It seemed like a good idea at the time. The largest flying reptile ever unearthed came from the Big Bend. The scientific name is Quetzalcoatlus northropi and it is a species of Pterosaur, or flying reptile. Pterosaur literally means “flying lizard.” But don’t ever call it a dinosaur. I made that mistake. by Larry Francell    more »

With the wealth of books written on diet and nutrition it is no wonder that people are confused about what they should be eating. Much of this information is contradictory, while all promise health and disease prevention. Through many years of research and study, Dr. Campbell has proven that it is possible to control many of the diseases we face today through dietary changes. by Kathy Duncan, FNPC    more »

(Photo of Judy Magers, "The Burro Lady," in Terlingua, 2002, by Bonnie Wunderlich)
Magers was, unwittingly, a highly public persona throughout West Texas, though she remained intensely private throughout her decades of walking the highways of the region, sleeping on roadsides and talking with locals mostly just enough to obtain the bare necessities. by Don McDowell, Fred Gossien, James Evans, & Bonnie Wunderlich    more »

The gas tank is full at 10.6 gallons. At 70 MPG I can get to Houston without refueling and have enough fuel remaining to run around town for the weekend. (Remember when people ran out of gas trying to escape the hurricane last year?) by George Pitlik    more »

There is still time to be part of the great success story of how women of Boquillas, Coahuila, Mexico with help from women of Terlingua and Alpine, Texas raised $15,000 by selling quilts. by Dallas Baxter    more »

The Tri-counties has mind-boggling diversity in weather, soil, pests and moisture. But once you know the basics, it’s a matter of fine-tuning to get your vegetable garden just right. The soil is the beginning. What’s in the soil will be in our food. by Dallas Baxter    more »

To be in Terra’s company is to believe that anything is possible. Terra radiates optimism, her language peppered with adjectives like “beautiful,” “enchanted,” “charmed,” “magical,” and “incredibly beautiful.” Her homeschooling’s “self-teaching curriculum,” she explains, is based on reading the classical books, and is “so great, because it lets you realize that the sky’s the limit.” by Marlys Hersey    more »

So out Eason came to Alpine in March to talk - and to begin our participation in what is a truly mind-boggling project: to collect seed from 10% of the worlds 242,000 dryland species of plants by 2010. This collection is against the day when natural or human disasters, like fire or war, or crucial changes like global warming, land conversion, desertification, or loss of diversity through mono-culture plant breeding should cause plant species to disappear. by Dallas Baxter    more »

“My husband and my mother did not have a horrid death,” said Jo Tucker, who lives south of Alpine, and experienced the benefits of hospice care from the local team of providers for the death of both her husband and mother. “There was no agony, no pain, no horrid expression – thanks to hospice…. You couldn’t ask for a better team…. They know how to stay one step ahead…. I knew what was going to happen because they told me…. [My husband] could stay at home, look out the window, listen to music he loved.” by Marlys Hersey    more »

“There are obstacles, we know,” said Acosta during his opening remarks. “We are working together. This is for me a great honor, to begin and grow together. A river and border separate us, but there is interdependence, a constant interdependence between us.” by John Waters    more »

And we’ll all go out to greet her when she comes. Hi There! Joanne and Zero, along with their three children, Joe Dan, Gay, and Vicki, moved to the newly created Terlingua Ranch in September 1972. With an old jukebox in tow, the family arrived at the infamous “Sin City,” the workers’ living area for the Terramar Corporation, which was initially responsible for the Terlingua Ranch development. The children all thought they were on permanent vacation: mountains to climb, dirt roads to tear up, weekend barbeques, dancing to the Cotton-Eyed Joe, and more characters than any comic book. by Gay Kempf Davidson    more »

The rationale of the route is that it would save four days in travel time for U.S.-bound imports from Asia compared with traveling from west coast ports such as Long Beach or Oakland. According to Mangrem, politics is the driving force behind La Entrada, not economics. He added, “There is a lot of political pressure to do this.” by John Waters    more »

Even now I chuckle about my naiveté. I’d spoken to the artists and read some of their stories before heading out. So I thought I knew. I thought I could imagine what I’d find. There really is no way to prepare for it. Beaumont and Lake Charles were on the way and we started seeing blue rooftops and signs blown down. Blue plastic is nailed to each damaged roof to help protect until it can be repaired. These makeshift roofs were scattered both in the mobile home parks and the nicer neighborhoods. “The Great Equalizers,” as the hurricanes are now known, do not discriminate. by Deborah Allison    more »

I have been to the top of the Empire State Building three times, but only one of those was during the twelve years I lived five blocks away from it. My point? There is a certain amount of taking-for-grantedness about the wonders that abound where we live, no matter where that is. And Trans Pecos Texas, that part of the state west of the Pecos River, is no exception. We may be full of praise and admiration for this sight or that natural wonder, but often our knowledge of the place is pretty sketchy. by Dallas Baxter    more »

The good guys always wore white hats and usually rode a white horse. The bad guys always wore black hats and were pure evil. The plots were always the same. The bad guy took over the town, freight company, ranch or mine. The good guy tolerated this evil until provoked beyond his limit and then struck back. There was always the girl, the sidekick for comic relief, and often a song or two depending upon who played the hero. by Larry Francell    more »

A lifelong rockhound, Smith had her first rock hunting thrill at age 5, when she found jade on Lucia Beach in California. Eventually, Teri followed her mother’s sage advice: if you want to find big rocks, go where the big rocks are. by Marlys Hersey    more »

Recently, graphic designer Katherine Shaughnessy joined the Gazette to help design, fine-tune, and maintain our website. As it turns out, she’s even more multi-talented than we realized. On November 1, Katherine published her first book The New Crewel. In addition to all that creativity, Katherine and her husband Tom Michael, freelance editor and station manager of KRTS, Marfa Public Radio, are expecting their first child in late December. They live south of Alpine.

Museum visitors, regardless of how we design and direct them through an exhibit, engage in unstructured, amorphous and, if we are lucky, even magical thought. The visitor often has a different experience than what we, as museum professionals, are seeking to provide. This is satisfactory and wonderful. This is the great difference between formal (classroom) and informal (museum) learning. It is in this difference that we shall rejoice. by Larry Francell    more »