I had driven 1,000 miles back to the area mainly to revisit the Navajo market and get a few things. I stopped by every little stand that was open, saw their beadwork, their pottery, some dolls, some mock weaponry, some sand paintings and actual paintings. The people here seemed artistically talented and I was soaking it all in while being a bit shrewd. I shopped around until I found two markets… One on the Little Colorado River which was cheap and a lot of variety, and another at the Four Corners which had a lot of sand paintings. It was a lot of fun, the sort of shopping I really enjoy. It was great getting to know the artists and knowing with certainty that the money I handed them was going to them and not some middle man like at the various trading posts. Plus I got to learn all sorts of cool things like how some people burned horse hair onto the pottery to make squiggly lines. My mind loves to learn new techniques for all art forms. I was fascinated and felt good about supporting such a thing.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!