Our Town

   The old Cubans a had phrase…”He’s in the buzzard’s beak”. As you can well imagine, this was not meant to impart a happy ending. It just wasn’t a good thing at all, very precarious. Well, that’s how Buzzard Beak had it’s beginnings and, for the most part, that’s how it continues. Some say it’s in the water, this predilection toward calamity. Some say it’s in the soil, from the rocky start the town had. Then there’s just some who don’t say anything at all about it, just sit there with that glazed look in their eyes. If  you kinda follow their line of sight you can eventually see the buzzards circling. Sup’ums up!

   We got a lake here at Buzzard Beak. Well now, that’s not entirely true either. Texas has had this drought for going on seven years now, so what we actually got is a lake bed. For you that are unfamiliar with such things, that’s the ground beneath the water, when there is water. So anyway, outsiders call us river rats. That’s because before there was a lake there was a river. Someone dammed the damn thing up, and then we got a lake. But like I said, now we got a lake bed.

   Indians, the native American kind, used to run up and down the place back in the day. Clumsy tribes, no doubt, because we got arrowheads, tools, and all kinds of debris resting in the bed. Visitors, when we get ‘em, just love to wander up and down looking for treasures. Lost a few last year to sink holes. Buzzards circled then too.

   I guess it’s the people here in Buzzard Beak that really make the place. We have some characters I’ll tell you for sure. There’s The Law (we used to refer to him as Boss Hogg, but we don’t anymore). We got the Porch Sitters (a couple of old lady twins and their brother) who pass on what they know before they know it. Naturally we have the Bad Apple, causing some kind of trouble from sun up to sundown. There’s a bunch more too, but we’ll talk about them later on. All totaled there’s more than eleven of us, contrary to what the sign says. It’s just that those who didn’t stand up and be counted were runnin’ from something. And those who came late haven’t been added to the rolls because the Sign Painter passed on a coupla years back. Now, you’re probably laughing because you think that the census taker should have the right numbers. Guess again. We haven’t seen a census taker since I’ve been here. I’m puttin’ my money on a sink hole.

   When somebody does something, and you usually don’t have to wait too long in Buzzard Beak, I’ll be back to report.

~ The Hair Dresser

Advertisement