ON RUGS, RINGS, LIFE, DEATH AND THE SANTA FE RAILROAD

SOONER OR LATER I WILL FIND OUT WHAT MAKES A GOOD RUG GREAT OR THE REASONS WHY SOME RUGS ARE SOLD THE FIRST DAY THEY ARE DISPLAYED AT THE STATION WHERE THE AMTRACK STOPS TWICE A DAY. ONCE EAST AND ONCE WEST, IT'S BETTER HEADING WEST, THE RUGS SEEN ON THE WESTERN JOURNEY SEEM BEST, AT LEAST TO ME, BUT NONE ARE AS GOOD AS THEY WERE WHEN IT WAS THE SANTA FE INSTEAD OF AMTRACK THAT STOPPED LONG ENOUGH TO FIND THE BEST TURQUOISE RING FOR THE PRICE. BUT HOW CAN A RING, OR A RUG, OR ANYTHING, REALLY, BE JUDGED BY THE PRICE? SURE, I COULD SAY IT WAS ALL RELEVANT; THAT'S THE ANSWER I RECALL GETTING ANYTIME I HAD A QUESTION THE PROFESSOR COULDN'T ANSWER. THAT WAS SO LONG AGO, LIKE THE TRAIN CALLED THE SANTA FE. THE TIME WILL COME WHEN THE LAST PASSENGER THAT RODE THE SANTA FE WILL BE DEAD AND GONE. THE PROFESSORS TOO. GONE? GONE WHERE? LET SIMPLY SAY DEAD AND LEAVE THE WHEREABOUTS ALONE. IF I COULD ANSWER WHERE THEY WENT I WOULD KNOW PRECISELY THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RUGS AND RINGS AND WHAT IT IS THAT MAKES IT SO. ONE WOULD THINK WE WOULD KNOW BY NOW, CONSIDERING HOW MUCH MORE WE KNOW THAN OUR GREAT AUNTS AND UNCLES KNEW. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE INDIANS WHO MADE THE RUGS AND RINGS? ARTISTS ARE THE LAST TO RECEIVE THE RECOGNITION AND ACCOLADES