THE COWBOYS AND THE GAMBLERS

Ross came out to work at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in good ol' Elko-town. I drove over after classes to join him. It seems that 90% of my westward drives across the Salt Flats occur at sunset, with the setting sun blinding me for many miles. This time, the moon came up and reflected off the snow.


I didn't work at the Gathering this year, so I actually heard quite a few poets, and a bit of music. One of my favorite things about the cowboys are their extravagant moustaches.


I was pleased to see my old friend the White King, who lives inside this casino, where you cannot take a picture of him. But I like his effigy on the outside of the casino, too.

Ross's duties for this Gathering were largely to hang out in this Sheep Camp and interview interesting people, like Kent Reeves, the surfer-cowboy from CA, and Gwen Trice, an African-American woman from Oregon, who only recently discovered that her dad was one of the few loggers in Maxville, OR, a now vanished logging town, where blacks and whites worked together in the 1920s. Gwen has made a film about the nearly forgotten town.





We got to stay in the ever-so-luxurious Midtown Motel, alongside the gold mine drillers and their big trucks. It was clean, though, and the owner was really friendly.


I think the Biltoki is my new favorite Elko Basque restaurant. We dined with Steve and Laura, who just got married last spring and definitely have the glow of newlyweds.




I didn't get many photos of the cowboys or the fabulous dancing, but Jessica, the official photographer of the Gathering, does great work. You can see a few of her shots on her blog.

Then it was back to work. It's been warmer lately, and it even rained on me when I took a walk the other day.