Scott’s Texas Timeline

    Some sculptures exhibited are behind glass, others are open to visitors to peer at closely, peek at the small shadows in the creases of the faces. Some of the work is utilitarian, made to ornament balustrades and pillars. Other works stood in temples before kneeling worshipers and burning incense. Antiquity never quite leaves […]

    Pots and pans are on the stove, the table has been set for three, a Butterball Turkey browns in the oven. It took four hours for this bird to cook and slicing it up on the kitchen counter means dinner is close. Alan, Sherrie, and I have Thanksgiving this year at Alan’s. At […]

    Most people call these ” clouds ” and stop. A few go further and describe them as ” beautiful clouds,” or, if a scientist, ” atmospheric conflagrations. ” My aunt called them ” buttermilk ” clouds when she was hunched in a bird blind shooting photographs of eagles nesting in the top branches […]

    River Falls has a make believe golf course in a cow pasture not far from the Texas Palo Duro Canyon. This area has been transformed from grazing to ranchettes. With an airport, five acre lots, utilities and roads, the development attracts people with money who want to get away from big city life. […]

      This sweet roll is pure Texas. Tired of omelets, biscuits and gravy, toast, waffles, steaks with eggs over easy, diners can always opt for a non-politically correct  sweet roll breakfast that Lyle Lovett would feature in his kind of songs. This roll fills a plate instead of a saucer. It would go […]

    The sky is burning and, if it wasn’t, there would be no reason to snap this photo. Joan, Neal’s wife, and the rest of us, all stare as we all walk towards the Shrimp Haus, a South Padre Island restaurant that features shrimp, shrimp, and more shrimp – boiled, breaded, fried, cooked or […]

    ” Some days you do better in the boat and some days better on the beach, ” the fisherman in coveralls tells us as he opens his cooler and shows us his Pompanos and Whiteys, game fish in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. The bottom of his cooler has five or […]

    Sea turtles can grow to five hundred pounds and range widely over the world’s oceans. They mysteriously return to lay eggs on the same beach where they were born and man has been one of their biggest enemies since their meat is tasty, their shells can be fashioned into ornaments, their body parts […]

    Early, gold hunters show up with wading boots, windbreakers, wide brimmed caps, sunglasses, their gold detectors dipped into frothy water. The sky, water, and beach run together like a tightly edited film. Everything in this landscape moves but seems to stand still. Clouds blow past, waves roll in, seagulls take flight. A raven […]

    Isla Blanca Park, at the south end of South Padre Island, is full of recreational vehicles that are more homes than campers. Snowbirds come down here to the tip of Texas for months, unfold carpets in front of their rigs, set up lawn chairs, bring out plants and yard ornaments, and congregate with […]

    Seagull Charley doesn’t come when you call his name. Without a fish for Charley, he ain’t going anywhere and he won’t push tennis balls with his beak or do circus tricks. This morning Charley strolls the beach watching for opportunities. What he catches is his and he will share only if he has […]

    It is Weston’s idea to go see the dunes. Passing through Midland on my way to the beach at Padre Island,Texas, I pay a visit to a nephew living in what some call ” the armpit ” of Texas. Saturday we drive to the sand hills, take off our shoes and climb dunes. […]

    There used to be a small stream here that meandered down the hill and went over the edge of the canyon and fell into a deep dark hole below us. The land’s owner built himself an observation platform, erected a light pole, and built a water wheel that generated electricity to power the […]

    Snapshots are all I have of the inside of the Goodnight home, taking us back to the late eighteen hundreds and early 1900’s. Mr. Goodnight died just after the stock market crash of 1929 and he, at 93, was ready to move on, feeling he had lived in the best possible times, much […]

    This mule deer beelines to Alan’s back yard to have dessert. There are sunflowers off Alan’s back porch and when this deer snaps one off the stem he looks like a little kid eating a piece of brightly colored candy. When I move towards a large living room window to get a better […]

    Driving back roads through flat dry West Texas prairie, one comes upon mule deer grazing among mesquite trees. They look at you as you pass with dark intense eyes. They are always aware, can turn quick and be gone even quicker, leap over barbed wire fences like child’s play. Deer are handsome animals […]

    In Canyon, Texas there is a relic from the fifties that overlooks the freeway that plows through town. This giant statue of a cowboy is known as “Big Tex”. He has been here as long as townspeople can remember and civic leaders have started a fundraising effort to save him from the dust […]

    Contemporary Fine Art is the calling card of this small gallery in Amarillo. It’s owners feature works of emerging local, regional and national artists in nine exhibitions a year. They offer personal consulting services and support the community by donating time and money to local causes. Open, just like their sign says they […]

    Before you reach Amarillo, following I-40, you look to the right and see a series of Cadillac’s stuck in Texas dirt in the middle of an unplowed field. In the old days the Cadillac’s used to be natural, like they came from the factory. They had huge fins, power windows, custom paint jobs, […]