When I first moved to the Big Bend , my favorite discovery was how early spring arrived . After passing my first winter here , I was shocked to see wildflowers poking their heads through the soil in February . That , coupled with the strange effects of living right up against the line between Central Time and Mountain Time , made my first Big Bend spring a real delight , especially after the endless winters and four p . m . dark I had been accustomed to all my life .

Imagine my shock , then , when Easter rolled around that April , accompanied by a massive snowstorm . Having spent the whole winter marveling at the complete lack of snow , and frequent 70-degree weather , I couldn ’ t decide whether to be appalled or amused . All the locals shrugged it off , and the most common thing I heard about it was , “ That ’ s why you don ’ t plant your garden before Easter .” As the years rolled by , I noted that the Easter freeze happened more often than not — sometimes spectacularly , with ice storms and real snow accumulation .

This year , from what I understand , has so far been the driest year in the past three decades , and predictions indicate that it ’ s going to get worse before it gets better . The pandemic has been hitting our region hard , the economy is precarious at best , the political life of the country is in question following our election . Everyone has lost jobs , businesses and loved ones . We ’ re all tired , angry , scared and confused .

As we begin 2021 , my hope is that I hope we can come together with respect and love for others above our own fears and desires . I hope we come out of 2020 with remembrance and resolve for those who didn ’ t make it this far . I hope we ’ ll have an early spring , replete with wildflowers . And I hope that when the hard freeze comes and seems to throw us back into the darkness of winter , it ’ ll be brief and merciful .

Correction : In our last issue we said that funds were given by Presidio County to stabilize the Marfa and Presidio County Museum building . It should have read that funds were given by the City of Marfa .

PUBLISHER Riley Stephens publisher @ cenizojournal . com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Shawna Graves shawna @ cenizojournal . com

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

DESIGN / PRODUCTION Ceci Marquez

ON THE COVER :

" Mitre Magic ” by Andy Morgan It was a perfect night to capture the Milky Way . As I was driving and glimpsing the stars , I saw the 6000 ' Mitre peak tower overhead . Slowing down , I turned down a narrow dirt road I had never been on before . At one point I swerved quickly ; I thought an old twisted and torn shirt was a rattlesnake . Creeping further along , I had to wait for a dozen cows to realize the pasture was safer than the road . Finally , the road turned slightly and I saw this wonderful angle of the peak rising above the desert below . I pulled over , grabbed my tripod , and set everything up using the soft light from the Milky Way . Mars decided to join the star party , and the longer I waited , a serendipitous meteor appeared . This is a one-shot capture , and I used a flashlight to help lighten the foreground . Everything seemed magical in that moment , and Mitre Magic was born . After I produced the image , I realized that long narrow dirt road led to Camp Mitre , a special and memorable home for the girl scouts . I didn ’ t know it at the time , but I was capturing beauty and magic in the west Texas sky for them as well as for me . This image continues to remind me to always drive down those long narrow dirt roads , wherever this journey in life takes me . The ability to share each and every image , and the feeling I get when a girl scout contacts me about this image , makes my journey all worthwhile in the end .

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Cenizo Journal is published four times per year . © 2021 Cenizo Journal . Copyright of all art and images contained within are retained by the image owner and are used with permission .

Cenizo Winter 2021