Tile Grout and Drug Cartels

I have felt an allegiance to every single place I have lived: the third-floor palace that I left in Dover; my various college apartments and dorms, where I lived with so many of my friends; the hippie house in Lee where I lived for a summer; and of course Goffstown, where I grew up. Having said that, I understand that there must be residents of Sanderson, Texas who feel the same sort of fond connection to their community. I apologize to these people for the evaluation of their town that I am about to furnish. Sanderson, Texas is…evocative of one of the circles of Hell…a little bit deeper than purgatory or limbo…somewhere by the river Styx, perhaps – a deserted, waterless cruise of eternal damnation. We stayed at the Desert Air Motel, which was a one-story motel with about 12 rooms, with cinder block walls, ancient patchwork quilts and ancient paisley curtains, and pink-tiled bathrooms that needed a serious grout session. (When the showerhead is caked with blackened mildew, that is a fine day to skip the shower; I don’t need streams of moldy bacteria coursing over me.) There was an obese poodle who belonged to the man at the front desk, whose turds liberally decorated the motel parking lot.

There was a Town & Country gas station across the street filled with strange people, some appearing to be genetically mutated. Normally, Sarah and I are both very sociable, but when we were inside the Town & Country convenience store, there were exactly zero people whom we felt like associating with. When we first drove into town, we couldn’t find a place to eat except for the ‘Country Cookin’ place inside the Town & Country. And the culinary selection was limited: limp burritos and friiiiiiiiiied chicken that had been sitting on the counter underneath a heat lamp for about 8 hours. We ate that for lunch, and when dinnertime came, we called the man with the poodle at the front desk to ask if there was any place to order pizza or something, (even though we suspected that that was about the stupidest question we could possibly ask) and he merely chortled and informed us that “Only place ta get food is ‘cross the street.” You got it – another serving of the tantalizing heat-lamped cuisine of Country Cookin’. A town whose only eatery is in a convenience store. And I don’t know who exactly was doing the country cookin’, but it was no five-star sustenance.

The rest of the buildings in Sanderson could each be put into one of three categories: slowly crumbling into the earth, empty and closed indefinitely, or reasonably intact with crooked FOR SALE signs in the windows.  I don’t know what happened to Sanderson, but it is clear that its glory days have long passed. Broken-down hotels, restaurants, a movie theater which probably hadn’t played a movie since they began making color films. It made me sad to see a town so pathetically devoid of life. It made me curious as to what the ‘better days’ in Sanderson were like - if people were happy here once. I did learn that many Texan towns died because laws were passed regulating how much water could be taken from the Rio Grande to support the communities. Well, at the very least, Sanderson has country cookin’.

The general differences between Texas roads and roads back home have really struck me. There can be fifty, sixty, eighty miles between towns with just fields of brownish-green nothing – but there are two things that are certainties about all of these roads: roadkill and trash. I mentioned the roadkill before, but it warrants a second mention because there’s just SO MUCH. I saw a deer carcass rotting on the side of the road a few days ago, and its white, vulture-picked ribs were visible. I suppose they figure that with all of the carrion-ravenous birds around here they have no need to send road crews to clear the vehicular-massacred wildlife off of the roads. I was told by some locals that the rule is: Swerve if it’s big, hit it if it’s small. It’s sad to hit a roadrunner, though, because they mate for life. The littering is horrific, too. It seems that people just toss everything out of their windows onto the shoulders of the roads, and the barbed-wire fences that flank the roads on either side are like sieves, trapping the beer bottles and flapping plastic bags in ugly roadside collages of trash. Don’t mess with Texas.

Writing this from a female perspective, as we travel just miles from the Texas/Mexico border, I am very glad to be living in New Hampshire. When we were staying in Laredo, the restaurant in the Holiday Inn was closed from 3 to 5 pm. Of course, Sarah and I figured that out at about 3:15, when we were starving. So, we decided to venture out onto Garden Street in search of some food. (Ever notice the irony of crappy apartment buildings or streets that have names like ‘Windshire Estates’ or ‘Garden Street’?) That was a big mistake. We were both wearing skirts and small tank tops, and almost immediately when we reached the street I was wishing that I weighed 300 pounds and was wearing a burlap bag. Or a trench coat with an automatic weapon underneath. Or a bulletproof vest. Or chain mail armor.  Sarah and I are not unattractive girls, and we have been catcalled in the past, as all girls have. What we experienced during the following ten minutes, however, was unlike any encounter with lewd men I have ever had. Immediately, cars full of Latino men started beeping and whistling and leaning way out of their windows and yelling assumably dirty things in Spanish to us as we walked along past sketchy roadside shops selling cow skulls and terra-cotta lawn ornaments. One car, ancient and dusky blue, was packed full of scary Hispanic men leaning out and hollering at us, and the only reason I glanced at them twice was because I realized that there was no hood on their car – just an engine baking in the 95-degree heat while the passengers hung out to leer at the white girls. A man with a gray do-rag followed us for a while down the street, and he said something to us that was unintelligible to my New England high-school Spanish-trained ears, which we ignored. That’s fine. I don’t want to know what he said. We ended up just giving up the restaurant quest after two blocks, buying beef jerky at a convenience store, and retreating at high speed back to our hotel, as fast as my Old Navy flip-flops would take me. I was genuinely, completely scared. And I hated being scared. 

