by the ruins: "One of the largest and most famous Chacoan structures is called Pueblo Bonito. It was a town, consisting of a single building, which covered over three acres of ground and contained at least eight hundred rooms (and was) the largest 'apartment house' in the world until a larger one was erected in New York in 1882. Building had begun at Pueblo Bonito as early as 919 A.D., but it did not reach its final form until 1067 A.D. or later." (Wormington,1947). Chaco Canyon is located 137 miles northwest of Albuquerque, in the San Juan Basin. People began settling there around 500 A.D., developing a culture that reached its zenith between 1075 and 1130. Then, within a relatively short period of time, the site was abandoned.

dark shapes: Cumulus ("a heap or pile") clouds. "If you object that the ayre is improper to take figure or coulour, because it is so thin and transparent. The answer is, that although the ayre remaining in its rarity doth not reteyne figure or coulour, yet when it is condensed and thickened, it will doe both as appeares in the clouds." (Lawrence,1985)

like a plague: In 1960 and 1961 plague in America was plague in New Mexico...In both years the potential for spread of the disease far beyond the borders of the Land of Enchantment was apparent; in one case (in which two U.S. Air Force officers, "whose job it was to ferry jet aircraft to South America and Europe," contracted the disease while rabbit hunting in southeastern New Mexico) it was real." (Gregg,1985)

missing event: "Such a 'philosophy of the phantasm,'as opposed to representation, would delineate the play of the missing event, whose origin is not measurable against reality and whose impact is diffused through the social sphere." (Linker,1984)

economy: "Counting only federal defense dollars, New Mexico ranks third in per capita spending. At least 54,678 New Mexicans work directly in defense activities, with that many more in private jobs that depend indirectly on defense. That means that one in every five New Mexico workers holds a job directly or indirectly linked to federal defense spending." (Morrissey,1990)

Stealthy: The F-117A "stealth fighter" became operational October l983. It is flown by the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing. scheduled to be stationed at Holloman AFB in 1992.

cockroaches: "You're right, Roberto, I know/all about flying. But only a little./What good is it, compagno,/when you want only/to embrace the soil/a cockroach turns through?" (G. Kalamaras. From, "Why I Fly.")

swept clean: The Chaco People "of the 12th century are indeed gone in flesh and blood, but...certain ruins appear so clean and fresh that I think to myself, 'If I wait just a little longer, they'll be back. I'm sure." (Bensinger,1988)

tracing roads: "At least 400 miles of well engineered roadbeds reach out sometimes laser straight with occasional dog legs to Chacoan satellite communities called outliers, some located 90 miles away...Most perplexing is the presence of several sets of parallel roads--often placed next to each other at regularly spaced intervals. Some roads lead to cliff faces and end abruptly without a shrine to mark their terminus. Freeways to the Void?" (Ibid)

Changing Woman: "No matter how much we know about her the total is a great question mark. She is the mystery of reproduction, of life springing from nothing. of the last hope of the world, a riddle perpetually solved and perennially springing up..." (Reichard,1970)