Mother possessed a sure-fire tip on how to see Miss Taylor. The plan was to pull our car in front of her rented frame house at sunset, the exact moment before dark when we could see inside the house, but she couldn’t see out. Timing was crucial because shades would be pulled and curtains drawn at dark. Sundown is short on the high plains of Marfa so we were quick. We parked across the street, and Mother got out of the car while we five children and two mothers crouched in the floorboards. I thought she was going to go…
Read moreMystery and Science
I believe there are McDonald Observatory people and Marfa Lights people. My sons’ favorite sports radio show from Dallas took their broadcast on the road to Alpine and Marfa a few years ago. “They agreed with our opinions about pretty much everything,” one son texted me. Marfa’s nice, but not much to see there especially on a Monday, and Alpine was buzzing with life and commerce. These citified radio personalities didn’t make it to McDonald Observatory, but they did try to observe the Marfa Lights. They often referred to the Observatory, but they were talking about the viewing site for…
Read moreShould I Stay or Should I Go?
It was almost a divorce this week. Between me and Alpine. Town of my birth and my spiritual home for 66 ½ years. Like no other, it’s a home in the Texas Mountains, which most of world doesn’t even know exists. I’m forced to consider the question: “Should I stay or should I go? If I go, there will be trouble, if I stay there will be double.” And so on. Maybe you know the song. The pros and cons of keeping my grandparent’s house, when I actually live hundreds of miles away, rolls around in my head like the…
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