The pay was excellent, and she
loved police work. She developed a
good working relationship with her col-
leagues, who trusted her. She was never
accepted however by the police admin-
istration and worked uneasily with
them for 17 years. By that time, she
was burned out, and ready for a big
change.
Years earlier she had been given a
Nikkon FM camera. She started taking
pictures, particularly of horses. She
adored horses, considering them mys-
terious, fascinating and gorgeous. She
was good enough to win awards for her
photos in Horse Illustrated magazine. By
this time, still in Gloucester, she had a
horse of her own.
She had previously been out west,
visiting Santa Fe. But when she heard
in 1993 that superior agate, vital for the
lapidary work she was learning, was to
be found in the Big Bend/Davis
Mountains region, she loaded a motor
home and moved to the Davis
Mountains Resort, “the most beautiful
place in the USA.” It was remote and
quiet, and she felt safe.
Once moved in, she acquired an
Egyptian Arabian, “the horse of a life-
time,” which she rides during the Fort
Davis July 4 parade. She found rocks
and started working with them. She
built herself a jewelry studio and began
to sculpt stone outdoors. She was a
founder member of the 14-person
Catchlight Gallery co-op in Alpine,
which has been a wonderful success.
Her jewelry and sculptures have
won many awards coast to coast; her
work has appeared frequently in maga-
zines, as have her photographs of hors-
es. She was picked to participate in the
“Trappings of Texas” in Alpine. All in
all, this is a lot better than arresting bad
guys in Gloucester, MA.
JIM KEAVENY
Growing up in Bismarck, ND, Jim
Keaveny’s preoccupation as a young-
ster was how to get out to a warmer
spot. Born in 1972, he was the sixth of
eight children of Tani and John
Keaveny, an oral surgeon. Each child
took piano lessons in classical music
from their mother, an experience
which stayed with all of them, especial-
ly Jim. He had little interest in school
subjects and disliked the rules and regi-
mentation. Instead, he started playing
guitar and formed a band called The
Rogues.
He graduated from Bismarck High
School in 1991 and had a minimal taste
of college before quitting to hitchhike
west with a friend, named Buddy, to
Eugene, Oregon. There he hung out
with street people, sleeping under a
bridge. He found the homeless drifters
interesting, and engaged in dumpster
diving and panhandling to get food and
funds. His street name was Jimmy. He
played music when he could and
gained enough confidence to start
singing. Looking back, he considers this
period “the best time of my life.”
He returned home briefly to hook
up with his friends from The Rogues.
By now he was writing as well as play-
ing music. The band moved to Eugene,
OR, rented a house, got any jobs going
(which were few) and fixed up a garage
to practice in. They stayed two-and-a-
half years, playing gigs and working on
their music.
Music was now the main thing in
Keaveny’s life. In 1996, the band
moved to Austin. He again took a vari-
ety of jobs, as a dishwasher, as a prep
cook, and later developed skills as a car-
penter, which would serve him well in
the future. The band split up, but
Keaveney persevered on his own. In
2002, he went to Europe and spent a
year busking, particularly in Spain
where the weather was warm and peo-
ple liked his folk/country music.
He would play for a couple of hours
and earn 20 euros, which was enough
for his daily expenses.
After a year he came back to Austin.
He renewed his work as a carpenter
and, when he had enough funds, he
toured solo. But Austin was becoming
overcrowded. He had visited Big Bend
earlier, and had grown to love the high
desert. In Austin in 2007, he met Anna
Harbor, who worked for a band. They
moved out to Big Bend together, and
got married at a Drive-Thru marriage
establishment in Las Vegas in 2012.
Anna played fiddle, and also helped
with getting bookings, while they set
about building a home. Living in a 14-
foot trailer for four years, they built a
cabin on Terlingua Ranch, which
today is their home.
Jim recently cut his 5th CD (”Out of
Time”) which has had excellent
reviews. He is currently doing a Big
Bend tour with his five-piece band,
which includes Anna. Next, a
European tour is in the offing.
Reflecting on life, Jim Keaveny wishes
he was still an adventurer. By many
people’s standards, he already has had
a full share, with more likely to follow.
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