Almost Another Planet
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: It was a crisp December morning when this photograph was taken, with the promise of a nigh perfect day for a long prowl through the Mule Ears area. Directly ahead was the large, golden-leafed cottonwood marking Trap Spring, though…
The Struggle to Keep Living
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: There is not a single square mile in this country that does not present a challenge of some sort, and often enough more than one. From the jungle-like brush thickets found in the mouths of large arroyos along the…
Where the Old Feet Trod
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: When many people first come to this country, they tend to believe it is a young land mostly untouched and undiscovered by man. Something inherent to the desert and these mountains excite the imagination, causing one to feel as…
A Lonely Grave Where Nothing Lives Forever
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: “On a hill far away, Stood an old rugged cross”… A graveyard is a lonely place, and an abandoned one makes for the loneliest of all. For some reason people congregated at a certain spot, dreamed dreams, lived life…
Beware of Comfortable Places in the Desert
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: When summer comes to this unforgiving land, the wary and wise adjust their sojourning accordingly. Even the wildlife does so, and they know their challenging environment better than any man. They lay up during the day more, and those…
Respect Private Property
SOMEWHERE IN THE LOWER BIG BEND: Evening was coming on as I finished the last mile of a day-long loop along the western slopes of the Rosillos. Atop some high ground, I looked behind to watch the golden hour settling in across the face of…
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Yonderings: Trails and Memories of the Big Bend
It was a time before Terlingua Ranch and chili cook-offs, and when you could drive a hundred miles without seeing another vehicle or another person. The year was 1961, and the tides of humanity which ebbed and flowed into the lower reaches of the Big…
Writing
Ben writes with a realistic feel in what he describes by using his varied life experiences as a guide, along with the insight gained from long friendships with the many extraordinary people he has called ‘friend’. Always the explorer with a strong attachment to the…
A SHORT HISTORY OF CHECHNYA AND CHECHEN TERRORISM
A SHORT HISTORY OF CHECHNYA AND CHECHEN TERRORISM By Ben H. English “A time will come when the whole world will go mad. And to anyone who is not mad they will say: ‘You are mad, for you are not like us.’” -St. Anthony …