Rambling Around Town...

No deadly international spies or society astrologers for us today.  We shall stroll about town and chat...

It's a bit of drive to the city from my house hidden on a backroad way off a main highway in one of the drier parts of an arid county... about half an hour's worth of travel time.  So allow me to recommend some reading that you can do on your mobile device if you don't want to listen to my tirade about damn fools who try to farm deserts and pray for rain when it stays dry...

A while back, several friends urged me to write.  I liked the idea.  My fictions are dark tales and I have yet to convince myself they should be read.  But urges to share words with an audience do not go away.  How to scratch such an itch is the question... 

A bit of serendipity came my way when I discovered the world of web logs.  I had heard about blogs but, being old and slightly technophobic, I assumed they were the province of wet-behind-the-ears video gamers...

The first blog I came across is a delightful collection of photographs and comments put out by Anitra Ford.  In case her name sounds familiar, it is because it should be.  She was one of the original models showcasing prizes on TV's Price Is Right game show...

These days, she shares sights and scenes from her beloved Santa Barbara with those of us lucky enough to have discovered her blog.   The writing is gentle, wise, and hints at a deliciously sly sense of humor.  Anitra is a master of color and the only thing to say about her photography is that you've cheated yourself if you don't treat yourself to a visit to  http://anitrafordspersonalblog.blogspot.com/

Ms Ford's blog caused me to realize I could actually combine my love of photography with my love of jotting down words...

Later, I lucked into discovering Merilee Mitchell and her Tangled Web.  Like me, she is a devout desert lover.  Her work focuses primarily on the Mojave and its reign over the dry land of Southern California and Lower Nevada.  She occasionally takes her readers on excursions into Los Angeles or allows us to see Manhattan through her eyes...

Ms Mitchell's preferred medium as a photographer is black and white and she is among the very finest contemporary practitioners of an exceedingly difficult genre.  Her essays are smart, honest, informative.  They are fine journalism.  My only problem with them is that it's difficult for me to read them because I keep looking back at the mesmerizing pictures that accompany them.  Do right by yourself.  Visit  http://thetangledweb.me/

Today's pictures are some scenes from around San Angelo...

The city, according to the paper, has just entered Drought Level 2 which means there is less than an 18 month supply of water left in the three huge man-made reservoirs that were meant to keep the city safe from lack of rain.  This new stage means water rates will go up in town to encourage conservation.  Yet it will mean nothing.  Thousands of folks around here will continue to water lawns covered with grasses and plants that are neither native to this area nor adapted to ongoing dryness...

I blame this denial of the desert around us on several things.  First and foremost is the fact that San Angelo, while justifiably proud of its rich history, does not want to admit that our sainted and heroic pioneers may have misjudged the character and capacity of the land when they started plowing caliche-ridden fields and grazing cattle and sheep on ranges dotted with sparse grasses and yuccas...

The other thing that contributes to this denial is a matter of semantics.  Due to the odd geography of Texas, one can correctly refer to this area as Southwest Texas or West Central Texas.  I prefer Southwest Texas.  This appears to have been the preferred designation for the region for much of its history.  About fifteen years ago, people began seeing themselves as West Central Texans.  It is a good way to pretend that you are not far from populated areas.  And it is a better way to deny the aridity of the landscape since everyone knows that Central Texas is moister than Southwest Texas...

Note: All photographs copyright Louis R Nugent