Jun 2, 2025
Box Canyon.
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Box Canyon.
The year was 1948. The sun dipped below the mesas, casting long shadows across the Navajo reservation. Huddled around a crackling fire, a group of wide-eyed children sat enthralled. In their midst, bathed in the warm glow of the flames, sat Gray Mountain, a wizened figure of 91 years. His face, etched with the stories of a long life, held a twinkling mischief as he addressed his young audience.
"Tonight," he boomed, his voice surprisingly strong for his age, "we travel back to the time of the Changing Woman!"
The children gasped, a collective shiver running through them. The Changing Woman, Hishch'eii Yin'a'at'aah, was a revered figure in Navajo legends, a weaver of worlds and protector of her people. Gray Mountain chuckled, the sound like dry leaves rustling in the wind.
"Don't worry, little ones," he reassured them. "Her stories are not of fear, but of resilience and hope."
He launched into a captivating tale. He spoke of the harsh and unforgiving land, how the Changing Woman, with her magical loom, weaved mountains and valleys, rivers and canyons, creating a home for the Navajo people. He described the mischievous Twin Heroes, Monster Slayer and Born-for-Water, who battled fearsome creatures and brought balance to the world.
His voice, at times booming, other times dropping to a hushed whisper, painted vivid pictures in the children's minds. They saw the shimmering turquoise waters of Spider Rock, a testament to the Changing Woman's weaving. They felt the tremor of the earth as Monster Slayer battled the fearsome yei'i bich'ii' (giant).
But Gray Mountain wasn't just weaving tales of the past. He subtly wove in lessons for the present. When he spoke of the hardships faced by the early Navajo, the children understood the struggles their own families faced. When he described the ingenuity of the Twin Heroes, they saw the importance of perseverance.
As the fire died down to embers, Gray Mountain finished his story. The children, faces flushed with excitement and a newfound wisdom, sat in thoughtful silence. A young girl, no older than eight, finally broke the quiet.
"Gray Mountain," she asked, her voice small but determined, "will the Changing Woman weave a new world for us too?"
Gray Mountain smiled, a warmth crinkling the corners of his eyes. "The Changing Woman's loom is always weaving, little one," he said. "But the threads come from all of us. It's up to you, the future storytellers, to decide what patterns to create."
The photograph, captured by Leonard James McCombe in 1948, wasn't just a picture of a storyteller and his audience. It was a bridge between generations, a testament to the enduring power of storytelling. It was a reminder that while the world may change, the spirit of the Navajo people, their connection to their land and legends, would forever be passed down, thread by thread, story by story.
The Whiting Brother’s Motel of Gray Mountain, Arizona was one of many WB facilities on Route 66. Whiting Brother’s started as a gas station chain then expanded to motels soon after. This motel is a one and two story building on the east side of the road. It was closed by January 2005 and boarded up in June 2007. As of June 2018, it was still boarded up.
Pictures from our Arid Zone (Arizona) trip. Just a little teaser for more to come. Maybe.
Gray Mountain is a legal thriller novel by John Grisham, published in hardcover on October 23, 2014. The book is set in Appalachia after the Great Recession and follows third-year associate Samantha Kofer after the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, when she becomes a legal clinic intern in Virginia’s coal mining country.
Book Review - Gray Mountain
Book Review – Gray Mountain
I have liked almost every book that I have read of John Grisham’s except his first one “A Time to Kill” and now “Gray Mountain” is the other one I don’t like. The story is insipid and you just get a lot of knowledge about the “black lung” disease that coal miners end up dying of. The plot goes all over the place – a father who is reckless and the daughter getting thrown out of her plum “big law”…
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Gray Mountain by John Grisham
Gray Mountain by John Grisham
I have read several books by John Grisham over the years. Some of them are reviewed on this site, including: The Broker https://bookreviewstoday.info/2013/07/15/the-broker-by-john-grisham/, and, The Appeal by John Grisham https://bookreviewstoday.info/2013/06/16/the-appeal-by-john-grisham/. Gray Mountain is the most recent novel I have read by John Grisham. It was published originally in 2014.
B…
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Gray Mountain by John Grisham pdf download
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Gray Mountain by John Grisham pdf download
John Grisham has a new hero . . . and she’s full of surprises
The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she gets downsized, furloughed, escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is one of the “lucky” associates. She’s offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid…
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