The past week has been a series of Texas towns, all melting into each other in my mind. Bill has ridden his bike every single day; he is doing wonderfully. He needs a haircut, though; his hair sticks out of the ventilation holes on the top of his helmet now. (Get a haircut, Bill.) We spoke to a few Texas businessmen at the Holiday Inn in Laredo, and when we shared our opinions of Texas thus far, they were upset and informed us that we hadn’t seen enough ‘real Texas’. It’s true; we haven’t been to Houston, or San Antonio, or Dallas, or any place I’ve really heard of yet. I am excited to get into northeastern Texas and experience these places and develop positive opinions of them. They cautioned us again about trying to go into Mexico from any of the border crossings around here, and we assured them that we had no intention whatsoever of doing that. Laredo is just a short walk across a bridge over the Rio Grande from Nuevo Laredo, which is its ‘twin city’ in Mexico. The cities are referred to as ‘los dos Laredos’. And the crime in this area is really, really bad. Young girls disappear around here. Actually, over 30 Americans have disappeared in the past few months in Nuevo Laredo. And in a 2005 survey of living conditions in U.S. cities, the Laredo in Texas ranked 331^st out of 331. The businessmen told us that the Mexican drug czars, kings of cartels and smaller factions called cartelitos, cruise around in motorcades as big as President Bush’s; black Suburbans with actual missile launchers mounted on them, no kidding. Missile launchers. And the Mexican police do absolutely nothing about it. Yeah, I’ll stay on this side of the border. You don’t have to tell me twice.

And the three of us have had a reasonably uneventful time recently; we did have a fun night in Mission, Texas tailgating in the parking lot of the Best Western off of the back of some oil field workers’ pickup truck. Sarah, Bill and I were out there for a while hangin’ with Jerry, Joe Don, and Anthony and their gigantic cooler of Miller Lite. (And Michelob Ultra for Jerry…he’s trying to lose some weight.) Bill discussed some investing with them; hopefully Data-Driven Publishing, LLC will add some rich Texans to their clientele. They were also telling us crazy border stories of seeing men swimming across the Rio Grande with bales (yes, like hay bales) of marijuana on their backs…and here’s a good one: the time when a man pulled his car over to the side of the road, checked for cops, popped his trunk, and yelled something into a clump of bushes, which produced men swiftly carrying armloads of weed that they stuffed into the trunk. This is stuff you see if you stick around here apparently – good thing we are NOT sticking around. It’s all just plain crazy.

And…onward…

-stephanie

Comments

[andrea]

hey...u didnt write about Eagle Pass Texas, we are also border town with piedras negras mexico, i had a nice talk with bill at checkout, seems like anice guy, althought he had given me this address since march 7th, i just logged in today april 7th...woah a month later :) well its good to know u guys are doing fine...God bless u..and ill be reading ure adventures daily :)

[andrea]

by the way..u guys stayed at best western in eagle pass texas///i was the recepcionist..that cheked bill out..i think u guys just left without coming to the front desk or getting ure receipt :)...

[george]

Judge Leo Smith is mainly to blame for the dilapidated state in which you found the town of Sanderson, in my opinion. Numerous rejuvination projects were left at his feet when he took office. He squandered them all while managing to destroy a really productive community volunteer base with his "little man" syndrome. Judge Leo Smith, known as "Shorty" when he isn't within earshot, can most often be seen chomping on a long cigar that is reported to be a replacement for something he lacks, donning a giant cowboy hat, trying not to fall off his elevator cowboy boots, and wondering where he left the stool that he needs to get into his SUV.

[Cliff McSparran]

I am a native of Sanderson, Texas, who was born there on Main Street in 1952. I'm a man who is sick of seeing what white trash like Terrell County Judge Leo Smith moving to Sanderson have done to it. What do low property values attract? Go see for yourself - end-of-the-roaders, ex-cons and ne'er do wells...in other words, supporters of their type guy, Leo Smith. These are people who have no taste, no money nor education, and no cultural reference for the area. You know - trailer dwellers. Not what Marfa has. Sanderson lost its middle class when, simultaneously, the railroad moved its terminal and wool and mohair production (ranching) were both lost. The rich railroading and ranch heritages and culture, Latino and Anglo, which built the town, are rapidly dying.

