The first cowboy poetry festival I went to was in Elko, Nevada.  I went with a friend from Sedona named Tom.  We really love the Sedona area, and will eventually probably move there.  That’s our dream.

Tom is a mariachi also.  I met him in Tucson for a mariachi conference.  As a teacher I had the summer off so that someone told me that I should go see the Grand Canyon.  They told me to turn off and stop in Sedona.  This was in July, and it was snowing!

I went by an art gallery called Sunsilver West, and they had all these Chiles hanging up there for sale.  The place looked so intriguing that I turned around, went in, and they were playing mariachi music.  I just happened to mention to the fella behind the counter that I liked his choice and music.  I happened to be wearing the mariachi conference T-shirt.  I told him I had some tapes of the conference.  He made copies of them while I went into town to take a look around.

When I get back we ended up going out to dinner.  I hadn’t found a place to stay yet, but he had a beautiful A-frame home out in the red rocks.  I slept on the couch that night and when I woke up I was surrounded by these beautiful red rocks.

We just became good friends after that.  He’s kind of a part of our family now with the three boys.  His full name is Tom Felix.

I’ve always loved the Sedona area; the hiking, the feeling of the back country, and Tom really showed me around the area.

I Fly a WWII-Vintage Plane

I’m into flying. I fly an old L2A. It was made in 1942. The back seats swivels so that you can have a machine gun out the back. It has a clear canopy on the top. It’s pretty cool; it’s a real collector’s plane that belongs to the Palo Alto flying school. It’s hand – propped.

One day, someone from the FAA came by. I was wearing shorts and sandals, and getting ready to fly. He stopped me and asked me if I knew what I was doing. I tell them that of course I knew I was doing.

He said that he was going to get into the plane and have his feet on the brakes.

I told him: “no you’re not!”

I told him to keep away. My teacher said I did the right thing. He didn’t think I was a pilot because I hadn’t dressed the part. I had a beard.