Today’s First Vidblog

It is very quiet in the cavern these days.  I expect many explorers went home for the holidays, and won’t be back until sometime in mid-January.  Their absence gives me some time to look around and take some photos for my serial documentary.  I know there are others filming in various ages, but I want to start my video exploration from the top.  I want to see and document, while I go along from place to place.  I know some explorers will hesitate to view my films, because so much will be given away in the telling.  On the other hand there a good many explorers (like my investors) who do not want to unravel puzzles or leap from place to place on their own.  They are looking for mystery:  what happened to this cavern group and what will become of the explorers who are either restoring the cavern or resisting any restoration of the cavern.  My comments will be heard by those who share my middle of the road views, believing that its perfectly alright to restore the cavern, but it is not alright to alter it.  It is not my objective, or the objective of my investors to see the site turned into some sort of amusement park.

San Jose, New Mexico

After spending the last few years involved with the freeze project sponsored by SEU, I’ve not had the time to properly follow tips that might lead me to Loftin, or should I say Loftin’s remains.  It was a wonderful tip that I got last month about his most recent whereabouts, but most recent is still late 80′s.  Late 80′s is getting to be twenty years ago.   I was a younger man then (still in my teens).  If it had not been for my father’s last trip notes to San Jose, New Mexico I don’t think I’d know the story like I do. 

Then of course there is the flip side to this whole story.  This may not be the same Loftin who got banned from artifact preservation and fled to the desert to find some little known group’s kivas.  The name, including the nick matches, the fact he wrote many books and articles about the area, and the additional fact he was never heard from again leads me to believe I am right about this guy being the same guy.  So why do I doubt?  Spottings of Elvis and that thief who dropped from a parachute reminds me how much of a deteroiation time can be to a back story when so much happens after.   

1st Day, Cavern

I think I ran into a number of roadblocks today. I can’t seem to get any information on John Loftin.  I am not sure why, but over the last four or five years no one has asked about the man. 

Fair Trading on the Cavern Floor

I am not sure whether explorers involved with light producing algae projects in the cavern are aware of the side effects of producing the algae.  If there are explorers who are working in this field, I would like to meet with them.  Although I’m no expert in this field (it was my father’s domain), I could share his notes with these explorers in return for any information they can give me about how textiles and other artifacts are preserved by the D’ni Restoration Council (DRC).  Once the dialogue is opened, it might be possible to move on to whatever happened with the John Loftin incident.  I’ve already been told only one person knows about what happened to Loftin, but I am convinced that more explorers know, but are not willing to commit to spilling the details.  Whatever information I get is better than what I’ve got so far – a lot of innuendos and gossip.