"That's where we are going, replied the Dad in response to his son's question. "Are we going to climb it?" No was the answer because the "thing" was Devil's Tower. After eight years in Wyoming, Dave and I finally got up to the Northeast corner of the state on our way to an art show in Spearfish SD. The National Park System is celebrating its 100th birthday so the park was teaming with tourists. I shoved in my earbuds and turned up the tunes in an attempt to dampen the sounds of motorcyclists and people commenting on our artwork. My goal was to finish one painting of the "Thing" and then move on to less crowded parts of the park. An hour later we packed up our supplies and started driving out of the park. On the way out we saw a white, circular sculpture standing alone in a field. Did we investigate? Of course! The Circle of Sacred Smoke was created by internationally known Japanese sculptor, Junkyu Muto as the third in a series of seven "peace sculptures" planned for significant sites around the world. The first was erected at the Vatican in 2000 and the other in 2005 at Bodh Gaya India ( where Buddha was enlightened ). The sculptor recognized Devils Tower as a sacred place and the Circle of Smoke was installed in 2008. The 12 foot tall sculpture is made of Carrara marble and the black granite base comes from the Crazy Horse memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The sculpture is meant to represent a puff of smoke from a sacred pipe. If you position yourself just right, you can capture the "Thing" in the puff of stone smoke. How cool is that!
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