Perhaps the “Arc of History” was built to keep the gods of snow from ruining the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic. Aligned as it is at two natural passes, the work draws prevailing winds. Or repels them. At sunrise on the solstice, you can look down the center portal and see a groundhog’s shadow. The “Arc of History” is actually two teenaged girls leaving cookies with a neighbor, ringing the bell, running away and being sued for their efforts. Go back much further to 1988, and a USA Today article no one now living seems to have actually read (including USA Today archivists) naming Durango the worst-dressed community somewhere, possibly the country, conceivably the world. What if the “Arc of History” actually commemorates early Snowdowners emerging from their winter dens to create massive designs, only to knock them down again and again while drinking beer and wearing colorful costumes, finally leaving in their wake only a few chipped and scarred rocks to mark the once-cherished pastime? Surely, the “Arc of History” is a visual representation of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid jumping into the Animas River near Bakers Bridge but actually being two stunt men jumping into Lake Tahoe.

We must, however, be careful to associate only culturally significant and local miscellany. To say that when you put the “Arc of History” on your turntable, drop the needle and spin it backward, you will hear “I buried Paul” would just be silly, wouldn’t it?

Tom Byrne

Durango