One of the U.S.A.’s newest National Monuments is Gold Butte, close to the city of Mesquite in southeast Nevada, alongside the Utah/Arizona border. As one of President Obama’s last actions in office, 300,000 acres of the Mojave Desert were declared a National Monument under the Antiquities Act in 2016. (National Monuments are similar to National Parks in the United States, but less well-known, and managed by the Bureau of Land Management federal agency instead of the National Parks Service.) Additionally, the road to the Monument is the first-ever National Backcountry Byway.

To get to some points in Gold Butte, you need a high-clearance four-wheel drive vehicle. Although you can drive, as I did, a regular SUV into the Monument for some distance on roads of rough asphalt, then graded gravel, to go deeper into the park requires the former. In fact, you may meet some of the dune-buggy style ATV clubs traveling out to the far reaches, such as Little Finland, (named for the wind-eroded “fin-like” rock structures there.) Primitive camping is allowed on this BLM land. Remember to plan accordingly as there are no services within the Monument.

The reason one travels to see Gold Butte is the solitude in the middle of 300,000 uninhabited acres. Really, I should say “unpeopled,” because the desert flora and fauna of Joshua Trees and barrel cactus, big-horn sheep and open-range cattle, as well as red, white and purplish mountain vistas, provide much to appreciate. Petroglyphs also provide evidence of human habitation in the ancient past. Yet, to be alone in the silence and vastness of this Monument is a welcome break from life in the noisy city.

If you plan a visit, stay on the designated roads and BRING WATER. High temperatures can be extreme in the summer. Then, have a picnic and enjoy the sights and silence of Gold Butte.

NOTES ON THE SONG LYRICS:
The song in the video is called “BS Before Breakfast,” and it is the 14th number in a series titled “Boarding House Mysteries.” Lyrics were written in the poetic form called Triolet, a French style similar to a Rondeau. The rules for the triolet form are:

  • Lines of eight or 10 syllables (staying consistent throughout the poem)
  • Eight lines per stanza
  • Rhyming pattern for each stanza – A B a A a b A B
  • Last words of each Line rhyme, either A/a or B/b
  • A/a rhymes:  Lines 1, 3, 4, 5 and 7
  • B/b rhymes:  Lines 2, 6 and 8
  • AB = poetic Refrain

Lyrics
Call them out on the B…s-ing1
Before it becomes a habit2
You saw the squatters entering
Call them out on the B…s-ing
Steam on the coffee is swirling
Papers are open to edit
Call them out on the B…s-ing
Before it becomes a habit

Call them out on the B…s-ing3
Before it becomes a habit
Your own bacon is sizzling
Call them out on the B…s-ing
A loss, the place is emptying
This kind of sport is a forfeit
Call them out on the B…s-ing
Before it becomes a habit

Call them out on the B…s-ing
Before it becomes a habit
Don’t believe what you are reading4
Call them out on the B…s-ing
It takes much love to be caring
May I offer you just one tip?
Call them out on the B…s-ing
Before it becomes a habit

Footnotes:

  1. “B…s-ing” is a derogatory word meaning “trying to manipulate someone by telling misleading statements.” “Call someone out..” means to “respond verbally to a person’s misleading or manipulating statement – a lie – with the truth.” ↩︎
  2. Lines A + B (“Call them out on the B…s-ing/Before it becomes a habit”) is the Refrain throughout the poem. It is a caution to respond verbally or through actions to misleading statements against you before they become a “habit” of the teller. The “habit” of this type of lie can be intentional, or by ignorance. ↩︎
  3. Each stanza has eight lines. Each line has eight syllables. There are three stanzas in the poem. ↩︎
  4. Aa rhymes are words like “reading,” “caring,” “sizzling (three syllables “siz-zl-ing),” and “B…s-ing.” Bb rhymes are words like “forfeit,” “edit” and “habit.” ↩︎

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