The Terlingua Moon
Tuesday --Vol 37, No 20; May 19, 2026 -- by Ghost Writers on the Sly
Send your MOON news and submissions by Monday NOON to terlinguamoon@gmail.com. PLEASE no PDFs or fancy fonts! PDFs cannot be copied by some editors. We have to totally retype. Please be good to the editors and DO NOT SEND PDFs. We are on the web at: theterlinguamoon.blogspot.com
Big Bend Public Library
Big News:
We are officially on our way to a permanent home for the Big Bend Public Library!
The Brewster County Commissioners Court has awarded us a $100,000 matching grant to kickstart our building fund. Stay tuned for details on how you can help us double this investment and bring our new library to life.
TERLINGUA TRADING COMPANY
Now interviewing for the position of Inventory Manager/ Cashier. Stop by the store in the Terlingua Ghost Town for details.
TANKS A LOT TERLINGUA
Water Catchment Tanks, Pumps, Filters and Installation
ALSO NOW AVAILABLE:
Food Grade 275 gallon totes - $275/each
Food Grade 55 gallon barrels with removable lids & ports - $85/each
Steel 55 gallon drums with no lids - $50/each
Shop Local!
Located near the Terlingua Ranch Lodge.
Call Mark or Michelle: 432-371-3096 (home/
NEED A MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT?
Veteran Independent Insurance Agent, Michelle Chiles, is coming out of retirement and ready to help. Call or email for information and quotes: mvmchouse@sbcglobal.net
806-781-4723 - cell
BIG BEND ARTS COUNCIL MEMBERS SHOW
(Prospectus attached)
These can be Plein air or photo referenced.
Take-In DEADLINE: on or before TUESDAY, June 2, 2026. Big Bend Gallery, 121 W. Holland.
Reception: Friday 5:00 – 7:00pm, June 5, 2026
Our current show, "Dark Skies", has been quite a success! Congrats to those who entered the show and our thanks for your participation! You may pick up your artwork from the current show on Tuesday, June 2nd prior to closing time (preferably before 4:30pm). There will be a sign-out sheet available to track those who pick up their artwork.
We will have a short BBAC meeting for BBAC board members before we take a short break for the summer. If you have anything that you would like brought up, please let me know and I'll add it to our agenda. (or include you in the email invite to the meeting.)
VOICES Thank You
We'd like to take a moment and recognize each and every one of you who came out to Voices From Both Sides/Voces De Ambos Lados this year and express our gratitude for the beautiful day we all helped create together. It was truly a wonderful day and it is a great testament to the life we are all blessed to live along the frontera. We'd also like to thank so many kind locals for helping make it all possible. It takes a village, and we live in a very good one. Please dispense high fives and hugs to the following for all their efforts!
West Texas Sound & Light (Stage & Sound); Big Bend Septic (Portable Toilets); 7 Mag Services (Roll-off Dumpster); Big Bend Boating & Hiking (Water Jugs); Venga Cafe (Ice); Javelina Apparel (T-shirts); Temple of the Bird (Fundraiser & Auction Host); The Boathouse (Pre-party Host); DB's Rustic Iron BBQ (After-party Host); Our local musicians in Pinche Gringos, the Peso Bunch, and the Lucky Bunch! Special Shout Out: Brewster County Sheriff's Office; Terlingua Fire & EMS; Father Michael Wallens & Eucharist crew; Lajitas Resort; Mucho Amor: Jeff Haislip; Collie Ryan; Leonel Galindo; Cynta de Narvaez; Our Amigos y Vecinos in Mexico; And, our beloved Rio Grande/Río Bravo
SEE YOU NEXT TIME!
¡NOS VEMOS LA PRÓXIMA VEZ!
Temple of the Bird
It's official, we're havin' a baby shower for Terlingua's newest parents. Mr. & Ms. Roadrunner are hatching baby feathered dinosaurs and it calls for a celebration. Our good friends, Righteous Intonation are coming to play music for the occasion. This suare will take place next Saturday afternoon, May 23rd here at Temple of the Bird. There will be a potluck breakfast themed brunch, music, and shenanigans. So bring a breakfast dish, whatever you like to drink and glue feathers to yourself and wear a beak and come help us celebrate Terlingua's newest resident. Beep Beep!
Come see us at the Saturday Community Market, open from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Located at the Community Garden in the Ghost Town, we're here every Saturday with happy vendors offering an array of locally produced goods and other items. You'll also be able to enjoy our fabulous local mobile library and portable free ‘porch’, even consult with Dr. Gigabyte if you have a computer problem.
