RANDLE

I can't recall why we drove out to Red Rock Park but it's on the list of things to do when visiting Sedona Arizona.  It's a 286-acre nature preserve and environmental education center with stunning scenery. Trails throughout the park wind through red rock formations and along side Oak Creek banked by green meadows and native vegetation. As we wound our way through the park, rounding each bend in the road revealed a new and different sweeping panorama with colorful mesas and cliffs lit up by the sun.

At the northeast area of the park, things got weird. You know how you sometimes see a speck on the computer screen and not knowing if it's on your screen or a flaw in the video you are watching, you swipe the screen with your finger to try and get rid of it? I suddenly had the same urge to reach up and swat the black and red beetle suspended in front of me. Then I realized the beetle was sitting on top of a distant mesa and was bigger than Godzilla. "What the hell is that?"

We drove over to a spot where we could get a closer look.

Someone with way too much money had seen fit to desecrate the beauty of the natural world with this egregious display.  The visible parts of the structure were at least 4 stories tall and the overall contrast with the surroundings made Hearst's San Simeon Castle seem modest.  How had this monstrosity avoided the media's thirst for baiting people's outrage?  Where was the Sierra Club or Ken Burns whose documentary on national parks made no mention of this travesty?  Better yet, this was Arizona, why hadn't some redneck dynamited the damn thing?

In an effort to soothe my disgust and find some shade, I retreated to the Chaparral and struck up a conversation with Matt who was tending bar.  At some point I asked him if he knew anything about the eyesore overlooking Red Rock Park.  Matt said, "Can't say as I've ever heard  about it.  Your best shot would be to ask Randle, he used to work on the park maintenance crew."

Matt introduced me to Randle, and after some perfunctory chit chat, I pulled out my cell phone and showed him the photo of the Godzilla building I had taken before we left the park.  I asked Randle, "Do you know anything about this?"  With not an ounce of hesitation Randle said, "Sure thing, that's OPAL."

I asked, "What's OPAL?"

Randle said, "It's what ya call an acronym, if I'm not mistaken."

I asked, "What do the letters OPAL stand for?"

 Randle said, "Don't hardly remember, 'ceptin the A, I know that stands for albinism."

I asked, "Albinism? As in albinos?"

Randle said, "There ya go."

I said, "Well, I now know even less than when I walked in here."

Randle said, "That place is chock full of 'em."

I asked, "You're shitting me.?"

Randle said, "Nosiree, that place was built by OPAL which is a foundation that looks out for albinos."

I asked, "How is sticking them in that thing looking out for them?"

Randle said, "Let me ask you this, when's the last time you saw a full-blown albino in a job, in a relationship or even in public?"

I said, "The movie Deliverance.?"

Randle said, "So that's a no.  They're treated as freaks by folks like us, nobody wants to hire 'em or fuck 'em, and only 1 out of 10 live to see 30."

I asked, "Why 30?"

Randle said, "UV rays give 'em cancer, they're highly susceptible to infection, and there's no cure for it.  Hell, there's places in this world where their body parts are sought after for witchcraft. "

I asked, "Wait a minute, if sunlight is such a threat, Arizona makes absolutely no sense."

Randle said, "It does if you're already here.  Turns out the Hopi, Zuni and Kuna have a recessive gene in their DNA that is partial to it.  At least this way their folks can visit them.  Besides the building is specially constructed to protect them from any and all health threats.  What you're lookin' at is less than half of the full compound that sits up there."

I asked, "What all is up there?"

Randle said, "A sanctuary really.  It's nearly completely self-sustaining.  Solar power, filtered air, special window glass, goats, chickens, fruit trees, and a well.  Then ya got yer vertical hydroponic system where they farm produce and trout, and composting toilets if you can believe such a thing.  They are inaccessible just like the 900-year-old cliff dwelling down the road at Montezuma's Castle.  "Cept instead of a ladder, the only way up or down from this place is an elevator - the open type like you see when a high rise is being put up."

I asked, "Where's this foundation get the money for this?"

Randle said, "OPAL is run by a slew of tribes, it's casino money."

I asked, "What's with the red and and black?"

Randle said, "The whole compound is made of traditional tribal shapes, symbols and colors, inside and out."

I asked, "Why is it, before tonight, I've never heard a single word about any of this?"

Randle said, "Well it's like this, unlike the LGBTQ, did I get that right? They've added a few more letters last I heard, or at least it was under consideration.  Anyway, unlike the LBG crowd, the last thing an albino wants is to attract attention, so there's a concerted effort to remain invisible."

I asked, "The building is hardly what I would call "under the Radar".  How did the county planning and zoning ever approve putting that thing up there?"

Randle said, "That place is just outside the park's border, neither the county or god has any say cause it's on Indian land and they can do anything they want.  B'sides, the tribes think Red Rock Park is an abomination that should never have been permitted onto what had been their backyard for the last 4,000 years."

Later that night I went onto google and although I found nothing for OPAL I did see where the United Nations General Assembly declared December 18, 2014 as International Albinism awareness Day.

A few nights later I returned to the Chaparral. I saw Matt behind the bar and went over to say hello, "Hey Matt, how ya doin' ?"

Matt said, "Yeah, hi again. Say, I saw you talkin' with Randle the other night, did he know the place you were askin' about?

I said, "You were right, he was definitely the guy to talk to."

Matt said, "I figured it would work out. Randle's been known to spin a yarn or two."