FINDING LOST CIVILIZATIONS This

As I walked around the eagle, I felt that there was somethingstill drawing itself to me. Feeling that pull I walked tothe building behind the eagle. It was an abandoned restaurantcalled “Las Siete Cuevas,” the seven caves. Standingthere I still felt restless, as if there was something else to see.Something was trying to reach out to me, to be heard, to beseen. The thread was pulling me closer. I closed my eyes anda vision of distant hills appeared.Slowly, I opened my eyes and lookedaround. I noticed a stone road adjacentto the abandoned restaurant,which meandered into the hills. Nextto the road I saw a small, bent, andrusted sign that said, “Ruinas.” Wasthis the road to the ruins of Chicomostoc? I gazed towardthe hills, recalling my vision, and thought I could distinguishsome vague outlines on a mountaintop about a mile to thewest. As I looked at these hills all apprehension left my bodyand I knew that the eagle and snake and the pull of lost civilizationshad brought us to Chicomostoc.As we followed the stone road and came closer alongsidethe mountain my father and I began to see the outline ofa vast ruin complex. The road ended at a small stone guardhousewhere an attendant informed us that we were at theruins of La Quemada, which I later learned was also knownas Chicomostoc.We parked the car and followed a dusty path to a largestone-constructed interpretive center built in the style of theruins. This was the gateway to the lost city. I was impressed,excited, ecstatic. I had been to theruins of Pompeii and many ancientplaces in Europe, but the fascinatingthing about Chicomostoc was thatnobody was there. No tour buses,no crowds, no noise. Only silenceand the occasional soft sound ofdesert winds could be heard flowing along forsaken stepsmeandering around pyramids, altars, courtyards, and pathwayslong forgotten. I looked above at the bright blue skiesand white clouds forming the backdrop to this ancient sandstonecity and felt a great sense of wonderment. We are eacha temple within, a world to ourselves, but as I stood there Ifelt that we are all nothing more than grains in the sands oftime immortal.27