Lurking Around Rodeo / Luck of the Draw

 

This is Rodeo . Taken , looking to the North east . Credit for this can be seen on Google Earth , there are quite a few really good photos to be viewed of the surrounding area . Many are way back up in the Chiricahuas where my beat up old legs won't take me , thanks to the folks who took the photos and posted them to the Google Earth site .

I expect to some folks Rodeo doesn't look like much . On the other hand it reminds me of Terlingua . It may not have everything you want , but it sure has everything you need . I brag to folks that Rodeo has all the stuff you require to exist , we have a gas station/general store / an art gallery / a post office / a church / a good mechanic / a tavern / a cafe , a couple of rental cottages an art gallery and a good road running through it to take you where ever you may need to go .

U.S. 80 runs from Douglas AZ. up to Road Forks now and intermittently all the way to Savanah GA. . Originally it was a main thoroughfare for the country , Interstates have since taken over that job and like many other highways has fell into disuse or disappeared altogether . 

Some of the history of Rodeo remains as is evidenced by this historical marker , at times a train station , stage coach stop , hub for local ranches and mining interests and one of the many little places in the American Southwest that served as a rest stop for travelers . Most small towns were situated a days ride apart by horse back or wagon and offered at least a place to replenish water or some food . Some offered overnight places to stay , and depending on the distance left to travel services to help you on your way . At one time Rodeo had a blacksmith , stables , two motels , more than four dining establishments , A motel and even a house of ill repute !

 

  

Much of the original structures remain but obviously serving other purposes now . They still serve as living and working space for that iconoclastic soul that likes to go their own way . The residents may not move  as fast as folks in other places , but the job still gets done .While they   move through life leaving a much smaller footprint on the landscape and hearing the beat of a different drummer , most are content and at peace with life . To say this is a low stress lack of conflict existence is a vast understatement . Somehow the sixty mile drive down to Douglas doesn't seem like such a big deal when you get to travel through some of the most beautiful country in the southwest .                                                                                                               
 

Then again accommodations run from  this to adobe houses and haciendas running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars . A strange mix of functionality and new age high tech , with solar , water cachement , green living that should be a blue print for other communities . Fans of Tony Hillerman's novels would find "Jim Chee's " Airstream with it's cat door on some isolated ranch road and around the next rise in the road a fully furnished spectacle from Architects Digest .

Lately we've been treated to some early thunder storms and a bit of rain , the sight of lightning crashing from peak to peak in the mountains defies description , gusts of wind coming off the mountains bring 20 degree drops in temperatures , awakening to a full moon breaking through the cloud cover lighting the desert like a beam from the ancient indian gods while those lightning flashes dance around at the higher elevations are something people would pay big money to see ! The night air has it's own texture , like a soft blanket with the scent of sage and cactus blossoms drifting through the open windows . Sounds of the night are different from the staccato bark of a coyote looking for it's pups , to the clatter of jack rabbitts across the open areas between the sage to the sound of the owls in their screaming dive to descend on their prey . Some nights there may be the growl of a stock truck's diesel out on highway 80 , the drivers moving cattle through the night to take advantage of the evenings cool air . All in all a nice place to be , right now .

How am I doing ? 

I'm doing just fine . 

Stay tuned ....