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Eagle Pass, Box Canyon.
When the wind comes I'm at the picnic table on some fixit chore for the trailer. I feel it on my back. Dust and smoke in a fierce cloud moving fast. I find the black guy next door, but can't understand. A kid drives by with information about weather from Dallas south. He uses the "T" word. "When you feel rain first, then hail, that's it," he says. (From Tornado, Feb 21, 2009, A Gentleman's Travel Notes.)
CLICK & GO!
(On this page.)
Tornado, Feb 21, 2009
Mexico, a few facts.
Texas, a few facts.
(On the next page.)
Buzzard Roost, San Felipe, Seminole Canyon. Jan'09
Quinceanera, Flea Market, Blackbrush. Feb'09
Eagle Pass, Box Canyon. Feb'09
Big Bend National Park. March'09
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 Box Canyon |
 RR crossing |
 gate and sky |
 enjoying the quiet. |
 Eagle Pass |
 Weekend sale |
 Lady with chihuahua |
 making th rounds. |
 A man by a pickup |
 Find almost |
 anything at these tables. |
 Lots to see |
 and do. |
 Looking for . . . |
 . . . something . . . |
 or |
 anything. |
 A hat for a girl |
 and a hat for a guy |
 Very pretty |
 Enjoy your purchase! |
 A roadside |
 cafe |
 gone tomesquite |
 and cactus |
 in profusion |
 by the |
 front door. |
 Martin's lunch |
 George enjoys the ride. |
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The RV Park lady shows me to line up with the sewer connection. And drags over the picnic table that goes with the spot. A few figures drift over. I set the tongue jack on a concrete block, lift it off the hitch, and move the Suburban. When I finish, the front is way too high. "You didn't need that block." Richie comes back with a good size house jack, raises up the back, level and true, and sets the four corner stands. I thank him. He says, "We help each other around here." Richie stops over again the next day. An ex-trucker, like me, he's on his own, and there are more similarities. His wife lives in their old place nearby but won't have anything to do with him. He lets on ED was a factor. "I just told her I didn't care for her, was all it was." Richie keeps up with his young son who builds oil tanks all over. The son's wife travels with him in a big new fifth wheeler. He gets $80 an hour and she does $14 as an office clerk for the same outfit. Between jobs they have fun and spend a lot. 
Richie loses his trailer in a severe storm in Oklahoma a while back. He gets himself a popup body for $25, just 7x12 the same as my '62 Gibralter. Frames it with 2x4's and paneling from Home Depot. There's a bench across the back with a mattress, a propane stove on a shelf. A flat TV hangs on the wall. He's waiting for the check to get insulation and panel it. Lost his Teamster pension somehow, and his veterans benefits as well for refusing to take the Agent Orange test. The SS check is $1300. To my concern how he lost the other benefits, "The social services sponsor will take care of that. It's happened before." When it's right, he'll have $3000. He likes my old rig better than his for it's big tires. Exploring the cell phone functions I calendar 5PM for sitting. I bring the folding chair to the back fence by the prickly pear cactus for the sun. George sits, too. I tuck the plastic lead under me to be sure of him. The sun is warm and I feel connected. I hear a skilsaw. The spot gives me a good view of activities three trailers down. Mitch is setting studs and wall board in a poorly built 12x20 shed. Rich is helping out. Charlie is there, a retired Texas cop with an immense gut. I'm curious but all I can get from them is "Ratana wants it fixed" and a suggestion that Dave may have it when it's done. They break for the day and the talk is about driving truck. It's Lynn's lot the shed is on. She joins in, a 60's starlet with a big hairdo. Turned to trucking when she retired from the bank in NH. Next day I see Mitch back up with a roll of carpet. 
