Let's Waltz Across Texas

[Uncle Siphuncle]

Don't rely on me, haha! I make it up as I go! I don't have any more knowledge or info available than anyone else...I just like finding stuff and tend to put most of my research efforts into finding more stuff, as opposed to fully understanding what I've already found, which might take time away from the field. I figure a fuller understanding of what I've found can always happen later if I'm so inclined.

Last time I heard buzz of a potential update to the Akers ech reference, it was Frank Holterhoff and Neal Immega discussing independent efforts to generate comprehensive photo heavy references perhaps 5 years ago. As far as I know, neither effort has gotten off the ground. The only thing for sure is that such an undertaking would require widespread collaboration from private collectors in order to bring quality images of the best specimens possible to the table.

Edited June 17, 2013 by danwoehr

[MikeD]

Last time I heard buzz of a potential update to the Akers ech reference, it was Frank Holterhoff and Neal Immega discussing independent efforts to generate comprehensive photo heavy references perhaps 5 years ago. As far as I know, neither effort has gotten off the ground. The only thing for sure is that such an undertaking would require widespread collaboration from private collectors in order to bring quality images of the best specimens possible to the table.

Not to hijack this thread, but Neal and I have discussed this update several times. As it will be a time consuming effort, the latest idea that we have pitched around is, rather than updating the book itself, that we would photograph or solicit high quality photos from Texas collectors - preferably done using stacking software to ensure a high quality, full focus picture. We would then create a section on the HGMS website to post these pictures along with the available information on them. It would become an ever growing photographic database of Texas echinoid information.

What do you and others think of that idea?

Neal does a pretty good job with the photography (see some of the photographs in "TRILOBITES of Black Cat Mountain" by George P. Hansen).

We need to get that first page done and get it kicked off.

[JohnJ]

Not to hijack this thread, but Neal and I have discussed this update several times. As it will be a time consuming effort, the latest idea that we have pitched around is, rather than updating the book itself, that we would photograph or solicit high quality photos from Texas collectors - preferably done using stacking software to ensure a high quality, full focus picture. We would then create a section on the HGMS website to post these pictures along with the available information on them. It would become an ever growing photographic database of Texas echinoid information.

What do you and others think of that idea?

Neal does a pretty good job with the photography (see some of the photographs in "TRILOBITES of Black Cat Mountain" by George P. Hansen).

We need to get that first page done and get it kicked off.

Good subject, MikeD. I figure we need a new topic rather than hijack this one.

[mikecable]

A new topic thread sounds good to me as well. Not that I'm territorial about this one, but I tend to start a thread and then meander and wander just like the Brazos river. Heck, I don't just meander, I throw up thunderstorms, go all ADD on y'all, then decide to go OCD, then I just wander off and throw rocks at the moon. I'm about half chicken-fried, a Yankee that's been southernized, and somehow folks keep entrusting me with their children. They are trusting folks. Of course, I haven't launched a student yet that I didn't recover. I'm pretty dang good at keeping my students alive as I risk their lives.

Edited June 20, 2013 by mikecable

[mikecable]

The Waco Pit.

Desperados Waiting for a Train Lyrics

I played the Red River Valley
He'd sit in the kitchen and cry
Run his fingers through seventy years of livin'
And wonder, "Lord, why has every well I've drilled gone dry?"

We were friends, me and this old man
We's like desperados waitin' for a train
Desperados waitin' for a train

He's a drifter, a driller of oil wells
He's an old school man of the world
He taught me how to drive his car when he was too drunk to
And he'd wink and give me money for the girls
And our lives was like, some old Western movie
Like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

From the time that I could walk he'd take me with him
To a bar called the Green Frog Cafe
There was old men with beer guts and dominos
Lying 'bout their lives while they played
I was just a kid, they all called me "Sidekick"
Just like desperados waitin' for a train
Like desperados waitin' for a train

One day I looked up and he's pushin' eighty
He's got brown tobacco stains all down his chin
Well to me he was a hero of this country
So why's he all dressed up like them old men
Drinkin' beer and playin' Moon and Forty-two
Jus' like desperados waitin' for a train
Like a desperado waitin' for a train

The day 'fore he died I went to see him
I was grown and he was almost gone.
So we just closed our eyes and dreamed us up a kitchen
And sang one more verse to that old song
(spoken) Come on, Jack, that son-of-a-###### is comin'

We're desperados waitin' for a train
Was like desperados waitin' for a train

[jpc]

Time to get back to the waltz. I live as close to the Panhandle as I do to the Hill Country. I love it all, but this song is more about the part of Texas I come from.

