Along about May the nuts begin to form, in close-growing clusters at the tips of stubby twigs. Inside each green husk is a droplet of nutrient-filled liquid—the substance that will eventually become a pecan. As the kernel takes on shape and size, a papery skin develops around the jellylike matter.
An uneasy peace has long existed between Texas and literature, a peace the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL) has tried for fifty years to preserve and protect. Threats have been constant. In several cases, foreign emissaries have found themselves treated in alarming ways. British poet Stephen Spender, invited to speak
If you’ve ever wondered about Texans’ penchant for big hair, waving to strangers, shirts with snaps instead of buttons, and belt buckles with our names engraved on the back, consult Read Me. Texas, a primer that will get you through Texas 101 easy as falling off a log. From Fritos
Rivers of fire. Gnashing metal claws. Burning buildings. Army surplus rocket engines and abstract mechanical dinosaurs. Lumbering steel insects armed with flamethrowers and rotating cow skulls.A capacity crowd of 5,000 Texans packed Longhorn Speedway to witness the spectacle—a chaotic evening of well-managed explosions, choreographed pyromania and all-purpose destruction—courtesy of
People are interesting (sometimes heroic) and government is bad (sometimes evil). As sweeping a generalization as that may be, it is precisely the kind of Big Truth that is at home in Texas, and valid—if you are to believe the picture of our state that emerges from this hodgepodge
LET’S FACE IT, despite a long literary history—one as rich and as varied as that of New York or even Paris—Texas isn’t bookish. How can it be, when its storytellers began as rough-riding myth-makers, outlaws and freedom fighters, cowboys and cattlemen whose larger than life escapades didn’t warrant putting
On Halloween morning at Barton Springs Pool in Austin, Ben Lecomte could have passed for an extraterrestrial manatee, or maybe even a mermaid convalescing with a respirator. But he wasn’t costumed in observance of the holiday. He breathes through the neon green tube and wears a single enormous fin
When you’re a child, camp—whether you like it or not—is one of those defining activities of summer. These days for millions of sports fans camp continues to be a feature of the hot months, but it’s no longer about riding horses, swimming holes, or capture the flag. It’s about
The art of the Texas quilt.
The dying November sun glistens off the tight plastic packaging around our Earl Campbell’s Hot Links. My companions Heinrich and Jack are busy re-staking the tents in the midst of a growling wind while I prepare a pre-expedition delicacy of sausage wraps and beans, the wholesome meal that will
Although the assassination of President John F. Kennedy occurred 33 years ago, the controversy over the events surrounding the assassination has never died down. On this anniversary we visited the crucial sites connected with the assassination, from Lee Harvey Oswald’s boarding house on West Beckley to the site of
No wilderness experience in Texas is quite like Big Bend National Park, more than 800,000 acres of mountains, desert, and river so stark and dreamy that it’s difficult to distinguish where reality ends and apparition begins. Jagged peaks sheltering pine forests more typical of New Mexico or Colorado, canyons that
How to eat easy, play hard, and sleep well in the Davis mountains.
Rare books, blueberry pie, a faith healer’s shrine—and one deep hole.
Huge apple pies, a Japanese submarine, handmade soaps—and a dressed flea.
An old opera house, Judge Roy Bean’s grave, ancient pictographs—and a drug blimp.
A secret garden, presidential papers, tasty pinto beans—and a Picasso.
Snow geese, the Big Tree, sandy beaches—and one gigantic chemical plant.
Grain elevators, road coffee, the “town” of Amarillo—and a cowboy named Bronc.
Black-chinned hummingbirds, rusting tractors, chuckwagon breakfasts— and a restored brothel.
Vintage jukeboxes, puffed tacos, a deserted village—and a vision of Tom Landry.
Cypress swamps, Tex Ritter memorabilia—and a spot that spooked Spielberg.
African masks, two old steam locomotives, Lady Bird's childhood home—and miniature donkeys.
