The Blackened Fields of Far West Texas

photo by John Schwerdtfeger

As I headed home from weekend gigs in the Big Bend and Marathon, along the same highway I have driven many times, it was unfamiliar. Unrecognizable.The vast West Texas fields that alternate between green and yellow have turned black in an instant.
After more than 6 months without any rain, the aggressive and unrelenting winds are taking this opportunity to escort the blaze through unconvincing obstacles, such as hilltops, meadows, and houses of convention. While there have been no human casualties, many other mammals have perished after being trapped inside barbed wire boundaries. As hydrants run dry, firefighters are combating the flames with a resource we'll never have a shortage of here in the desert...dirt.