Smith, whose 2002 campaign for election was led by enemies of progress and historic preservation, has now been recognized for the crooked rattlesnake he is. He is a duplicitous, congenital liar who is the subject of over a dozen investigations by the Texas Rangers, the U. S. Department of Justice, and the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct and well as the Texas Department of Insurance Fraud Unit. Worse in a way than his illegal activities, Smith has squandered countless opportunities given him by volunteers who spent countless hours writing grants, speaking to the Commissioner's Court and traveling to Austin on their town's behalf. Improprieties, back-stabbing, lying and a downright mean personality have driven away most of L'il Leo's supporters, most of who have seen the error of their ways.

As George said, above, "[Smith] can most often be seen chomping on a long cigar that is reported to be a replacement for something he lacks, donning a giant cowboy hat, trying not to fall off his elevator cowboy boots, and wondering where he left the stool that he needs to get into his SUV." Little men really are oftimes troubled.

We can only hope that articulate, erudite idea man and native son Price Arredondo, running as a write-in candidate, will pull off the improbable and carry the day in November.

[Deana]

Boy, I'll say when somebody wrote this here - ' Judge Leo Smith, known as "Shorty" when he isn't within earshot, can most often be seen chomping on a long cigar that is reported to be a replacement for something he lacks" because when I was under age we slept together. I've never seen one that little. So yes that big cigar is for something he lacks = a mans penis.

[george]

Judge Leo Smith sleeping with an under-aged girl??? That is serious. I would encourage you to come forward and file an appropriate complaint against Judge Leo Smith if this is true. I do remember hearing something about this several years ago. Your Dad was a local deputy, right??
But yeaaaaaa to Staphanie's blog. Her unflinching opinion of our community has ignited a real debate locally about where we go next. Thanks to Stephanie for pointing out the emperor has no clothing in Sanderson Texas.

[Bill Matson]

Apologies in response to a complaint I received from Judge Smith...

Dear Judge Smith,

I haven't looked at Stephanie's site in quite a while, and I suspect that she hasn't either. Though it is gratifying to learn that someone out there is looking at it, I am chagrined by the possibility that it may have unfairly caused anyone discomfort.

I certainly do not support the posting of false accusations, and I know that Stephanie shares my vehement distaste for such activities. Her journalistic abilities and integrity are of the highest order.

Though neither I nor my company own the site or have any control whatsoever over its content, I will strongly encourage Stephanie to remove any and all defamatory postings. The purpose of this site was to document our recent travels and provoke thoughtful discussion, most emphatically not to promote the dissemination of falsehoods.

Please accept my profound apologies for any untrue statements that may have been posted about you.

Sincerely,
Bill



Bill Matson
Chief Executive Officer
Data Driven Publishing, LLC
14 Schoolhouse Lane
Durham, NH 03824
www.DataDrivenPublishing.com



In a message dated 9/27/2006 4:20:43 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, leo.smith@co.terrell.tx.us writes:
I am not sure if you know this or if it matters to you but please go to this web site that your company sponsors. There are several people who are using this site to try to politicaly destroy my career and I don't think it is fair that you are allowing them to write anything they wish to harm me or the citizens of our small town.I am sure you understand how politics work but this is going a little to far and I for one and sickened at the way they are using your service to attack me and others.

Will you please look at the comments at the bottom of the web page and let me know what you think. After all if you do allow this who is to say that someone might decide they want to print the same typ of messages about you and I am sure you would feel like I do now.

These people have been banned from our local paper unless they pay for adds so now they want to do it with you for free. Please let me know what your decesion is

Thank you

Leo Smith

http://datadriventravels.typepad.com/stephanies_datadriven_web/2006/03/tile_grout_and_.html#comment-22888105

Terrell County Judge Leo Smith
432-345-2421
432-345-2653 Fax
P.O.Box 4810
Sanderson,Texas 79848
www.sandersontx.info

[Max]

My, my, my. What an honest evaluation by a visitor to Sanderson. Sarah is right in her post to Stephanie. If only the locals would try just once to open their eyes and see what our town really looks like. If you want some more honest evaluation of the detrimental effect Judge Leo Smith has had on Sanderson, go to www.delriolive.com, search "judge Leo Smith". You will find some objective blogs on why Sanderson has failed to achieve any meaningful progress under Judge Leo Smith tenure.

