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| Seminole Canyon cuts into the rolling desert, twelve miles west of Comstock, Texas |
The ride out of Comstock was easy—no headwind and no
explosions in my new derailer. Sometimes
negatives become positive. Like after
riding over the hills of desert today, the appearance of Seminole Canyon, where
I took a hike into its cool interior to look for pictoglyphs painted some 4000
years ago by transient tribesmen. Scholars
are ignorant of what the art means or even who painted them, but they know
that animal fat was mixed with rock minerals to make the paint they used. This artwork must have been important to
them, since animal fat is useful for food, and hunting is difficult in these
parts.  |
| Mountain Laurel |
The one on the left seems whimsical, such as a poet might render
with water colors while riding in the back seat of a car. I wish to meet these people and ask questions
about meanings in art—religion, graffiti, storytelling, legacies. But all we have are these fading remnants,
less vivid than they were in pictures taken in 1933. Perhaps future visitors will have only
reproductions. 
In 1882, Judge Roy Bean brought a
different kind of Law-West-of the-Pecos to this outpost of Langtry, Texas. His saloon, the Jersey Lilly, still stands, and not much more than was here then. You can read all about the eccentric judge by googling.
Here is the town of Langtry, all of it except a few houses and
a new museum, population 17, according to a man in the store. I rented a room in the dilapidated motel and
enjoy a single modern luxury—internet. 
would have thought the town would have been touristy
ReplyDeleteGuess I was wrong about Alpine
A dry haul tomorrow to Dryden or Sanderson
Is this you, Gary? I think it is. Yes it was indeed a dry haul from Langtry to Sanderson. I am beat physically but mentally happy.
DeleteHello Sharon. Glad to hear about your good day. The petroglyphs are fascinating. Does one of them resemble one of a Mars probe, or is it just me? Thanks again for giving us new images, food for thought and inquiry, and topics for poems. Tonight I'll be reading about Judge Roy Bean and trying to find something for Red Door on Friday. We will miss you, but are all enjoying your trip. best wishes, Liz and Gen
ReplyDeleteYes, Liz, I believe it is—the second picture down on the right. Perhaps a concept drawing for space travel, mars of elsewhere.
DeleteThank you Sharon of thinking of me, and noticing what I might have left on the stones..."the whimsical, such as a poet might render with water colors while riding in the back seat of a car"...So glad you could hike to the "pictoglyphs painted some 4000 years ago by transient tribesmen"... this is my favorite kind of your adventures... these deep glimpses you can take of the past.. while the starkness of the present towns is startling... and so different from the luscious verdant natural artistry of here. As you know I lived in Texas, I know it's a big place, so various... and I only am familiar with a small part, and there --the flat blandness was not my favorite... but I did find a warmth, a helpfulness as you have, that emerged and turned difficulties into the "best of trouble". It is the richness of your view, seeing it all, and the comparisons... that cumulatively enrich you and us as you travel on.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathabela, I always get a grin or a chuckle out of your comments.
Delete