Planes, Floods, and Vinegaroons

Well, this day started off nicely. I was sitting at home working on some old family photos in Photoshop, when I heard a plane buzz the trailer. I ran outside and saw this Cessna 180 from the nearby Stovall Ranch breezing in with half flaps and landing on the dirt airstrip at the Stillwell RV Park. I didn't even know where it was, but I sure do now. I grabbed my camera and off I went to document this beautiful, new visitor.

The main item on this day's agenda was lunch and a swim with my friends, Jennifer and Romaldo in Terlingua. Having made good time getting to town, I decided to bop on down the River Road (FM170) through Lajitas to see what the October flood did to the Contrabando movie set, I was amazed to find most of this "stone" corral missing. The rest of it is in the floodpath, but seems to have held up by some sort of miracle. Nothing the boys in Hollywood can't fix. You can see that from here all the way over to the tree line on the other side is where the river was coursing through during the flood. That's a lot of water.

Peeking into one of the set's buildings, I found the dirt floor still awash with mud from the recent rains. This was not part of the flood damage; just runoff from the hill out back.

Well, I can certainly see a difference already, as this hill is a lot more pronounced than it was the last time I was through here, plus these plants weren't here, either. Looks like some invasive species has set up house. That's the set's church we're headed for down below.

Well, you can certainly see where the high-water mark was here. All the paint and most of the plaster has been eroded off in the current. At least the building's still standing, as again it's nothing that can't be fixed.

Take a look at all the junk the river put up in the top of the doorway. Lots of current action going on in here.

A quick look inside shows all the interior baffle walls have been knocked out. They use them to block the camera's view of the interior so the actors can move around inside without being filmed.

Here's a good indication of the power of the river. This well used to be sitting up on a hill overlooking the river, but is now falling down the new hill created by it. That's a little too much action, folks. CUT!!!

And last but not least, we have yet another denizen of the desert -- the Vinegaroon, or Whip-tailed Scorpion. This nasty-looking little critter isn't nearly as harmful as some of its brethren, as its pincers are the only thing to be aware of. The whip on the end of the tail is just for show, but it can give off a blast of scent from the base when annoyed which smells like vinegar, hence the name. This guy lives under my car-top carrier in front of my trailer.

Well, I guess that just about does it for this installment. Thanks for tuning in.

Clouds, Critters, and Colorful Things

Hello again, everyone. Well's it's been a while since my last entry, so I thought I'd entertain you with a few more shots from around the place. When last I wrote, we were getting kicked around pretty good by some thunderstorms, and it hasn't let up too much lately. While sitting at the computer one evening, I noticed a warm, golden glow coming in from the window behind the computer and looked out to see this billowing thunderhead looming off to the south, bathed in the warm rays of the sunset. I kept looking at it and looking at it, sure I'd seen it somewhere before but couldn't remember where. Then, the other day I was watching a movie put out by Columbia Tri-Star and there it was! It's the cloud in the background behind the woman. I knew I'd seen it!

And on the heels of that were these odd-looking clouds -- our old friends the mammutus clouds. Remember, I told you they were associated with violent weather? Well, these didn't have any teeth to them this time around, as they don't look too well-formed, but it definitely could've happened. We got hit pretty good, anyway, so someone else might've gotten hammered.

Moving on to the critter portion of our show, here's somebody I ran across as I opened the Open/Closed sign the other morning. Found himself a real cozy spot to sleep the night, he did. He was very agreeable to sit still while I ran in and got my camera and took a few shots of him.

He did, however, have some doubts as I attempted to add something in the shot for scale -- my finger. After I got through taking this shot, I thought I'd poke him and get him to raise up. (I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed sometimes.) All he did at that point was drop off the sign and scurry off into the bushes. Oh, well. Better than a poke in the finger with a stinger. I mean, really, Doug!

Here's another nasty-looking critter I came across the other day on a hike -- an Assassin Beetle, or Chinch Bug as my Grandpa used to call them. I'm not sure if they're really as nasty as they look, but I've never given them the opportunity to teach me, either. They do stink when squashed, I know that.

And here we have a couple of bugs doing it, right there in broad daylight. I don't know what kind of bugs these are, so I just call them Boinkin' Bugs. As I prepared to shoot another picture, they suddenly became self-conscious and disengaged and flew off. Well, if you're going to indulge in that kind of activity in public, you have to expect the paparazzi to show up some time or another. Just ask anyone in Hollywood.

All the rain we've been getting from these thunderstorm has really greened up the desert nicely these days. All the ocotillo -- which normally look dead and lifeless and very thorny -- have got leaves out all over the place. Once the rain stops and things begin to dry out again, they'll drop their leaves to conserve water.

Never having been out here in the desert in the summer before (okay, sometimes I am fairly sharp), I'd never seen the sotol blooms opened up. What a curious little cluster of what I can only assume are stamen used in pollenation. Very interesting. They remind me of eggs under the tail of a female lobster.

And here we have our last entry of this post -- the cenizo in bloom. They really are quite delicate and beautiful, a perfect match for their velvety leaves. The colors go well together, don't you think?

Okay, I guess that'll just about catch us up for now. As always, thanks for tuning in.