Levelland--James McMurtry

Flatter than a tabletop

Makes you wonder why they stopped here

Wagon must have lost a wheel or they lacked ambition one

On the great migration west

Separated from the rest

Though they might have tried their best

They never caught the sun

So they sunk some roots down in the dirt

To keep from blowin' off the earth

Built a town around here

And when the dust had all but cleared

They called it Levelland, the pride of man

In Levelland

Granddad grew the dryland wheat

Stood on his own two feet

His mind got incomplete and they put in the home

Daddy's cotton grows so high

Sucks the water table dry

Rolling sprinklers circle round

Bleedin' it to the bone

And I won't be here when it comes a day

It all dries up and blows away

I'd hang around just to see

But they never had much use for me in Levelland

They don't understand me out in Levelland

And I watch those jet trails carving up that big blue sky

Coast to coasters watch 'em go

And I never would blame 'em one snarge bit

If they never looked down on this

Not much here they'd wanna know

Just Levelland

Far as you can point your hand

Nothin' but Levelland

Mama used to roll her hair

Back before the central air

We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night

She'd tell me to make a wish

I'd wish we both could fly

Don't think she's seen the sky

Since we got the satellite dish and

I can hear the marching band

Doin' the best they can

They're playing "Smoke on the Water", "Joy to the World"

I've paid off all my debts

Got some change left over yet and I'm

Gettin' on a whisper jet

I'm gonna fly as far as I can get from

Levelland, doin' the best I can

Out in Levelland - imagine that

Oh, good... I was hoping James McM would make the list. He's my favorite texas songwriter.

[tessweaver]

Mike and Gary,

Thanks for letting me tag along to the Pit. It was awesome, but I am a little jealous that ya'll got rain the next day. I think I might prefer mud to the rough, sharp "concrete" that we had to kneel and crawl on Saturday. I haven't had a chance to go through my finds from Whiskey Bridge and the Pit, but here are some pics of the hellish ground we crawled around on.

[mikecable]

Mike and Gary,

Thanks for letting me tag along to the Pit. It was awesome, but I am a little jealous that ya'll got rain the next day. I think I might prefer mud to the rough, sharp "concrete" that we had to kneel and crawl on Saturday. I haven't had a chance to go through my finds from Whiskey Bridge and the Pit, but here are some pics of the hellish ground we crawled around on.

Waco Pit June 8.jpgWaco Pit June 8 b.jpgWaco Pit June 8 c.jpg

Glad you were able to tag along. Hope to hunt with you again soon.

[mikecable]

Some wee bits from the Waco Research Pit.

And several more.

[erose]

Mike and Gary,

Thanks for letting me tag along to the Pit. It was awesome, but I am a little jealous that ya'll got rain the next day. I think I might prefer mud to the rough, sharp "concrete" that we had to kneel and crawl on Saturday. I haven't had a chance to go through my finds from Whiskey Bridge and the Pit, but here are some pics of the hellish ground we crawled around on.

Waco Pit June 8.jpgWaco Pit June 8 b.jpgWaco Pit June 8 c.jpg

Sorry I did not get a chance to meet you Saturday. The pit is definitely different when wet. But, despite the heavy rain that morning it was looking just like your photos by 3PM Sunday afternoon.

Mike, nice photos. I'm still cataloging some of the odd bits and revising the faunal list with updated names and other species.

[mikecable]

Everything I found on both days would fit into a pill bottle. But those top five specimens made the whole trip worthwhile.

[mikecable]

The photos above were all taken through a Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom Four--between 7X and 15X magnification, with a florescent ring lamp mounted to the objective. I used a FujiFilm FinePix SL300 on a Seben afocal mount above one eyepiece. Two second shutter delay, and automatic settings on the camera. I edit in Google Plus. Generally I rotate the image to straighten the scale, and then crop to size. The ring lamp causes most of the photos to be slightly over-exposed, but by adding some shadow I get sharper detail. I usually up the sharpness a bit, and if the specimen has interesting color contrast I'll up the color saturation a bit as well. Then add the text and save.

[JohnJ]

How can you not like little jewels like that...nice images and finds, Mike.

[mikecable]

JohnJ--this post is for you.

They have fairly tight collecting rules at the Waco Research Pit. Specifically you are only supposed to collect up to two hand-sized specimens, or the equivalent in volume. Since most of the fossils are very small this is not that problematic. But it does prevent you from bulk sampling for micros. Unless you follow the rules creatively.

Just prior to this picture we had climbed out of the spillway gorge--at the insistence of the Army Corps of Engineers. We were very muddy. Erich has a relatively new ride--that won't last long fossil hunting. But we tried our best to clean up before climbing back in his vehicle to make it back to the pit. JohnJ generously bagged up the mud from his knee pads for me to process for the benefit of the Fossil Forum. A total of three pounds of Waco Pit muck.

