The Things I Will Miss
Story and photograph by Wendy Lynn Wright
I
recently sold my house in Casa
Piedra, where I had lived for over
10 years. Prior to living in Central
Presidio County, I lived in Marfa from
2002 to 2006. Before that, for a few
years, I lived and worked as caretaker
in South Presidio County at Chinati
Hot Springs.
While living in Casa Piedra, I
worked in Marfa on one or two consec-
utive days a week. I worked for the
Marfa Studio of the Arts in an admin-
istrative role and for their SITES
(Studio in the Elementary School) pro-
gram teaching art at Marfa
Elementary. On the days I went to
town I had an amazing 45-mile, one-
hour commute. I rarely saw another
vehicle. My drive was filled with the
gorgeous desert and mountain vistas
where the early morning or late after-
noon light cast beautiful shadows
8
across the land.
Although I was born and raised in
Central New York, had lived in both
North Florida and the Texas Hill
Country, I will miss Casa Piedra and
Big Bend more than I have ever missed
or longed for any other place I have
lived. I knew this area felt like home
when I came out for my first visit in
1999 and I moved to the Big Bend as
quickly as I could.
My time in Casa Piedra was truly
Waldenesque. While living in the mid-
dle of nowhere, surrounded by the
incredible beauty and solitude of the
Chihuahuan desert, I took all the tools
I had collected over my life and put
them to use. How to eat well, exercise,
create art, play music, meditate, read
great books and commune with nature.
I also took the time to foster some of the
best relationships of my life.
Cenizo
Third Quarter 2017
In 2015, I met a man from El Paso
who made my world a bigger place. He
treats me like a queen. And for the first
time in my life, I had a boyfriend who
made me, and our relationship, the top
priority in his life. For this, and a mil-
lion other satisfying reasons, it was very
hard to refuse when he asked me to
marry him and move to the west side of
El Paso.
Now that I have moved to the Big
City, there are a few things I will truly
miss about the place I called home for
so many years. Although El Paso
affords me the beauty of the
Chihuahuan desert and Franklin
Mountains, the stars at night cannot
compare to walking outside my house
in Casa Piedra and seeing the milky
way in all it’s luminescent glory. I will
miss the way the starry night sky made
me feel so small in our universe and yet
made my heart feel so big. I knew I was
very fortunate to be seeing such a sight
and appreciated it to the very depths of
my soul.
I am thrilled that my new neighbor-
hood is lovely, tidy and quiet for my
daily morning walks. But I will surely
miss happening upon the wildlife out in
the Big Bend. I shall miss my close
encounters with jackrabbits and cotton-
tails, lizards, roadrunners, coyotes and
an occasional javelina. I consider
myself very lucky to have had the
opportunity to come face to face with
Casa Piedra’s resident bobcat on one of
my morning walks, years ago.
I will deeply miss my artesian well,
with its soft, sweet, 80-degree water
free-flowing and creating a little oasis
on my property. I will miss the lush
lawn my well provided me, that kept
the dirt, dust and weeds at bay. I will