Category Archives: about this blog

Announcements, explanations and housekeeping

And we’re back …

Some time in late December or early January, an update to WordPress locked me out of Ah, Wilderness! The website continued to display for visitors, but I was unable to add an entry or fix the problem, until now. The fix was much more trouble than it should have been and a big disappointment for me concerning WordPress, but now it is water under the bridge I almost set on fire.

10 years ago today: My first “Ah, Wilderness!” blog entry

Mystery of Chaco Canyon on PBS

November 25, 2002

PBS repeated a show from 1999 by Anna Sofaer, the discoverer of the meaning of the Sun Dagger on Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Sofaer has also discovered that various buildings in and around Chaco have very specific orientations to the sun and the moon (which she says no other culture has done) and to each other. The computer animations depicting the movements of the sun and moon relative to the buildings is a great part of this show. A videotape is available. mjh

Chaco entry by mjh at 12:00 AM

Note: I started blogging generally before this date; this is the oldest entry I can find on Chaco.

My first “Ah, Wilderness! blog post was 9 years ago today.

Mystery of Chaco Canyon on PBS

November 25, 2002

PBS repeated a show from 1999 by Anna Sofaer, the discoverer of the meaning of the Sun Dagger on Fajada Butte in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Sofaer has also discovered that various buildings in and around Chaco have very specific orientations to the sun and the moon (which she says no other culture has done) and to each other. The computer animations depicting the movements of the sun and moon relative to the buildings is a great part of this show. A videotape is available. mjh

Chaco entry by mjh at 12:00 AM

Note: I started blogging generally before this date; this is the oldest entry I can find on Chaco.

www.ahwilderness.com – new and improved

I started my Ah, Wilderness blog years ago to collect information of interest to people exploring my home state of New Mexico, as well as the other Four Corners states (Arizona, Utah, and Colorado). I also consider the Rocky Mountains my turf, as far north as Hinton, Alberta.

A special sub-category is my interest in Chaco Canyon, as a place in itself and as the center of the Anasazi world. That draws me out to the outliers, and to the full extent of the Anasazi, including some of their overlap with neighboring cultures, such as the Sinagua of Arizona.

But you knew all that already, perhaps. What of the improvements? A dubious one is the domain name: www.ahwilderness.com, which has a nice ring to it and may be more memorable than the previous www.mjhinton.com/wild/. Secondly, I’ve upgraded the underpinnings of the site and given it a fresh coat of paint. The most important improvement will come with my renewed interest in the site and my intent to add content, particularly as it relates to Chaco, over the next few months. I may also finally document my “Wilderness of My Soul” project, in which I visit designated wildernesses for my own good.

Bloggers often live in virtual silence, never really knowing if anyone is out there. Let me know what you think, including suggestions. You can comment on any item or send me email directly: chaco@mjhinton.com.

PS: I wrestled the domain name away from Eugene O’Neill, Wallace Beery, and a band. A tip of the hat to each.

Status Updates

Social networking sites, such as Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook, let you use short messages to update your friends on what you’re doing, your mood, etc. Yes, a status update may say more than anyone cares to know, yet these short “Hello World!” messages do remind everyone you’re still alive.

Visitors to my three blogs may notice – or not – that I’ve incorporated status updates into the header of each blog. (On most blogs, the tagline rarely changes.)  The two of you who use RSS to subscribe to my blogs will still, er, get the benefit of these updates, which are like any other posting, only briefer. (Huzzah!)

I expect to update my status no more than once a day and as little as once a week on each blog. If you want to see all status updates for one blog, there’s a link for that. To see all updates and entries for all blogs – you glutton, you – there’s a link for that, too.

I do miss the interaction in Facebook, where a status update often elicits a response from more than one friend. Out here in the wilderness, these updates may only be greeted by the sound of tumbleweeds blowing and coyotes ululating. Do feel free to comment (just click on the status update in the header) or send email.