[max]

Here is an update on Stephanie's favorite town Sanderson and Judge Leo Smith. Thanks to dozens of volunteers who helped organize Marathon's first public demonstration, Sanderson Judge Leo Smith, who had somehow gotten himself invited as a cook-off judge there this weekend, was greeted with hundreds of posters basically asking him to go home. He was informed that his intolerant attitude and racist statements aimed at minority people was not welcome in that inclusive and diverse community. It is reported that some locals would like to catch him back there for a private cookoff. To show their appreciation, you know.

[Truth]

Leading the way in cementing Sanderson Texas reputation as the "Racism Capital of Texas" is Editor Jim Street of the Terrell County News Leader. Earlier this year Jim Street was taken to task by Sanderson Texas Hispanic population for his "insensitivity" to their people.
Editor Jim Street ran an article on Sanderson residents who had died in 2005 showcasing their contributions over a lifetime. Though Hispanics are the majority population in Sanderson Texas Editor Jim Street failed to mention any of their names or their many contributions to the community of Sanderson in his article.
Now Editor Jim Street is further showcasing his own racism by protecting current County Judge Leo Smith by refusing to report the fact that Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith is currently under investigation by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for frequent racist remarks and other improprieties.
Judge Leo Smith's opponent in the November election is Hispanic.
On Monday October 23, 2006 News Leader Editor Jim Street was presented by two witnesses with all necessary documents (even case number)to prove that the investigation of Judge Leo Smith racist remarks is on-going yet News Leader Editor Jim Street refuses to report this fact to Sanderson Texas voters before the November election.
Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith most famous racial slur is stating that "Sanderson Texas will never be successful as long as it is full of "brown _iggers", in reference to Sanderson Hispanics.

[more Judge Leo Smith]

There is the TRUTH and then there is wishful thinking.
Do a Google on "judge leo smith" and you will find the facts at Del Rio LIVE.
Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith IS currently STILL under investigation for the 22 sworn complaints to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct which outline his disgusting behaviors.

A 23rd complaint will be filed with the Commission Monday as a result of Judge Leo Smith actions last night (October 28, 2006) in Marathon Texas.

Two of the witnesses against Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith live in Marathon Texas, a community 60 miles from Sanderson. One woman is a witness against Judge Leo Smith racist remarks and also threats he has made against her employment if she testified publically against him.

Last night at 10:20 PM, Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith was caught in front of her home in Marathon Texas taping a paper to the drivers side window of her car that had the letters F-U written on it. Judge Leo Smith was accompanied by Steve Cole also of Sanderson Texas. Judge Leo Smith was confronted by the woman's fiance when they were discovered taping the sign to her window.
The Sheriff's Department deputy in Marathon was contacted and Judge Leo Smith's actions were reported. A further complaint of harassment and intimidation against Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith will be filed with the Brewster County Sheriff's Department in Alpine. Additional sworn complaints to the State Commission on Judicial Conduct outlining Judge Leo Smith latest acts of intimidation and harassment will be filed this week.

THESE ARE THE FACTS.

What kind of a nutcase is Sanderson Texas Judge Leo Smith to sneak around in the darkness of night taping a threatening sign to a female witnesses car 60 miles from his own community?? Sick, sick, sick!!

[more Sanderson Texas]

It looks like Sanderson Texas will never get much more than the bottom of the barrell in leadership.

[Sanderson neighbors]

This is a special "Thank you" to the voters of Sanderson Texas who have narrowly re-elected Texas' only openly racist county judge Leo Smith. Your efforts to keep Sanderson Texas looking like a third-world country will assure our continuing successes in Texas tourism in our attractive towns.

Also a special "Thank you" to Sanderson Texas Terrell County News Leader editor Jim Street for putting aside all journalistic ethics and refusing to report to the voters of Sanderson the truth behind judge Leo Smith many legal problems. Had only fourteen more voters known the truth and chosen to vote differently Candidate Arredondo would be your new county judge and unity and progress would have returned to Sanderson Texas. I know judge Leo Smith must be thrilled to have a stooge like Jim Street publishing your only source of “news”.

We cannot thank you all enough for being so content with Sanderson Texas nothingness and lack of ethics.

[how sad]

How sad. Now the malignant cancer that is judge Leo Smith will continue to eat away the moral and social fabric of Sanderson Texas and Terrell County.
How very, very sad.

[lanor]

If Sanderson looks like a third world country to you why don't you move to a third world country and leave us alone. We don't need you here nor do we want you here, go spread you venom somewhere else. Judge Leo Smith has the backing of the majority of Sanderson, he's a step up from former Judge Dudley (crooked) Harrison.

