Writing “Dos Gringos” was a satisfying experience. Although most of story came from my father’s tale of his escapades in The Mexican Revolution, being there in that border city, El Paso, my home town, after fifty-two years of world travel, was a rebirth in a way for me. In many ways, nothing had changed in that town, except now it seems English is a second language.. It is still a city far away from others. It occupies the pass which the Rio Grande River carves its way south from its mountain source in northern New Mexico, then south separating Texas and Mexico all the way to The Gulf of Mexico. Growing up there, I sort of thought myself as a mixture, by parents Norwegian and German and half my friends Mexicans.
I am rediscovering its history: from the Indians, the Spanish beginning in 1598, the following conquistadors, then Texas in 1836 and the wild life of the frontier, its roll in the Mexican Revolution. I grew up on the desert during World War Two and the occupation with the huge military presence and the rockets at White Sands Proving Grounds on the horizon north of my house. Today the drug related crime in Juarez worries the Americans.
Is there anything for me after “Dos Gringos?” I don’t know, but the place is filled with stories.
“Dos Gringos” coming soon!
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