A Stop At Four Corners Monument

Above, the Four Corners Monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The trip is now over and I am back home.

I took a different route from Monument Valley. It was a bit longer, but it allowed me to stop at Four Corners Monument and then directly to Gallup, New Mexico so I could pick up my meds at the pharmacy.

Above, the approach to Four Corners Monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Four Corners Monument (I guess it is called "National Monument" in some places) but it appears to be run by the Navajo tribe. It cost $8.00 per person for admission.

The monument is a lot more elaborate than it was when I went there back in the 1980s. The last time I was there was in 1985.

Above, the monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The monument is surrounded on all sides by vendor stalls. The vendors are Navajo tribal members selling jewelry, t-shirts, artworks and other things. 

Above, vendor stalls at left and background. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The monument marks the sport where four state corners meet: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. I heard that the monument's location is not accurate. 

According to Wikipedia:

Misplacement controversy

Since the early 20th century, controversies have arisen regarding the accuracy of the monument's placement. After the initial surveys, it was found that the borders did not always follow the lines of meridian and parallel (as had been intended) due to the primitive surveying technology available at the time. This discrepancy left the four states asking if the correct borders were the exact lines of meridian and parallel (and if new, more accurate, surveys needed to be done), or if the markers placed during the initial surveys were now the actual border.

New Mexico sued Colorado in 1919, and when the Supreme Court in 1925 ruled that the markers placed during the initial surveys were the actual borders, even if the markers were off in some locations (this includes the Four Corners Monument), the issue was resolved. Today's legal description of these border lines is based on the original markers, and not the written description of the borders created when the territories were formed. Because of this, the borders between these states are not perfectly straight and often zigzag.

One example is the border between Colorado and Utah, where in one area the border jogs west about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from where it was intended to be placed by the written description (i.e. the 32nd meridian west from Washington – 38°16′34″N 109°03′38″W). Because of the Supreme Court decision, the border set out by the markers remains the border between the two states.

This issue resurfaced briefly in 2009 with U.S. media reports that the monument was placed 2.5 miles (4.0 km) west of its intended location. This was soon found to be the result of a mistaken assumption: that the Prime Meridian, used in the United States since 1912, was used. In actuality, the 19th century surveys used the previous Washington meridian. A spokesperson for the U.S. National Geodetic Survey (USNGS) has stated that the USNGS has determined that the modern monument is located roughly 1,800 feet (550 m) east of where the Four Corners marker had originally been intended to be located by the US Congress in 1863. The spokesperson, however, reiterated that the 1875 survey was accepted by all states and therefore its markers, including the Four Corners Monument, are legally binding. Similar statements were issued by the Navajo Nation, defending their work in maintaining and promoting the monument.

Above, a plaque at the Four Corners Monument. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I guess that settled the matter.  

If anyone has in mind to scatter cremated remains at this or at other Tribal Park land, there is a sign at the monument calling cremation a "malicious desecration" in Navajo cultural belief. You've been warned!

Above, the sign forbidding scattering cremains on tribal lands. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Cremation: Going Out With A Bang

Above, my aunt's urn was one of the nicest ones I've seen. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While perusing for any current news on the ammunition shortage, I stumbled on an article at the Daily Herald on different ways ashes (cremains) of the departed can be dealt with.

While most were more traditional, such as scattering at sea, burial, or kept at home, there was one that I found rather especially amusing (there's another: turning cremains into a vinyl record).

The article began with:

There’s no shortage of options when it comes to handling or disposing of your cremated remains after you’re gone. Your family can keep, bury or scatter them in a variety of imaginative ways that reflect your life and personality. Here are some different options to consider.

Here's the one I found most amusing:

Go out with a bang: If you’re a hunter or a gun lover, a company called Holy Smoke will create loaded ammunition out of cremated remains. Your family could store the ammo in the engraved wooden box it comes in, or they can send you off in a gun salute.

To see more, go here. 

Pet Angels: Is It Jax or Not?

Above, Jax Jacobs.

The following video reminds me of when I worked for United Pacific/Reliance Insurance Companies back 40 years ago.

Some of the company's insureds were cemeteries, mortuaries and crematoriums. There was a spell in which liability claims were coming of missing cremains, co-mingled cremains and other claims involving cremains. If screw-ups like this can be done with human cremains, it can also happen with pets.

The topic of the video by Eric Jacobs, the Nomadic Fanatic, concerns the cremains of Jacobs's late cat Jax.

When he received the package from Pet Angels, a pet cremation company, Jacobs noticed something amiss. The card with Jax's paw print seemed to be from another cat. In the video, at one point Jacobs held up the paw print image to the camera, I noticed immediately that the print couldn't have been Jax's.

The paw print Jacobs received had four toes. Jax was a rarity, he had seven toes on both front paws as a polydactyl cat.

Now, it could be the technician who made the paw print may have missed the extra toes. There's no way of knowing. Also, this leaves doubt in Jacobs's mind whether the cremains in the urn are actually Jax's (Jacobs paid for a private, single cremation) and the lock(s) of fur that were sent with the urn were Jax's.

Understandably, Jacobs is quite upset with Pet Angels.

On the fur, a DNA test can be done on the fur sent with fur on Jax's brush or veterinary blood samples. Pet Angels should be willing to pick up the cost of a DNA test to prove they were on the up & up.

Still, this boils down to the big question: Is everything actually Jax's or not? Pet Angels definitely has a major public relations problem over this.

Here's Eric Jacobs's video: