West Texas, VI: The Horse Whisperer

Another passion of my fathers'—horses and riding. He has taught many children to ride, in an arena behind the house. Part of his various volunteer activities include working with children from the juvenile system. While they learn to ride and handle all the gear, along with the care of horses, he talks to them, or lets them talk to him, or just lets them absorb the experience and its lessons.

This is one of his ways of giving back—letting kids know his story about growing up in the Bed-Sty section of Brooklyn and being raised by a single mother who worked as a nurses' assistant (that's my grandma in the photo), how he made it out through the Navy, his education through the G.I. Bill, working days while going to night school; doing all this while being a young father raising three babies in the projects of Queens, where my family started.

He lets his life story tell the tale of his success—through hard work and application, nothing is beyond ones' reach, and that there are no limits to how high one can achieve. If you can dream it, you can do it, but telling yourself you can is the first step.

West Texas, V

I love this shot of my dad, because the mesquite seem to bend under his will. For me, it symbolizes the strong connection he feels to his land; how the landowner and all he surveys fall under his responsibility.

He takes his caretaker duties seriously. No hunting is allowed on the land without his permission, and poachers will be prosecuted. As a result of over-hunting, (since it is so popular in these rural areas) the territory is patrolled often.

Wild animals are allowed to come and go through the property, with the exception of coyotes. They are vicious predators of newborn calves, and are overpopulated in these parts.

This is his Serengeti; a land of unique beauty.

West Texas, IV

After driving down into the ranch, we parked at the ranch house to release the cattle onto the land. Now they'll be able to roam free and graze. For the moms-to-be, it's also calving season.

I was trying to capture how the wispy clouds mimicked the shape of the tree branches, and in some small way, how bright the light is there, and how blue the sky. Once you've seen the brilliance and expanse of big sky country, it's hard to forget it.

West Texas, III

Gassing up for the trip to the ranch in Lockney (population in July 2008: 1,668.). This is the closest town to my dads' house.

West Texas, II

After the cattle were branded, a trailer was attached to a pick-up for transportation to the ranch. I took this shot out the window of the passenger side. To me, this photo captures how rural it is in this part of the state, by defining the essence of the saying "down the road apiece"—when "apiece" may mean ten miles or more. You can certainly see that far because of the flatness of the landscape.

For some reason, whenever I look at these roads pics, they remind me of "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas."

West Texas

Land adjacent to my fathers' house. I started taking a group of pictures before he began rounding up a small herd for branding.