Riding Off

My latest trip to Lajitas and Big Bend is in the books. It was a week under the stars with friends and music. We played games. Sat by the pool. Ate good food. Laughed, and generally had a good time. There were hikes and explorations galore and my daughter got to check off a number of bucket list items which included long walks in canyons and standing by the Rio Grande.

On our last day we all saddled up and took a ride into the hills to watch a sunset, and it was a spectacular sunset. Although, while it looked as though we were going into the wild, it was plainly a marked off subdivision with dirt roads ready for multi-million dollar homes overlooking the golf course at Lajitas. So, I’m not real sure how much longer those rides will last. But it was fun, although this aging body found that sitting on a horse for two hours was a tad bit more punishing than it used to be.

On the ride home yesterday it looked as though most of west texas was going to follow us home. A big wind blew and the dust was as heavy as I’ve ever seen it. There was no horizon for miles. I suppose it was a nice reminder of the impermanence of things because eventually, in a million years or so, all of Big Bend will be worn flat by wind and rain and its remnants will be scattered across the plains, and I wonder if there will be any people left to see it and to wonder what it must have looked like in its prime.