Cenizo Journal Summer 2015 | Page 7

C enizo Not es by Carolyn Brown Zniewski, publisher and Danielle Gallo, editor I t’s high summer here in the Big Bend. The smell of barbecue is in the air. Folks only go inside for a siesta or at bedtime. The outdoors is every- where, including my living room, which attracts a fascinating variety of insects. The wet weather has sets those little buggies’ hearts afire. The bugs bring the birds. The cactus swallows think my front door is the entrance to a buffet. I think I had better get a screen door! This is a great summer to go on a bug hunt, a scavenger hunt for insects. Everyone will need a cell phone. Just head out into a yard and snap a shot of each different bug you see in 10 minutes. It’s a good way to pass the time waiting for the charcoal to make coals. Bugs will be thick as thieves in the weedy areas so snap away until the grill is ready. On a totally different topic I have to men- tion our website. It has been neglected since last fall. We have a new webmaster and she will post the missing back issues as well as July, 2015. I am so sorry for any inconven- ience this may have caused. The Cenizo Journal is printed by Shweiki using a hand-operated, vintage web press giving printerly quality. Consider framing the artwork. Enjoy the summer days. F or the first time since we planted them, our fruit trees are heavy with fruit. Peaches are swelling, apricots are crowding out the leaves on their branches, and cherries dangle merrily like rakish earrings. Neighbors have been calling for help with the fruit harvest before the ants and birds manage to organize them- selves, and I’m busy trying to make room in the freezer for the bounty. It’s been that rare year of heavy rains without a late freeze, and I mean to enjoy every bite of it. Time passes more quickly every year, but one thing I love about the Big Bend is the molasses quality of summer—the light that lingers well past nine, lending my toddler’s bedtime arguments an undeniable thread of logic. “Mommy,” she says quite reasonably, “I can’t go to bed. It isn’t dark outside.” The interminable hours of siesta with the sun bak- ing the caliche, making me glance at the clock a thousand times, trying to will the fresh evening to come sooner. Long, lazy hours of porch sitting all over town, the barbecues and cocktail socials, maybe a little live music down on Main Street. Summer in the Big Bend is lazy, stretching its fingers and toes into spring and fall, reminding even the grownups that we can still slow the frenetic tumbling of the seasons if the circumstances are just right. Enjoy the third quarter of Cenizo with a cold, sweaty beer and a slice of ubiquitous watermelon; even our desert summer days can’t last forever. B ALMORHEA R OCK S HOP Music To Your Ears CDs • DVDs • Vinyl Games • Special Orders Mon-Fri 10-6 102 S Main • Balmorhea 432-375-0214 Jim and Sue Franklin, Owners 203 E Holland Ave, Alpine Shop with us on-line [email protected] facebook.com/ balmorhearocks 432.837.1055 109 State St • Fort Davis • 432-416-0056 Inside the Harvard Hotel aubreylynnfd.com Sherri McGinnis and Brittney Reynolds, Owners BUDGET INN SANDERSON SUBSCRIPTIONS Cenizo Journal will be mailed direct for $25.00 annually. Make checks payable to: Cenizo Journal, P.O. Box 2025, Alpine, Texas 79831, or through Paypal at cenizojournal.com (432)345-2541 901 E OAK ST. • HWY 90 Email: [email protected] Convenient stop on way to / from Big Bend National Park. Budget Inn offers comfortable stay at reasonable rate. Our rooms are provided with all modern amenities. Rated #1 on Tripadvisor website. SUBMISSION Deadline for advertising and editorial for the Fourth Quarter 2015 issue: August 15, 2015. Art, photographic and literary works may be e-mailed to the Editor. For advertising rates or to place an ad, contact: [email protected] Bring this ad to receive $5.00 off your next stay. Cenizo Third Quarter 2015 7