24 Hours in Ghost Town

My local PBS station, KERA, is airing the full length version of this documentary on Monday, September 28th.

Terlingua, Texas. The most unique place in Texas, maybe the world. Though Kman thinks it would be too hot to live there year 'round, I think it might just suit my new world view to be a Terlingua denizen. I can't explain what I find so appealing about the little town that just barely hangs on to the outer edges of this big state, but I suppose the lure of adventure and escapism is the major draw.

Famous for its yearly chili cook-off, Terlingua is only a hot jumpin' place for the one weekend a year when chili-heads park their big ol' motor homes in the desert and conjure up their inner heathen. Oh, there's a motorcycle rally and a desert car race, but they pale in comparison to the number of visitors that come for the cook-off.

Never been to the cook-off since a huge number of drunken city idiots in one small place just has no appeal to me. I can go downtown Cowtown on any Saturday night for that kind of ambiance.

Terlingua is so much more than chili pots, its about an amazing night sky so full of stars you need to wear Wayfarers to take a midnight stroll. A sunset so breathtaking you stop mid-sentence so as not to miss a minute of that deep purple, orange and pink sky streaking up and out from the low-sinking sun like the exhaust from a hundred flaming chariots.

Maybe one day I can change my alter ego to Terlingua Desert Rose, and Cowtown can eat my dust...