Odds and ends

Things you might have been wondering about:

1. This morning's temperature was 32 degrees, but we'll warm up to the low 50s. Later this week the daytime high will be 71. Saturday, I was shopping without a coat in El Paso.
2. Van Horn is pronounced "VAN horn." I still don't get it right most of the time.
3. Our elevation is just about 4,000 feet.
4. Yes, we do get snow. The average is 3.3 inches a year.
5. It will get cold. Locals tell me it can get down into the 20s. They shiver when they say that.
6. I experienced my first sandstorm yesterday. The wind howled so much, I couldn't tell if the trains were running, and that's quite a feat, as the tracks are a block away. I could barely see Turtleback Mountain most of the day.
7. The mayor comes into my office nearly every day to say "hello," and to chat for a few minutes. He calls me "sis." I like that.
8. The desert is drying up. We're losing the green of summer, but in its place, the grasses are turning to a beautiful bleached golden color.
9. Tumbleweeds are starting to roll into town.

More Red Rock Ranch Pictures

Red Rock Ranch

I was lucky enough to get out on this ranch twice last weekend, once with a group of artists and once with a group of geologists from Houston and China. We saw stunning views, Indian grinding holes, javelina and mountain lion prints, wild burros, road runners, jackrabbits, and two old movie sets. (I know you want to know--the movies are 'Blue Sky' starring Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones, and the prequel to Lonesome Dove starring Edward James Olmos).

After the geologists left on Sunday night, I stayed a bit and had a glass of wine with the ranch owner. She told amazing stories about Van Horn, and her many years as a manager of rock and country bands. "I did a twelve night tour with Jerry Lee Louis and he was a perfect gentlemen when I was around." She also told me more about the Burro Lady. (Psst: her name is Judy.)

The "Red" is Pre-Cambrian rock. See it on the left in the middle of the picture? (Yeah, I didn't know "Pre-Cambrian" either. It means older than the hills, older than life, too old to have fossils in it because nothing was living on the earth when it was formed.) Pretty cool, huh? And Red Rock Ranch is one of the only sites in North America where you can see naturally exposed Pre-Cambrian sandstone. That's why the geologists came all the way from China; we've got a geology textbook out here in our rocks.

Envision the Pageantry

I promise, next year I'll get pictures.

"The 14th Annual 4-H Open Freestyle Reining was held October 22, at the S.A.L.E. Arena at Sul Ross State University.

The event consists of a set of required horseback maneuvers set to the music of the contestants choice, and done in both horse and rider costumes."

Here's a partial listing of the winners and the titles of their performances:

"Best Representation of Screen Media: (Ghost Busters)"
"Craziest Performance: (Copa Cabanna-Carmen Miranda)"
"Most Original: (Hugo the Human Canon Ball)"
"Crowd Voted Best Costume: (Scoobie Doo) and (If I was Jesus)"

I'm not kidding you about the last one.

Obit of the Day (in honor of my Iowa friends, Anne and Scott)

"He was a good cowboy, but earned respect as a good cowman."

Census Data

The figures make the differences clear-- here's data on Culberson County, Texas, compared with my other two homes (Johnson County, Iowa and McLean County, Illinois):

Population Estimate
Culberson County, Texas 2,727
Johnson County, Iowa 116,097
McLean County, Illinois 158,006

Persons per square mile
Culberson County, Texas 0.8 (yes, that's right, there's a lot of room out here)
Johnson County, Iowa 180.7
McLean County, Illinois 127.1

Persons of Latino or Hispanic origin
Culberson County, Texas 72.2%
Johnson County, Iowa 2.5%
McLean County, Illinois 2.5%

Language other than English spoken at home
Culberson County, Texas 73.4%
Johnson County, Iowa 10.5%
McLean County, Illinois 6.0%

Median household income (1999)
Culberson County, Texas $25,882
Johnson County, Iowa $40,060
McLean County, Illinois $47,021

Persons below poverty rate (1999)
Culberson County, Texas 25.1%
Johnson County, Iowa 15.1%
McLean County, Illinois 9.7%

Blue Sky No Lie

More McKittrick Canyon shots--Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Fall Color in Texas?

McKittrick Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park is an hour's drive from my home. National Park Service materials call this canyon "the most beautiful spot in Texas," which my friends in the Big Bend National Park would certainly dispute. But no matter, the colors this time of year are spectacular and the sky very, VERY blue.

The hike is relatively flat but rocky (no bouldering, though) and in a few miles you see a full transition from desert to canyon woodland, to a highland forest of maples and oaks. Elevation at the trail head is 5,000, considerably lower than the park's (and the state's) highest point, Guadalupe Peak, 8,749 elevation. I most enjoyed seeing the tiny brilliant leaves of the maples. They're small in the desert to reduce evaporation of precious rainwater.

The park is isolated--the nearest food, lodging and gasoline is 35 miles away--but that makes hiking at even peak times a real treat. We were there on the first really colorful weekend of the season and there were others on the trail, but we had a great deal of privacy along the route, too.

Home again

Folks, I've been on the road. For the first time since I arrived this summer, I was eager to get back "home" last night. In addition to driving all over the Texas Mountain Trail region, I've been in Dallas at the Texas State Fair (meet BIG TEX on the left!) promoting Far West Texas, the Texas Mountain Trail, Big Bend National Park and Guadelupe Mountains National Park. I tell you what--it was a big rush to stand in that booth and have folks RUN up and say, "Ohhh, the Big Bend is my FAVORITE place on the planet!"

After a week of corny dogs and chocolate covered frozen key lime pie on a stick, I was home for a brief time, then off to Corpus for a travel conference. This proved to be infinitely more fun than CASE or BTDOC (for all you Foundation friends) -- folks seemed relaxed and happy! We heard about ways to encourage motels to adopt "green" practices, ways to calculate return on investment (yes, I'm still a numbers geek!), and finding funds for community festivals involving the running of turkeys down Main Street--now that's far more fun than managing "do not call lists" for telefund programs!

Will be posting more entries this weekend!