When the wind comes I'm at the picnic table on some fixit chore for the trailer. I feel it on my back. Dust and smoke in a fierce cloud moving fast. I find the black guy next door, but can't understand. A kid drives by with information about weather from Dallas south. He uses the "T" word. "When you feel rain first, then hail, that's it," he says. George is in the Suburban. I grab the hard drive from the trailer and make it to the saloon. A young guy in a sports outfit is playing pool. "All's you can do is put your head between your legs." Susan makes me a right martini and the bar peanuts are hot. Angela has her cat in her jacket. When she jokes with me again how I took HER spot I start to feel better. Gusts 60mph till midnight.I see Lynn and Dave on her deck with somebody new. Bonnie's into fruit and yogurt, has a good figure, fresh and engaging. Thinks the world of Lynn, likes her story. "Think young," she says. She hires out at an assisted living center in Phoenix. When she gets there they're drooling and look dazed. In no time she has an 89-year old running yoga classes. She says she's 59. When she asks and I tell her I realize I goofed. 
They're up for drinks and bar food so I dress up with my Yazzie turquoise. Lynn is at my left with Dave. Bonnie farther down picks up a mixed Asian guy. Martini for me. Richie comes by sits next to me with a beer and a shot. Surprised to see me there. We tell about our ladies. He's a slut puppy, and a whore dog. I'd fuck a broom. No interest 'less I can screw 'em or make money off 'em. I tell the Berlin hooker story. He says Alabama girls are fine with that. I don't bring up anything about the wind, but he does. He grew up poor the youngest of four. He sees it come through on the street beyond. Noise and hot blast, immense and heavy as a locomotive. All the while Lynn and Dave are just looking at their wine. I inquire. Blush. I taste it and say it's bad. I tell the bartender to get them something else. Fat lady owner sitting at the bar gives me shit for this. "In Del Rio you have to take what you can get." Calls me something. Lynn says it was "fart blossom." "Don't worry. It's just your nickname." Del Rio TX Feb 21, 2009 |
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Mexico is a country in North America and the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world. It also has the largest number of American Indian language speakers on the continent (the majority speaking Nahuatl, Mayan, Mixtec and Zapotec). Human presence in Mexico has been shown to date back 40,000 years based upon ancient human footprints discovered in the Valley of Mexico [1] (previous evidence substantiated indigenous inhabitants at 12,500 years ago). For thousands of years, Mexico was a land of hunter-gatherers. Around 9,000 years ago, ancient Mexicans domesticated corn and initiated an agricultural revolution, leading to the formation of many complex civilizations. These civilizations revolved around cities with writing, monumental architecture, astronomical studies, mathematics, and militaries. After 4,000 years, these civilizations were destroyed with the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519. For three centuries, Mexico was colonized by Spain, during which time the majority of its indigenous population died off. Formal independence from Spain was recognized in 1821. France then invaded Mexico in 1864 and ruled briefly until 1867. A war with the United States ended with Mexico losing almost half of its territory in 1848 and the Mexican Revolution would later result in the death of 10% of the nation's population. Since then, Mexico as a nation-state has struggled with reconciling its deeply-entrenched indigenous heritage with the demands of the modern Western cultural model imposed in 1519. The nation's name is derived from the Mexican civilization (known in popular culture as the Aztecs). Much more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mexico The history of Texas (as part of the United States) began in 1845, but settlement of the region dates back to the end of the Upper Paleolithic Period, around 10,000 BC. Its history has been shaped by being part of six independent countries: Spain, France, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. Starting in the 1820s, American and European immigrants began arriving in the area; joined by Hispanic Tejanos they revolted against Mexico in 1836 and defeated an invasion army. After a decade as an independent country, Texas joined the Union (the United States) in 1845. The western frontier state was characterized by large-scale cattle ranching and cotton farming. In the 20th century, it grew rapidly, becoming the second largest state in population 1994, and became economically highly diversified, with a growing base in high technology. The state has been shaped by the interactions of Southern, Tejano, Native American, African American, and German Texan cultures. More about Texas including French Texas, Mexican Texas, and Republic of Texas at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_History
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