.
Ciao, Max.
Michael,
I have heard that there is an Opera house in Death Valley, where Denise could do a multi-woman show. Tickets should sell like HOTcakes.
She certainly sounds (and looks) like an amazingly gorgeous and talented performer. No wonder that your descriptive prose is almost poetry.
With so many different women, you will never become bored. You might get arrested for polygomy, but I am sure you can write or talk your way out of it.
Would that you could also talk Boeing out of their unsurprising but disruptive law suit. Hopefully, by the time they are finished, they will have turned SB 990 into pure gold!