This is what knee pad muck looks like. Not much. Personally I thought JohnJ was full of carp and sending me off on a snipe chase.

But three pounds of muck can be sluiced and juiced and sieved down to an ounce or two. Which surprisingly to me was highly fossiliferous. Nothing great--but lots of nice micromorph oysters.

There are some small echinoderm bits in there as well--but mostly oysters. Still pretty cool--the fossils from JohnJ's knee pads.

[Auspex]

When John offers you a pillowcase and a flashlight, that's a snipe hunt

[mikecable]

When John offers you a pillowcase and a flashlight, that's a snipe hunt

If John ever dared to offer me that, I'd volunteer to hunt in the proximity of his tent. With a shotgun filled with rock salt. I'm not sure John knew how many fossils were on his knee pads. It's all incredibly cool beans as far as I'm concerned.

[JohnJ]

I knew there would be some fossils in there. I hoped it would be something a bit more dramatic, especially given the area we were crawling. Still, I wouldn't count out the 'lowly' Ilymatogyra arietinas. It's time to put their little cups under the microscope and see what has been protected for the last 97 million years. Glad to see you're still having fun with that trip. It was an adventure.

[mikecable]

I knew there would be some fossils in there. I hoped it would be something a bit more dramatic, especially given the area we were crawling. Still, I wouldn't count out the 'lowly' Ilymatogyra arietinas. It's time to put their little cups under the microscope and see what has been protected for the last 97 million years. Glad to see you're still having fun with that trip. It was an adventure.

Living is an adventure. The dead part is a drag. But hell's bells I'm still on the living end of it.

[mikecable]

Any waltz across Texas should end up at a place called Whiskey Bridge. This one started there, but being an amateur paleontologist I play with space and time, so my narrative will end there. Originally the Stone City formation bluffs were the Moseley ford, and later the Moseley ferry. During prohibition, the bridge became known as "Whiskey" bridge--a well known route for Texas A & M students to the closest bootlegger.

"Copperhead Road"--Steve Earle

Well my name's John Lee Pettimore
Same as my daddy and his daddy before
You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here
He only came to town about twice a year
He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line
Everybody knew that he made moonshine
Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad
He headed up the holler with everything he had
It's before my time but I've been told
He never came back from Copperhead Road
Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge
Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge
Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side
Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside
Well him and my uncle tore that engine down
I still remember that rumblin' sound
Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night
Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right
He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load
You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road

I volunteered for the Army on my birthday
They draft the ###### first,'round here anyway
I done two tours of duty in Vietnam
And I came home with a brand new plan
I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico
I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road
Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air
I wake up screaming like I'm back over there
I learned a thing or two from ol' Charlie don't you know
You better stay away from Copperhead Road

Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road
Copperhead Road

[mikecable]

[mikecable]

My musical tribute to the Brazos--The "Arms of God" in Spanish. Robert Earl Keen - Front Porch Song

This old porch is a big ol' red and white Herford bull

Standin' under a mesquite tree in Agua Dulce, Texas

He keeps on playin' hide and seek with that hot august sun

Sweatin' and a pantin' cause his work is never done

Oh no, with those cows and a red top cane

This old porch is a steamin' greasy plate of enchiladas

With lots of cheese and onions ans a guacamole salad

You can get them at the LaSalle Hotel in old downtown

With ice tea and a waitress who will smile every time

Oh yeah, I left a quarter tip on my ten dollar bill

This old porch is a palace walk in on a main street in Texas

It ain't never seen or heard the days of G's and R's and X's

And that '62 poster that's almost faded down

And a screen without a picture since Giant came to town

Oh no, I like those junior mints and the red hots too, yes I do

This old porch is like a weathered grey haired seventy years of Texas

Who’s doin' all he can not to give in to the city

And he always takes my rent late so long as I run his cattle

He picks me up at dinner time and I listen to him rattle

He says the Brazos still runs muddy like she's run all along

There’s never been no cane to grind and the cotton's all but gone

You know this Chevrolet pickup truck, hell she was somethin' back in '60

But now there won't nobody listen to him 'cause they all think he's crazy

This old porch is just a long time of waiting and forgetting

Remembering the coming back and not crying about the leaving

And remembering the falling down and the laughter of the curse of luck

From all those son's of ###### who said we'd never get back up

This old porch is a big old red and white Herford bull

Standing under a mesquite tree out in Agua Dulce

He keep's on playing hide and seek with that hot August sun

He’s sweating and a panting 'cause his work is never done

I've know a whole lot of bulls in my time, and there work is never done.

[Plantguy]

Mike, nice micro finds and cool bridge. The steamin greasy plate of enchiladas with lots of cheese and onions and a guacamole salad with an ice tea works for me too!

Regards, Chris