I don't mean to scare you, but apparently our sun will stop burning several million years from now. This scientific fact has always managed to keep me a little on edge. It's a constant reminder that however technologially advanced we get to be, nature is still going to prevail in the long run.

• COUNTY:  Otero
• LOCATION:  8 miles east of Three Rivers (Three Rivers is 17 miles north of Tularosa on US 54)
• GNIS Info & Map

      When my fifth grade science teacher first alerted me to the fact that little by little the sun was burning itself out, I knew what had do be done. Someone - that being me - had to start collecting everything he could about the world as it existed today and put it somewhere safe. After the sun died out and all the earth people shriveled up and blew away, whoever found our remains (that part wasn't any clearer to me then than it is now, but I felt that someone somewhere would eventually find us) would also find my collection of stuff and be grateful that someone had had the foresight to put all of that information together. I even envisioned the future scientists in conference together, with the head one saying "Gee, without this insightful young man's collection of stuff, so securely and safely stored in a shoebox under his bed, we might never have known what Earth life was like." I managed to collect two Readers' Digests and a Polariod photo of our street before my brother stole my Star Wars figurines and demanded two packs of bubble gum as ransom, and I realized I had more immediate concerns to deal with.

     I was reminded of my shoebox project while visiting the petroglyphs at Three Rivers Petroglyphs National Recreation Site. Who hasn't dreamed of creating something that will still be admired hundreds of years into the future?  While the meaning of some of the petroglyphs is still unknown, their beauty is readily apparent. The fact that they have survived and continue to inspire awe for over 700 years is no small feat.  The lesson I learned?  If you want something to last, don't put it in a shoebox under your bed. Make it beautiful and it will last forever, even after the sun goes out.