Earlier this year, I climbed down from my blind because it was too foggy to hunt. Knowing nobody was anywhere near me, I set out to explore and found this old, haunting corral, built in the same way the indigenous old souls of this area used to build their "jacales"; shelters. Mesquite sure was a versatile resource back then. It looks like some of the pieces might have been cedar but mostly the corral was made of OLD mesquite.
That's an amazing picture! You should enter that in the picture contest in the fall.
Thanks Stephanie, I should get my "sea legs" by fall and learn what all is available here. I'm a new subscriber to DG thanks to my wonderful benefactoress...BajaBlue.
Aha !
Hotcha hooked, eh ?
Its the gift that keeps on giving
and giving like the energizer
bunny
I am lovin your posts !
I met Baja in person yesterday and she's a wonderful person! Enjoyed chatting with you, Baja!
Stephanie, you know the saying "the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree"? Bajas' father was a very nice man, he loved to garden. Good memories.
Cocoa, this was a holding pen, used for a variety of livestock managing purposes. I found old, abandoned bird nests within the corrals crevices. A rusty coil of barbed wire hung as if frozen in time. I sat in the morning mist beside the old tree and watched ghostly figures of cattle grazing in the pasture nearby. The haunting quiet was indiscribable and beautiful.
Compadre, you are a poet !
Fauther, what is holding the fence together? Is it just that the vertical posts are sunk in the ground and rigid enough to hold the horizontal ones together? (Its good to know how to build things "from scratch" if you understand what I mean.)
Beautiful pictures btw.
Thanks Comadre, I'm just trying to describe in detail so that the reader can look thru my eyes and experience those senses that a photo leaves out. Not everyone can get out to these wonderful places, smell the woods at dawn or walk down a sandy sendero in the moist air that clings to you in the fog, If you've never experienced such things...to me, It's like watching a baby sleep...and then it smiles.
LadyPearl: yes that's exactly how its built. The supporting posts are in the ground for stability. These are the ones that looked like cedar. When shelters were built in this manner, mud was applied to fill the gaps.
Cool! Wonder how old that fence is, do you know? (I'm curious to know how long it will last and if termites eventually eat it up.)
We have mesquite trees in our yard and from time to time the wind will break a big limb or two. Sometimes they come in handy after trimming them up (like making a roost for the guineas and for poles to use in the garden.)
Ladypearl, We don't know how old this fence is. The current ranch owner says this part of his land saw much activity way before he purchased it. I saw evidence of structures and foundations that had long ago succumbed to the elements. This fence however old it is shows signs of mending. I hope they keep it up.
Yep, so neat that they can take what is on hand and turn it into something useful. Around here when land is cleared, usually of mesquite, they bulldoze it into piles and set it on fire. Last couple years we have had some hot dry conditions so not as much burning going on, thankfully. Sure would appreciate some rain now....
