Talk about down-home celebrations

I love it that one of the activities planned to commemorate the centennial of the establishment of the Gila cliff dwellings as a national monument is this one, scheduled for June 23, from 7 to 8:30 pm: "Try your hand at copying Mimbres pottery designs. Paper plates and black magic markers will be provided." This is according to New Mexico magazine. The Gila cliff dwellings and that little valley are favorite places. Almost any walk in the vicinity will bring you to places where the ground is carpeted in Mimbres shards. I never picked up any to take them away. It's against the law. That doesn't stop people, though. It's just a good thing that this part of the world is so little frequented or the spell might be broken.