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.

What's For Dinner

What's for dinner.

BBQ Chicken with roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Fresh Garden Squash - My plate

Roasted Pork with Roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Fresh Garden Squash - His Plate

I love food but more than anything I love flavors and tasting food. This is what Raoul prepared for dinner tonight. It looked so good that I just had to take a photo. The food was as good as it looked.

Terlingua Sunset 062913

The sunset tonight reminded me of Neapolitan Ice Cream. As you can notice now. The sun is now setting to the far right of the horizon. It will begin to move the left of the horizon. In the photo, the mountain to the left is Sawmill Mountain. By December 21 the sun will set to the far left of Sawmill Mountain at a point not pictured in the photo.

Enjoy.

The world is what we make it.

Charlton

The Set and not the Sun

Sometimes it's less about the sun and more about the set.

Stormclouds gathering at sunset over Terlingua and Bee Mountain 062413

 We, as a people, go about our daily lives. Trips to the grocery store, the hair salon, the gas station, restaurants, our places of employment. Other lives, oblivious to our own, exist and thrive without our knowledge. If we do know about them or realize they exist, it is on a superficial basis. I go to work five days a week and then go home. On one of those usual days I drove up to the back of the motel, parked, and on my walk to the back door, I glanced to my right and noticed what would appear to most, a weed. Long, green, and seemingly insubstantial thin and barely there on leggy stems. At the end of the stems were very tiny white blooms. In a desert setting, to me, any color can be a welcome sight. I made a mental note to take a photo later during a non-busy moment in my work that evening.

I am always amazed at the beauty contained within a very small and tiny space. I was not disappointed with this bloom. They are pictured below. The anthers are the width of a human hair. Fragile and thin looking, the anthers were covered in what appeared as sugar particles. What the sugar particles actually are is pollen.

Again, it brings to mind that here, in the searingly hot and unmerciful desert sun, there are these small blooms there, below our eyes that stare straight ahead and often miss these small worlds that spin and grow and thrive. I love those worlds.

Enjoy and thrive yourself.

Remember, the world is what we make it.

Charlton

Stormy Weather

Storm clouds approaching Terlingua from the north. A storm also approached from the west and finally hit us  in the late evening with a sudden punch of 40 to 50 mph wind.

Charlton

Creature Feature

One of my favorite desert native plants is the Texas Yellow Trumpet Bush. I cut two cuttings to root. Arriving inside and setting the cuttings in rooting solution (Aspirin dissolved in water). I discovered there was a tiny stow away on board one of the cuttings.

Some sort of itty bitty spider. Reminds me of a crab

Another view of the stow away.

Have a great day!

Charlton

Sunset in the West, Storms at the Back

Terlingua Sunset in the west and a sizeable sunset reflection against the storm clouds behind us to the east of our house.

Storm Clouds over Maverick Mountain, Terlingua 052813

 You ever had one of those days when you just can't get cool enough. Well, apparently Cow is having one of those days today. He decided that parked in front of the fan with his butt available to the prevailing fan winds was the best sleeping position for him. Not necessarily advantageous for the rest of us.

I call him Cow because when we adopted him and his brother we thought they were sisters. We named them Sheba and Chere. Imagine our surprise when we noticed them preening and grooming items we thought they didn't have. Where did they pick up those things? I don't remember ordering that.

So...I nicknamed him Cow because it sounds a lot better than Steamshovel due to his ability to seemingly unhinge his lower jaw and scoop up a nice chunk of the food dish. His brother is nicknamed Precious Moments because he resembles Barbra Streisand when ever he does something naughty but looks innocent. Sort of like those porcelain works of art you see on people's shelves collecting dust called Precious Moments.

Cow

 Bee Mountain in the background with a late blooming yucca this evening as the sunset.

Terlingua Sunset 052813

Remember, the world is what we make it.

Charlton