When you live in a dry and dusty place, water features take on a new role. They become more than just part of the landscaping. They transform a back yard, park or venue into an oasis.

Odessa has one particular park that I really like. It is called Old Buffalo Wallow. The name comes from the depression that started the pond. Buffalo would wallow in the same spot over and over again. Those spots grew larger and larger over the years. It is not uncommon to be walking around in West Texas and find a shallow hole about three to four yards across. These holes are buffalo wallows.

Now the only Buffalo found here is this statue.

There are other statues too.

There are some red eared turtles that act like statues.

And there are some other turtles that look like aliens.

There are even some strange birds that I don’t recognize.

I love to listen to people in places like this. They go on and on about how nice it is. Folks don’t expect to see such places and they enjoy the surprise.

I think I’ll put a nice water feature in my back acre. I have two wells so there is no good excuse not to do it. Then folks could get that surprise at my place.

The sights were off on my son’s rifle. So we used that as an excuse to go do a little shooting.

It was a typical Christmas day in Texas: cool and clear. I like to open my coat and zip up when the wind blows. The sunshine warms me up but the cold wind can chill me to the bone.

We walked up a fence row looking for suitable targets. An old dead mesquite worked pretty well. On the way up we saw quite a few burrows. I asked, “What dug these holes son?” He waited then shrugged. He finally replied, “There too big for prairie dogs. There too big for cotton tails. I don’t know. Jack rabbits?” I pointed to some tracks, “Maybe this will help you. See the long claws and narrow feet.” I watched him as the gears turned. He became more confused and asked, “I don’t know. What is it?” Seeing that he was not going to figure it out, I told him this was all the work of one armadillo.

Most of the time we just leave armadillos alone. When they stay out of trouble, they are actually helpful. They eat larvae including wasp and hornet larvae. Their armor protects them and they make quick work of an underground hornet’s nest. But armadillos don’t always stay out of trouble. They dig many holes looking for grubs. This time the holes were right under fence posts and the thing was about to fall over. This particular armadillo put himself in the nuisance category. I knew if we found him we would have to kill him before he did any more damage.

We found the perfect dead tree to use for a target. I had the sights dialed in pretty quickly. As we were taking a few more shots, a visitor came by.

Knowing the little varmint had to meet his end, I told my boy to go ahead and shoot. Bang! He missed. Bang! Bang! Bang! He continued to miss. Then there was a series of clicks. He forgot to reload. After a few more misses I ceased to be quiet. I was infact laughing pretty loud. Then finally a shot was followed by a jump straight up into the air. It was a hit.

My son may not actually be the great white hunter. But that day he felt like Teddy Roosevelt in Africa.

A little over 110 years ago, a boy named Willy Wood was doing something very normal. He was doing what most Young Texans do, running around in the grass catching horny toads. However, this was not an ordinary day. This day would prove to be quite historic.

The courthouse had recently burned down. The people of Eastland county set out to erect an impressive edifice. This was the day when the cornerstone was to be set. This cornerstone was going to be a time capsule. It would contain a few items. One of which was a Bible. I don’t know why this would be in a cornerstone but that is neither here nor there. There was one other item of note.

See, Willy’s dad, Ernest, decided to put his son’s catch into the capsule. Some say Ernest was an electrician, some say he was the county clerk. I don’t know. But, I do know he was ornery enough to put a defenseless creature in a death chamber.

Thirty one years later, the courthouse was being replaced and the time capsule was to be opened. A few journalist showed up just because of the rumors that a horny toad had been placed in a time capsule all those years ago. Despite this encroachment, the crowd was quite large. The mayor picked up the lizard by the tail and held him up for the crowd to see. Witnesses say the crowd spoke in usison, “He’s alive!”

Rip went on to much fame. He even met with President Calvin Coolidge.

There is some sad irony to Rip’s story. After spending 31 years in a brick, Rip died from Pneumonia from being carted around the country. This is proof that leaving Texas is bad for a Texan’s health.

To this day Rip lays in state at the Eastland County Courthouse. May he Rest In Peace.

Photo of Old Rip in his casket was use by permission. It belongs to Wesley Treat of Texas Twisted. The photo is linked to his story about Old Rip.