[Sarah Lynn]

People peolpe! Geez, OK Listen Steph and I did this trip as are view of things, Yes Sanderson is a weird town with weird people, Trust us we would've loved to pass on by it but we didn't, This however is not a site to debate this, maybe you should start your own Bash the Judge site! You people are acting like children, Get a hobby Everything Steph said was about our experience and for people who don't get the kind of opportunity we did! Now if you cant read an appreciate this then don't leave a comment! Try looking @ pictures and see other places we seen you might not think of fighting you might just want to get a life!!!!!

www.sarahlynn.typepad.com
LIFE IS 2 SHORT TO BE MAD, SO SMILE

[Moving to Sanderson]

Del Rio Live? Is that real journalism? Is this a 'crediable' source to verify facts?????

It is sad the writer of this blog used one experience to taint an entire town. Any place she visits she will find people and places which are weird, decepitive and dirty.To cast these ideas and percepitions to be unique to sanderson (or any town) illustrates her lack of life experience as well as her intolerance. Start looking through a different lens and maybe you might see the beauty some of these places have to offer. She is surprised by the response to her blog and criticizes these people responding to her blog as 'childish'. She wrote venom and this what she received in return. This is not a surprise. She needs to keep traveling and open up her mind.....

[Sandy]

I gotta agree with most of the posts. I have never seen such a rundown, dirty, prideless community as Sanderson Texas and I have toured widely. Even the lousy restuarant there couldn't find the creativity to come up with a name for itself so they call themselves the 'No Name Cafe'.
Like Stephanie, I would advise all travelors to just keep moving. There is something very dark and sinister in that place.

[bill hawn]

We moved to Sanderson 6 years ago because we love the land and its proximity to Big Bend. Our grandkids love to come out here and spend time exploring the hills and swimming at the pool in town. My wife and I do quite a bit of volunteer work here. We get to see the good and the bad and overall the good is winning out. There are always going to be people with a crab mentality (pull your neighbor back down)but the seeds have been planted to renew Sanderson. By the way, Jim Street is not Leo's stooge. Also, if you want to post something then have the guts to use your name.

[tovorinok]

Hello

Great book. I just want to say what a fantastic thing you are doing! Good luck!


Bye

[joel casey]

honey we are glad you live in new ??? to..
was in sanderson,tx last week for 3 days and met as nice and friendly people as have any where..Thinking with the [gut] mind will get you what you read on this site.
Get a KJV bible and get a life[learning from the heart mind)
GOD bless

[Etertprag]

Two new studies show why some people are more attractive for members of the opposite sex than others.

The University of Florida, Florida State University found that physically attractive people almost instantly attract the attention of the interlocutor, sobesednitsy with them, literally, it is difficult to make eye. This conclusion was reached by a series of psychological experiments, which were determined by the people who believe in sending the first seconds after the acquaintance. Here, a curious feature: single, unmarried experimental preferred to look at the guys, beauty opposite sex, and family, people most often by representatives of their sex.

The authors believe that this feature developed a behavior as a result of the evolution: a man trying to find a decent pair to acquire offspring. If this is resolved, he wondered potential rivals. Detailed information about this magazine will be published Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

In turn, a joint study of the Rockefeller University, Rockefeller University and Duke University, Duke University in North Carolina revealed that women are perceived differently by men smell. During experiments studied the perception of women one of the ingredients of male pheromone-androstenona smell, which is contained in urine or sweat.

The results were startling: women are part of this repugnant odor, and the other part is very attractive, resembling the smell of vanilla, and the third group have not felt any smell. The authors argue that the reason is that the differences in the receptor responsible for the olfactory system, from different people are different.

It has long been proven that mammals (including human) odor is one way of attracting the attention of representatives of the opposite sex. A detailed article about the journal Nature will publish.

[Cindy Jones]

This piece you have written about Sanderson exemplifies why people from the South abominate so many yankees. You base your entire assessment on a handful of businesses and individuals. I am certain that New Hampshire has its own share of arm pit locales and locals. I would further bet that your elected individuals all come with those who champion them and those who eschew them.

Sanderson is a simple and beautiful little town. She is has flaws--just like any place other place inhabited by human beings. The people I have met there are warm and kindly, helpful and friendly. I don't normally judge Yankees so harshly-- but I will tell you this; the Lone Star State is the greatest state in the Union and I'd stack her any day against your state-- which is named after what-- a variety of pig?
;)

[plosyalkalk]

The end of labor is to gain leisure.

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http://xanga.com/jimmieowensfm

[Mike G]

Sanderson is a very nice town. If Judge Leo received support, positive changes would be taking place.