She dances alone in the Mercado accompanied by Elvis on his cardboard guitar. Crowds gather to watch as she glides through space with supple elegance. The music exists for her alone. It must be beautiful to inspire such grace.
Agave in Bloom – Dryden, TexasAn agave in bloom is a spectacular sight. Flower masts can tower twenty feet or more above the ground. Sadly, they bloom only once then die. Often the dead masts will remain upright and tall in the landscape for many years, providing safe nesting sites for birds and rodents.
For native peoples the agave was a multipurpose toolkit providing food, drink and fiber. Later inhabitants preferred to make tequila, mescal and sotol from various varieties of agave. They are the legendary firewater of desert America. Makes you crazy they say and don’t forget to eat the worm. Mescal and hot sun is a dangerous combination.
Water for Horses No1The terrain of the Edwards Plateau is anything but smooth. The early morning ground fog turns rugged landscape into fiction. It is impossible to see the ground falling away just beyond the edge of the water tank into a gully fifty feet below. A quarter mile beyond is another arid hill top. The geography goes on mile after mile broken occasionally by a fence or a gate. It is big country that trains the eye to see wide angle vistas. Those who live there see near or far but not middle distance.
