Aliens on Senior Center Tree Trunk
Roswell, New Mexico
Titled "The Oldest Citizen," this carved tree trunk stands under a protective canopy outside the Roswell Senior Center. At one time it was a centuries-old cottonwood that grew across the street; then it was a stump; then in 2004 it was carved into a work of art. It leaves open to interpretation just who Roswell's oldest citizen might be, if among the carved figures. Is it a cowboy, an Indian, a prospector, a buffalo? On the back side of the trunk are carved two aliens and their crashed saucer, who appear to be huddled in a cave beneath an old Spanish mission. Are they getting on in extraterrestrial years?
Or is "The Oldest Citizen" the tree trunk itself, its scenes showing the rich history it observed? Yes...no -- wait! Are they actually the hazy memories of the oldest person in town? This is very confusing. Did the mail come yet?