Meet Victorio Valdez, the boatman who USED to be able to take tourists across the river in Boquillas Canyon to visit the quaint little village he calls home.
Nowadays, Victorio is only allowed to venture halfway across the river to sing his ballads. Last time Kman and I were in the Bend, we bought beautiful walking sticks from Victorio (he is now no longer allowed to sell wares to tourists per our Great White Father Protector at Homeland Security) and he sang for us just as he does in this video courtesy of Jimmy Patterson, who blogs at Sticky Doorknobs, and is Editor Extraordinare at My West Texas. You can read more about Victor via this great post by Jimmy P.
Jimmy's words make me homesick for a place I've never lived in...yet. This is why I love the Bend and the wonderful people you meet!
Who Is Cowtown Pattie?
- Cowtown Pattie
- I was Lillie Langtry in another life, and might have a crush on Calamity Jane.
6 comments:
Heaven on earth, CP :)
Wow!
What an incredibly strong voice for such an older gentleman.
The canyon echo is a treat as well.
Uh, darkov, why shouldn't an "older gentleman" have a strong voice?
Just asking...
Wonderful song, wonderful video. Here's my question: How does preventing Victorio from selling his walking sticks make me safer?
Ronni,
I'm older, though perhaps not a gentleman since I made that remark.
However, I still stand by comment as a strong clear voice, for me at least, usually means one is quite fit (great lung capacity) and usually unencumbered with debilitating drugs, prescription or otherwise.
My personal experience shows a Going-South line on a graph, where Y-axis is voice strength and x-axis is age.
The Bend looks beautiful, and maybe inspires strong singing. Mlof Full Fathom
I've got a great idea. You could operate a tourist boat on the american side and Victorio could operate one on the mexican side. You could meet in the middle of the river and tourists could step from one boat to the other. This could finance the move you've always wanted.
Of course the singing is part of the appeal so you would want to do your part to carry on the theme. How about a video of you belting out the song just to prove your qualification?
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