“Sometimes I get this crazy dream that I just take off in my car. But you can travel on 10,000 miles and still stay where you are.” — Harry Chapin, WOLD The radio station was an unremarkable brick building encircled by palm and fruit trees. My intention was to use Read more…
When we lived in our little white rented house a few miles north of the big river there were two bushes that grew in a corner of the back yard. They struggled because an old cottonwood and two orange trees took most of the sun and when the slanted rain Read more…
During the past few months, the people of Texas and the rest of the country have been hearing about the Rio Grande Valley. Unfortunately, the type of publicity we received was unwanted. A surge of child refugees from Central America created a humanitarian crisis that again stirred the debate about Read more…
The SpaceX decision to build a launch facility on Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville will, eventually, be considered an historical moment that began the transformation of the Rio Grande Valley, and there is little doubt the economic and cultural impact will be significant for the region. However, SpaceX is only Read more…
The frontier between Texas and Mexico has defied a cultural and economic simplicity since long before General John “Black Jack” Pershing wasted almost two years fruitlessly chasing Pancho Villa through the high deserts of Mexico and the American Southwest. Very little is what it appears to be in such a Read more…
You never know who’s watching your tweet stream. Or maybe you should assume someone is that might have a question or two. During a trip last week to the Rio Grande Valley, a political activist informed me that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz had made only one visit to the region Read more…
Far out on the west side of Hidalgo County, the land is dark and rich and flattened into an alluvial plain by ancient floods in the Rio Grande Valley basin. There is no end to growing season this close to the Mexican border and the fields are only barren between Read more…