Monday, June 30, 2008

Marty Robbins Country


I have always liked the Marty Robbins classic “ El Paso ”. It sums up the open spaces of the west as a lonely place where you ride for miles. A place where the view goes on forever.

As I was heading west toward El Paso across the open grasslands, I kept stopping what seemed every half mile. Stop. Look. Take pictures. Drive. Stop again. .

This is a big open country. After many miles the road starts to climb the first hills that rise up and become the Hueco Mountains. There I stop yet again.

From this first rise the view stretches back almost 100 miles. The volcanic peaks of the Cornudas Range, the Black Mountains, the Sierra Tinaja Pinta, and even the distant Guadalupes are visible. A big view of a wide, open, empty land. Certainly the kind of place Marty Robbins might sing about.

I walk along the grass and look at the yuccas, the sky, and the distant peaks. The clear blue sky is not a photographers favorite, but you work with what you have. Besides, it enhances the open feeling of the place.

The view is empty- I cannot see a house or town or structure. What a place this would be to have a horse.

I set up the camera and decide to wait here for the sunset. This view is too big and too nice to not be here. I already know that I will be back to this spot.-the view here is perfect west Texas.

And that view could inspire a song.


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