C enizo Not es
I
I
by Carolyn Zniewski, publisher and Danielle Gallo, editor
t’s the perfect sea-
son for sitting on my
big front porch,
looking out over the
Glass Mountains at the
streamers of the sunset
as it stretches out
against the sky. All the
weirdnesses, tangles
and bummers of life
slip out of my mind and
I get to thinking about the continuum of life
from the very first protozoa to the busy little
community of Marathon out here in what
folks call the ‘Last Frontier.’ When I called
City Lights Bookstore in regard to Barbara
Novovitch’s story about Julian Mock the
phone picked up with Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s
voice, “City Lights Bookstore, Welcome to the
Last Frontier.” That got me to thinking about
different kinds of frontiers. West Texas may be
the last place in the United States to be settled,
but I think we may be a first frontier as well.
Creative, experimental, indomitable people
seem to gather here; shaping and reshaping
their lives as times and situations change. With
the internet and drone-delivered goods I can’t
help thinking that we are recreating small
town living. Maybe we can migrate out of the
metropolis and back to community. I think the
likes of the Cenizo and our other local presses,
small galleries and personal shops are return-
ing all over. So, “Welcome to the New
Frontier!”
Note:
The photograph with “Horsehead
Crossing” in the first quarter issue was by
Carolyn Miller.
f there’s one thing I
sometimes
miss
about being closer
to the city, it’s the vari-
ety of food you can find
there: Vietnamese and
Indian and Italian and
Japanese and specialty
grocery stores in every
neighborhood,
and
markets with fresh fish
and vegetables in a rainbow all begging to be
prodded and sniffed. When I came to the Big
Bend, lo these twelve years now, I had to get
used to sometimes just not being able to have
spinach.
But something has happened here in Far
West Texas over the past dozen years, and I
think it’s a wonderful thing: our communities
have begun to regress somewhat to a bygone
time, a time when each small community had
its baker, its cheese maker, its butcher, its
tamale lady. Now, again, entrepreneurs are
springing forth with loaves of fresh-baked
bread and handmade cheeses, organic vegeta-
bles and delectable canned goods, to fill the
great vacuum with something fresh and
homemade. The local food movement might
have been made for our little desert communi-
ties, and all I can say is, thank goodness for our
endless growing season.
Now there are farmer’s markets in Marfa,
Alpine and Terlingua to supplement what my
husband coaxes out of the caliche. Further,
there has been a great resurgence of interest in
native plants and their many uses—medicinal
and delicious.
In this issue of Cenizo you’ll find a few high-
lights of the many Big Bend food artisans and
magicians, and I hope you find their stories as
tasty as their wares.
Sunday Services at 11:00 a.m.
Children’s RE 1st & 3rd Sunday
Potluck every 1st Sunday
We believe in the freedom of
religious expression.
1308 N. 5th Street • Alpine
uubb.org • 432-837-5486
e UUBB is a lay-led fellowship.
River and
Mountain Bike
Tours
rentals & shuttles
desertsportstx.com
/desertsports
Mexican
and
American
Food
P.O. Box 2025, Alpine, Texas 79831
www.cenizojournal.com
PUBLISHER
Carolyn Zniewski
EDITOR
Danielle Gallo
[email protected][email protected][email protected][email protected]
BUSINESS MANAGER
Lou Pauls
WEB MANAGER
Jennifer Turner
ADVERTISING
Danielle Gallo
[email protected]
DESIGN/PRODUCTION
Wendy Lynn Wright
888.989.6900
432.371.2727
Terlingua, Texas
FM 170
Published by Cenizo Journal LLC
C ENIZO JO URN AL S TA F F
Marfa’s Swiss Café
Noon Buffet Wednesday and Friday
Famous Beef & Chicken Fajitas • Ice Cream • Clean, Fast Service
Rene & Maria Franco, Owners
7
513 O’Reilly Street • Downtown Presidio
432.229.4409
[email protected]
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2014