Texas Highways Magazine December 2020

With fall in full swing and temperatures finally lowering, it’s the perfect time to explore the bounty of landscapes we’re lucky to enjoy in Texas. While we’ve all had our share of disappointment over disrupted plans and vacations in 2020, spending time in nature has been a balm to our weary souls. It’s no surprise that Texans are opting to spend more time outdoors this year. In complementary feature stories, writers Clayton Maxwell and Asher Elbein embark on journeys through Texas’ private and public lands, respectively, to highlight the diversity of outdoor options and the benefits of communing with nature. Both stories offer recommendations and tips for where and how to safely experience Texas’ natural treasures. This issue also includes a partnership with Stranger’s Guide, a quarterly magazine devoted to exploring destinations…

Contributing editor Melissa Gaskill wouldn’t dream of taking one of Big Bend’s living rock cacti, but she wasn’t surprised to hear about the illegal market for the stolen plants she wrote about in “The Perils of Pilfering Prickly Plants” (Page 22). “Obviously these smugglers were doing this for money,” says Gaskill, who has a degree in zoology. “We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars, and people are buying them all over the world.” Gaskill, who is planning her next trip to Big Bend, says she hadn’t noticed living rock cacti in her frequent trips west, but that doesn’t mean their role in the local environment isn’t meaningful. “You have this big ecosystem and a lot of little ecosystems in it,” the Austin-based writer says. “If you pull enough pieces out,…

Regina L. Burns The multimedia journalist and editor visited Morrow’s Barber Shop in Terrell for this month’s My Hometown (Page 12). “This is the spot if you want your sides to hurt with laughter while getting a great haircut,” says Burns, who is based in Dallas. In addition to magazines, she has worked for radio and TV stations, newspapers, and The Associated Press, in Mississippi and Texas. She contributed an essay to the book Embracing the Real World: The Black Woman’s Guide to Life After College. Burns is the owner and marketing project manager at her boutique agency, Harvest Reapers Communications. Lucas Loredo For “An Ancient Voice” (Page 14), the Austin-based writer spent time with some of the state’s historic live oak trees searching for relief from anxiety. “Trees calm me,” he says,…

Fighting Fire My husband was in charge of the Texas Forest Service fire prevention service for many years [“On Call,” October]. Hats off to E. Dan Klepper and all of the volunteer fire organizations in Texas! Lisa Nicklow, Salem, Massachusetts The Lomax Brothers These guys are American heroes [“Song Hunters,” October]. Without them we might have lost a treasure trove of music. Judith Nelson Flaherty, Dallas Pecan Heaven Best chocolate pecan pie ever at Berdoll’s [“Deep Roots,” October]! Miss Pearl is the best attraction to take pics with! @texan65 Picture Perfect Images, I have read, speak to the heart, and one in the November 2020 issue brings tears to my eyes. The boy standing next to his mom is only four years older than me [“Editor’s Note: Texas Tough”]. I can’t imagine what could go through his mind if he…

Waiting for the Sun At Big Bend National Park, the Santa Elena Canyon Trail climbs a series of switchbacks into the mouth of the famed gorge. Most hikers come to admire the sheer limestone walls, which rise 1,000 feet from the Rio Grande. But the return hike offers a strikingly different view of the river as it bends through the desert with the Chisos Mountains in the distance. “I am continually drawn to Big Bend because of the grand, rugged beauty,” says photographer Rob Greebon, who took this photo one early morning in November 2019. “The remoteness of the area, and the beauty and life that thrive in this harsh landscape, amazes me.”…

Terrell might be best known for the Terrell State Hospital, a 135-year-old psychiatric ward. Or, as the home of the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum, which tells the history of the local academy for Royal Air Force pilots during World War II. And, of course, as the hometown of Jamie Foxx, the Grammy and Oscar winner who graduated from Terrell High School. But some visitors know Terrell for a different reason: Morrow’s Barber Shop. Customers travel from as far away as Mexia (85 miles south) for a haircut, a little joshing, and the latest “facts” from barber Edmund Morrow. A Vietnam War veteran, the 77-year-old has cut hair for almost 60 years, including at the Terrell State Hospital and at the shop he built in 1972 with his…