Top Shelf Ink

If you turn south at Caddo, Texas, onto the dirt road there and follow that road as far as it goes, you will come to The Homeplace. At least that’s what my father has always called it. He grew up there, and his father did, too. To go there is to journey into my family’s past. It’s taking a break from the hyper-cyber world and stepping into a sepia-toned movie vignette. The props are all there, but the actors live only in our memories.

The road leading up to the rusty cattle guard winds through thick cedar trees intermixed here and there with scrub oak and mesquite. Limbs brush the sides of the pickup as you go. The log house you come to first fell down a few years ago. A colossal rock chimney stands over the collapsed structure, and even the chimney is ready to crumble into the past as it strains against the chain that holds it at a tilted angle. Behind the house sits a water well, covered and dry now, a derelict wagon and silent barns.

The scene was not always so devoid of life. My great-grandfather, Dave Mitchell, made boots and shoes in this two-story homestead at the turn of the century. I close my eyes and imagine how different it must have been in the late 1800s when the house bustled with activity…

In 1972, under the cover of darkness, Jose Antonio Dapelo V. and six other men crept along the Peruvian coastline to a neighboring ranch where, night after night, they stole a total sixty head of horses and a large number of dairy cattle and premier fighting bulls. Was this a cutthroat band of Peruvian rustlers? Hardly. Prior to 1968, Jose was heralded as one of the wealthiest, most powerful property barons in Peru, owning numerous brick factories, ranches and department stores. He raised the best fighting bulls, at times hosting competitions in his own arena. He owned over 200 head of the most beautiful Peruvian Horses and was a legend in the show arena, performing for dignitaries and heads of state. But in 1968, with the Agrarian Reform in full swing, the government began confiscating property from the wealthy, and in a socialistic attempt to spread the wealth, redistributed it to the poor. By 1972, Jose and his family were left with a mere 15 acres. His two sons, the family chauffeur, their two horse trainers and the ranch manager helped him steal their own herds back…

On Thursday, May 15th, the Texas senate passed Bill 1031, which may very well put an end to what has become an exercise in fear and stress for tens of thousands of students across the state — the TAKS test as we know it. While in theory, the TAKS, spawned by The No Child Left Behind Act, was a brilliant concept, in practice, well….let’s just say it didn’t quite meet benchmarks. (more…)