A Unique Terlingua 4th!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

The Starlight Theater this evening 070413

What a beautiful day it was for an Independence Day celebration here in Terlingua. Kathy invited us over to her house for a 4th of July picnic under her new awning. It was probably one of the best 4th of July Celebrations I have been to while here in Terlingua. I met people that I have met before and new friends as well.

I met a fiddle player and a violin player at the gathering!

When the hour of 9pm arrived, Raoul and I decided to head on over to the Terlingua Ghost town to watch the fireworks. As we were approaching the ghost town from a fair distance on FM 170 we could see some thick smoke. They must have started the fireworks without us. We heard that the kids fireworks were going to begin first, such as sparklers etc. We drove closer and as we topped another rise in the road we could plainly see two humongous bonfires. It became dark really fast so we parked a few hundred yards from the Starlight parking lot since there appeared to be alot of vehicles moving around also looking for parking. As soon as we opened the truck doors we could tell that something was not right with the crowd. There were too many excited people and they weren't wearing the normal, "shock and awe" expression one usually sees at 4th of July pyrotechnic shows. There were shouts of fear and shock.

....and weeeeeellll. That's about as far as the 4th of July celebration got.

It seems, from speaking with other people that we knew, the fireworks, well, got out of hand, to put it lightly. From what I can understand, A spark jumped into the wrong box. There wasn't enough time to get the box away from the rest of the fireworks so they did the next best thing...they ran. One witness said that he was standing around the box when it happened and then he said, 'that can't be good' and then ran. As he was running, the fireworks were speeding past him in a flurry.

Quite a few people were hit with hot sparks but I don't think that anyone was seriously injured...as far as I know. By this point Raoul and I just joined the crowd on the Porch of the Starlight Theater after getting a refreshing beverage, Me: A margarita of course, Raoul: some sort of beer in a bottle.

Terlingua Fire and EMS on the job the parking lot of the Starlight Theater and Trading Post

Terlingua Fire and EMS giving us some good fodder for the next few weeks.

We left a little after ten. Needless to say, between the Terlingua Fire and EMS and Deputy Paul and Deputy Patrick no fireworks display was going to be in our very immediate future.

I never expected my 4th to be this exciting. Why can't we have something like this on a monthly basis? Just askin'.

Have a great day!!!

Remember, The world is what we make it.

Charlton

Through a Window Hazily

Looking Through The Window Hazily

The Window Trail, Big Bend National Park, Texas

Below are the flowers I found while on the adventure today.

Texas Mimosa

Cactus Wren nest as is typical in the crook of a Cholla cactus in the Chisos Basin.

A Mallow species of flowering plant along the Window Trail

The Window as seen from the trail head inside the Chisos Basin. We are at 6000 ft and looking down to Terlingua and the desert floor approx. 2800 - 3000 ft.

I didn't pay it much mind going down. I was semi-catatonic so I don't recall seeing it on the way back.

Appears to be a type of grasshopper I found hanging out on the inside of a Century Agave.

A closer view of the Century Agave bloom stalk.

I was exhausted
I felt great on the trail down. I was snapping and shooting photos like crazy. On the way back up from the Window was a different story. I was so tired all I was concentrating on was the right foot going in front of the left foot. If anything felt it was photogenic, it would have to have jumped in front of me and stopped me. Ray and Anita were right. It was 2.5 miles down and 10 miles back.

The sunset this evening was somewhat like the previous posted sunset.

Enjoy.

Remember, the world is what we make it.