The Dusty End of the Texas Trail...Almost

Waalll, pardners (and pardernettas), my time on Cactus Jack's Ranch is drawing to a close and we've been havin' a heap a good times; keepin' busy watching cows, settin' up a new homestead, cookin'up good vittles and god is it time to get out of here yet havin' fine times by the old fire pit, jawin' and guffawin'. Ok, I'm out of lingo, I promise.

What we've really been doing...which is sort of just like the above, but it sounds a lot different, despite the fact that my brother says I've acquired a Texas Twang. That's ok, in a week or so, I'll be northern California groovy voiced. Peace and love, fellow Dharma Bums!

There are a lot of new calves on the ranch(es). They hide in the coolness of the brush
and then pop up to see what the two leggeds are doing now.

This guy laid in the middle of the road all day long, practicing being a bull. 

Every once in awhile, at the bottom of Jack's road before hitting the highway, an antelope or two will race away from us. Unlike the cows, they don't hang around anywhere close to humans. 

We headed out toward Foster Ranch one day. There are quite a few trailers set up out there. This is one of the street signs. I think I'd like these people.

I'm not sure I'd like them so much? I'm thinking, not Grateful Dead, but I've been wrong before. Well, not real often, but it's happened.

A boat house in a desert sea.

One day, Surveyor Jim is going to take Jack to meet the woman who owns this ranch,
but this wasn't the day.

I'd love to meet her someday...

One afternoon, we were watching the cattle make their way in front of us, heading home for the night. Jack noticed something different and I grabbed my camera.

Out there, where apparently the deer and antelope DO play, was this fine mule deer, sporting a fine set of antlers. We fluctuated between admiring his beauty and thinking about how many delicious meals he'd make. A lot, in case you're wondering.

Beauty.

Just another Texas sunset

Just another Texas bar that was closed. The Sheep Herder Bar. Yeah.

Dell City is known for its chili peppers. I wanted to grab a few but...I didn't. 

One day I needed something to do, so I made a mobile out of cow bones, baling twine and a stick. The stick was from El Paso. They don't grow like that around here.

This hawk flew over us a lot, with his ragged wing making him easy to identify. But as usual with me and hawks, he'd vanish before I was ready to get a decent shot. 

Here is Jack's house coming down the road! George the driver did a fine job.

Getting in the gate was a little tricky but nothing and nobody got hurt.

Jim had come over and after everything was in place (I had the chairs there about 4 minutes after setdown), we relaxed on the front porch and admired the view. Some more.

I got first sleeping rights, even listening to Jack grumble. Too bad. Last night I had the queen size blow up mattress in there, mucho better. The wind started howling about 60 about a half and hour after going to bed and the little place was rock solid. That's a real good thing, since I guess that's not unusual to have high winds. All winter. In the cold. Get that insulation going, Jack!

The loft will be the bed place. Eventually. After the insulation. After the vents. After...all.

The tent is folded up and packed away, ready for its new set up in California.
The platform will become part of the paneling in the new place. 

Thus the sun sets on my time in Texas. Jack has been a great host and I've seen and learned a lot. Mainly, that there are a lot of kinds of beauty in the world and who the hell knew West Texas had quite a bit of it? There are some good people here as well. Oh, did I mention I saw a road runner? Or that I put up a hummingbird feeder and the hummers are arriving? Or that not one damn bird has paid attention to the bird feeder? It's taken three weeks for them to see the seed under it, so I still have hope. Jack will have to send photos...

Tomorrow I'll be on the road to California, a trip I'm looking forward to, with lots of Arizona and the road from LA to Elijah. Onward and upward and I mean that.

Have a make it all the way Monday! Do something mildly. Sort of.