Devils River Country

Del Rio. Val Verde. By the river. The Green Valley.

The great grand parents and their kin came. By horse . . . wagon . . . stage coach . . . foot back.

They settled the village. Helped name it Del Rio. Assisted in forming Val Verde County.

Grandparents told stories: of their coming to live in the wonderful country where Devils River, the Pecos, and the Rio Grande meet . . . of early times in the boundary area where the Chihuahuan Desert from the west meets hills of the Edwards Plateau to the north and merges with Tamaulipas brush land from the south and the east.

Times change. Winter-time tale-tellings before the fireplace on grand-dad's knee . . . warm-weather story-sharings on the back porch in grand-ma's lap . . . wisps of Prince Albert pipe smoke . . .twinkings of twilight fire-flies . . . all eroded away by movies, television, and cell phones.

But there are still stories to tell. Tales to pass on. Things we want children - grandchildren - those still to come - to remember - in times yet to be.

This book is a gathering of happenings - remembrances of events - glimpses of parenting - thoughts of yesteryear.

It tells of:

Horses and windmills and tarantulas . . . a wrong-way bus trip . . . a hidden wedding ring . . . sycamore trees . . . a lost bath and football shack showers . . . lions and toads and tin soldiers . . . a picket fence . . . old telephones . . . poison pig weed . . . a crusty old red rooster . . . building boats and reviving old cars . . . holiday traditions . . . hunting experiences . . . sailing fiascos . . . and more.