Sunrise North of Marfa

Where's James Herriot when you need him?

Daisy is fine now. She was overdue for her shots so I took her into Fort Davis on Thursday to a highly recommended vet clinic. It was the closest to Van Horn, an hour and a half away.

Whether it was a reaction to the vaccinations or the long mountainous ride home, but Daisy started to get sick by the time we reached Valentine. By the time we reached Van Horn, the clinic was already closed and she was very sick. The night was hard for both of us, and she was still vomiting in the morning, so I packed her up and we headed back to the clinic. The vets were fantastic--concerned, caring, doting--and treated us both gently. She's back to her old self now, one minute ornery, the next happy to play with her favorite length of string.

Rural life is full of risks and benefits, and the distance and isolation is as comforting as it is inconvenient. It is no different here, than in Iowa, where we were faced with a similar challenge. Two stray dogs came up to the house one cold fall day, certain they'd found a new home. One was very pregnant, and she soon gave birth to six pups in Truman's dog house. No James Herriot would come to the house. Riverside had no vet or shelter, Iowa City wouldn't take rural animals, and we were forced to drive an hour to Muscatine--the closest shelter who would take them.

Mike Smith won!

Mike correctly guessed the fried food I almost ate at the state fair was the Fried Praline!

Interestingly, many of you had me pegged as a donkey tails eater. When it came right down to it, I couldn't see myself eating a huge wad of fat--sweet , meaty, cheesy, or salty.

My friend, Michael D. sent me an update from Fair Park. "I read yesterday that one of the most visited attractions at the fair was the prize hog, Bo or full name, Boris, who is heading back home to be fattened up in order to compete in the biggest hog contest being conducted, where else, Iowa."

Of course, the King of the State Fairs is......Iowa!

Kevin Costner was here

Most of the things I do for leisure could be considered "work," and that makes me a lucky lady indeed.

Take movie-watching for example, I'm now in a cycle of watching movies made in the area, and have just started adding this information to our Texas Mountain Trail website. Currently under construction--and far from being complete--is the first "Texas Mountain Trail Movie Itinerary for the 1985 film Fandango, which offered Kevin Costner his first starring role. It is a good buddy movie, and watching it gives you a sense of this part of Texas. (Although the "ugly" parts are all in the Texas Pecos Trail region, not the Mountain Trail region!) Click here for the link.

Sand Dunes in Texas

For many months, I've wanted to stop at the Monahans State Park and I finally made it there on the way home from a recent trip. I'd seen the dunes in movies--they are in lots and lots of movies, including Three Burials of Melquiedes Estrada and Fandango, the subject of my most recent web itinerary for the Texas Mountain Trail and the film giving Kevin Costner's first starring role.

It is a wild place, a half hour from Odessa, a city of 100,000 and in the Texas Pecos Trail region which is why I hadn't been there already. When I stopped at the Visitor Center to pay my $2 fee--a bargain--I asked if I needed to walk or drive to the dunes.

"Oh you should drive, I mean you could walk, but only the Germans walk to the dunes," the clerk said, "The Germans just take off and hike the two miles cross-country. But I wouldn't do that," she said, "last week on my way out of the park, I drove by a 600 pound feral pig. You don't want to run into that."

So I drove there, and on a cool Tuesday afternoon, it was a great place. They rent plastic disks kids use as sleds to slide down the dunes for a buck, and there were two children there having a great time. (See them on the right of the bottom photo?)

I saw a coyote.

The plants were most amazing--five foot tall black eyed susan bushes living in bare white sand.

Announcing a Second Mile Contest: Not everything can be successfully fried

To say the Texas State Fair celebrates fried food is an understatement. Each year there's a "Big Tex Choice Award Contest" to recognize the best new fair food. Last year's winner was fried PB&J sandwiches.

Fried food is so popular my friends Larry and Michael D. are planning to have a deep-fried butter concession next year. Ha!

Let's hold a contest: Guess which of these I came the closest to eating! I actually stood in line for one of these, but came to my senses before I spent any money. Email me and let me know. If you are the first with the correct answer, you win!

Here are the entries as they appear in the State Fair Guide:

Fried Praline Perfection--plump coconut and pecan pralines, battered and fried to a rich golden crust. Served warm with powdered sugar.

Fried Coke--Deep fried spheres of Coco-Cola flavored batter, drizzled with Coke fountain syrup, topped with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar, and a cherry.

Fernie's Fried Mac 'N Cheese--Deep-fried bites of macaroni and cheese, covered with a layer of garlic and herb-flavored bread crumbs. Served with dipping sauces.

Fernie's Fried Choco-Rito--A flour tortilla stuffed with marshmallows, coconut, candy bar pieces, caramel morsels and cinnamon, dipped in pancake batter and deep fried. Drizzled with honey and topped with whipped cream.

Donkey Tails--All-beef franks, slit on one side and generously stuffed with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped tightly in a flour tortilla and fried until golden brown. Served with mustard sauce, chili sauce or salsa.

Deep Fried Cosmopolitan--A fried pastry filled with rich cheesecake and topped with a sweet and tangy cranberry glaze and lime wedge. Served on a stick.

Some photos especially for Mike S.

Done!

This morning I finished the last piece for SOFA, the fourth of the Border People series based on the Van Horn cemetery, and inspired by Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. I'll write more about these pieces in the coming days, as I still have to compose an artist statement about the work. Tonight though, I need to construct a shipping box for them. They need to go to Colorado to be photographed (by a real photographer) and framed before Hibberd McGrath takes them to Chicago for the big show in early November. Here are details from some quick snaps this morning.

First Year Report

I'm still working furiously to get pieces ready for SOFA and get them in the mail, so not much news right now, however.......

A couple of weeks ago I made a presentation to the City Council about the Trail's first year in Van Horn and shortly before his editorial deadline, the editor of the Van Horn Advocate asked that I write it up for his paper. Clearly this is a case of, "I would have made it shorter, but I didn't have that much time," for it is quite long. Here it is: http://www.vanhornadvocate.com/front1.shtml

As I was taking a photo of the paper edition, guess who wandered into the shot!

The link should only be active until sometime Friday the 8th. The Advocate doesn't keep an online archives of their articles.