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[<eureka AT hctc.net>]

Alpine is named because it has the highest altitude of any 
Texas town, and has the coolest summer temps around. 
There's a neat culture of artsy people in the triangle 
between Alpine, Ft. Davis, and Marfa. (For an interesting 
aside, check out the mysterious Marfa lights, which I've 
seen several times). I'd enjoy living there, but the 
nearest big towns are pretty far away, and they are all 
extremely right wing conservative.

Las Cruces is at least a 9 hour drive and Austin only 4. 
It takes at least a day for me to get out of the state, 
but only an hour to get out of the country. Most people do 
not realize that from the Louisiana border to El Paso is 
about equal to El Paso to the Los Angeles.

--Sage

On Mon, 3 Nov 2008 06:54:52 -0800 (PST)
 bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com> wrote:
> If I'm not in error about the Edward's Plateau, you 
> would be closer to Las Cruces (NM), than to Austin ?.  Is 
> Alpine called "Alpine" because it is 'hilly'?  I looked 
> at the map of Texas (I'm not trying to guess your 
> location).  Texas is too d*mn big for that.  You cross NM 
> into TX, drive and drive and drive.  Go to sleep, drive 
> and drive and drive, still in blasted Texas.  Takes 
> forever to cross over and stop in Lake Charles. :-) 
> .....bobford
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> --- On Mon, 11/3/08, eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net> 
> wrote:
>
> > From: eureka AT hctc.net <eureka AT hctc.net>
> > Subject: Re: [Homestead] Additional Rice Information
> > To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> > Date: Monday, November 3, 2008, 6:55 AM
> > Lynda is correct. The endangered Texas wild rice grows 
> > only in the San Marcos River, where I learned to kayak. 
> > It's in the same ecosystem (Edwards Plateau, or Hill 
> > Country as it is commonly called) in which I live, but 
> > close to Austin.
> >
> > One of my former co-workers did her thesis and is 
> > considered the foremost expert on it, and the botanical 
> > garden where I worked was hoping to build a refugium for 
> > the plant. It only grows in clear, clean, fast flowing 
> > water (with disolving limestone) so runnels of flowing 
> > water of the correct Ph would have to be built. Because 
> > the seed is only good for one year, it would have to be 
> > propagated every year, and then re-introduced to the 
> > river.
> >
> > I think the only thing holding them back is the money. 
> > Unfortunately the greatest stand of the plant is where 
> > the 
> > river flows through a college campus, and it takes a 
> > beating from the swimmers, tubers, and kayakers getting 
> > in 
> > and out. I'm not sure why they don't cordon it off,
> >
> > perhaps they fear drawing any attention to it will 
> > hasten 
> > its demise. Also, I think part of the problem is the 
> > university rebuilt the dam about four inches higher and 
> > that was enough pressure to suppress some of the 
> > springs.
> >
> > Eight years ago there was a movement among the kayakers 
> > to 
> > get the dam removed rather than rebuilt. All these Hill 
> > Country rivers used to be a blast to run, but 
> > developments 
> > and golf courses have diminished the aquifer. I saw a 
> > wonderful underwater film once that showed the river's 
> > ecosystem, the rice, and all the Indian points at the 
> > bottom of the river. Undoubtedly Z. texana was more 
> > respected by and part of the diet of the local tribes.
> >
> > --Sage
> > Way Out in Texas
> >
> > On Sun, 2 Nov 2008 19:36:43 -0800
> >   "Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net> wrote:
> > > No, "wild rice" isn't a real rice. 
> > Related, distantly 
> > >but still not really 
> > > rice (Oryza sativa and oryza glaberrima are the 
> > >domesticated rices). 
> > > Zizania is the genus for wild rice and the three
> > native 
> > >to the U.S. are z. 
> > > palustris (Great Lakes), z. aquatica (St. Lawrence 
> > >River) and z. texana 
> > > (Texas but just about extinct).
> > > 
> > > Lynda
> > > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > >From: "Rob" <becida AT comcast.net>
> > >>
> > >> It's not rice?
> > >>
> > >> Rob
> > >> becida AT comcast.net
> > > 
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>      
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