ON THE COVER :

PUBLISHER Riley Stephens publisher @ cenizojournal . com

The Party Rolls On , oil on birch panel by George Zupp

Clay Henry , the Goat Mayor of Lajitas , parties it up with Marathon musicians at Ernesto Aguilar ’ s gas station , where locals gather once a month on a Wednesday afternoon and evening . In George Zupp ’ s neo-regionalist style , folk themes and recognizable denizens of the Trans-Pecos region become larger than life , taking on a Texas mythos . Like most of the Big Bend ’ s local culture , iconic moments are open secrets : easy to miss if you don ’ t know they ’ re happening , but never deliberately hidden . You just have to be there . Zupp records these snapshots of rural Texas life for posterity : some real , some imagined , some hybridized , all of them true .

SUMMER EDITION • JULY-SEPTEMBER 2023

DESIGN / PRODUCTION Ceci Marquez

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SUBMISSION

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Danielle Gallo editor @ cenizojournal . com

We ’ d like to feature your work in the Cenizo Journal . Contact Danielle Gallo at editor @ cenizojournal . com for submission information or mail to PO Box 227 , Marathon , Texas 79842 .

Cenizo Journal is published four times per year . © 2023 Cenizo Journal . Copyright of all art and images contained within are retained by the image owner and are used with permission .

Welcome back , El Nino . Searing heat , UV that seems to melt my eyeballs , epic storms that we wish for and then hide from when they finally roll in . For the first time in ages , the desert bloomed like it meant it this spring . Apricots actually survived long enough to ripen and be eaten . There ’ s a massive forest of sotol stalks on the road up to the Basin in the National Park . And down south , close to the river and the creeks , we had that explosion of tiny gnats . I think the last time I saw them in such clouds was in 2003 or 2004 , but I vividly remember them trying to make a home in my eyes and nose every time I stepped outside . They haven ’ t changed their ways .

Our readers may notice that the Cenizo is a bit thinner this issue . We ’ ve gone from our usual 32 pages to 24 , in response to a sudden increase in our printing costs . Since Covid , we ’ ve struggled to recover our advertising levels , and with the rising cost of production , we ’ ve had to trim down . I ’ m hopeful that next issue will see a return to our usual length .

I ’ m always surprised when I go somewhere in the Big Bend and am approached about the magazine . First , because I look nothing like the ancient , ridiculous photo here by my Editor ’ s Notes ( I keep meaning to replace it , and it just never happens ). Secondly , the love for this little publication in our Big Bend communities catches me off guard . After being involved with it for nearly 14 years , through three great publishers , my perspective on what it means to people is obscured . We ’ re not the most literary journal . We don ’ t cover current events . What we do , I think , is provide a platform for all the amazing , creative and talented people of this region to show their art , speak their minds and share their knowledge . I sometimes feel like more of an historian than an editor , preserving the many ways of being we enjoy out here on the edge of nowhere , so someday a future generation can peek into our lives through this little window . It ’ s an enormous privilege , and I love y ’ all ’ s feedback .

Keep cool out there . Lean into those siestas . Hydrate like you mean it . And , as always , thank you for reading .