Local art, handcrafted textile goods, fresh eggs, sour dough bread, all natural lip balms and skin care products, all natural essential oil fragrances, beard oil and massage oils, handcrafted, creative jewelry, resin creations, block printed textiles and vintage goods, both curated and upcycled, practical and artistic items made of reclaimed steel and more -- you never know just what or who you'll find here.
Flea market items are also welcome. After all, reusing and up-cycling already existing items is smart and green. We ask a $10 donation to the Community Garden to set up, helping us to continue to improve this space and experience for all of us.
MILKY WAY TREATS ice cream trailer will be open this weekend, Saturday – Monday, 4–9 p.m. We’ll have our creamy vanilla soft serve as well as the very popular dairy free pineapple! Stop by and treat yourself! We have delicious, homemade pints of ice cream, along with your favorite ice cream sundaes, milkshakes and malts Gracias, Terlingua!
Multi-Family Yard Sale. Friday May 22nd and Saturday May 23rd, 9 am - 5 pm both days. 10800 Terlingua Ranch Rd. Large variety of items. Plants, pans, bedding, etc. Free Hot dogs will be served on Saturday. Located under shaded area.
$1.7 billion contract awarded “for border wall in Big Bend https://www.texastribune.org/
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. (Voltaire)
Early voting in the Texas Primary Runoff Elections begins Monday, May 18 and continues through Friday, May 22. Election day is Tuesday, May 26.
You must vote in the same party as you voted in the Primary Election that happened in March. If you did not vote in the March primary, you may vote in the Runoff, in the party of your choice. Election judges will have a record of which party you voted in during the March election.
Typically, turnout is low or even minimal in Texas runoff elections, so your vote is more consequential. In the statewide Democratic primary, you will vote in two important runoff elections, one for Texas Attorney General and one for Texas Lieutenant Governor. Attorney General candidates are State Senator Nathan Johnson and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski. Lieutenant Governor candidates are State Representative Vicki Goodwin and labor union activist Marcos Velez.
The Texas Attorney General handles legal affairs affecting many Texans’ lives. The office is responsible for enforcing child support judgments, preventing waste and fraud in government programs and businesses, defending state agencies in court, and interpreting state law.
The Texas Lieutenant Governor presides over the Texas Senate and determines when legislation gets to the Senate floor for debate. The office also controls the Senate agenda and standing committees, decides procedural issues, and co-chairs the Legislative Budget Board.
The following two articles in the Texas Tribune provide more detail on these two Democratic Primary contests:
Texas Blue Action has sponsored a Democratic Runoff Candidate Forum with questions and answers from all four of these candidates:
2026 Democratic Primary Runoff Candidate Forum - Texas Blue Action
MEET THE CANDIDATES VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
KEEP BIG BEND WILD is not assuming the huge contract that’s just been awarded for a “BORDER WALL IN BIG BEND TEXAS, SEGMENT IDENTIFIED AS BBT-4”, the section of border that runs through the national park, means that a wall or other infrastructure being built is a done deal, and we’re fighting back. But the stakes, and the stress, are rising every day.
Last week provided an overwhelming frenzy of conflicting messages: first the CBP Commissioner said there’d be no wall in the national park, but there’d be new patrol roads along the river with buried fiber optic cables – not as bad as a wall, but still unnecessary and hugely destructive.
Then in a meeting Thursday with local sheriffs and judges – but not the NPS – the BP sector chief said there’d be no new roads, just improvements to the river road in the park but still keeping it unpaved, although they’d still install those buried cables.
Seemingly contradicting all of this, later in the week we learned about the contract award – the largest border wall contract ever awarded, for work which there's no legal authority to do — at least yet.
Are they absolute liars? Incompetent? Or both?
Thursday, DHS waived all the federal laws requiring assessment and disclosure of impacts to natural and cultural resources, and public involvement, for the river segment downstream of the park, in the Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River. They have not yet done so in the national park, and we are fighting to keep that from happening. Those waivers are only authorized for the construction of “physical barriers and roads … in areas of high illegal entry,” which the national park is definitely not. We don’t believe they have the authority to do so.
DHS and its contractors cannot build any infrastructure in Big Bend National Park unless they either comply with those laws – which seems highly unlikely – or waive them.
Want to proudly show that you want to Keep Big Bend Wild? We now have caps, t-shirts, and stickers available. Shop at https://www.hubnotic.com/
Please learn more at keepbigbendwild.org, and consider supporting Keep Big Bend Wild. There's no more important time. Donations are welcome (we're financially sponsored by the El Paso Community Foundation, a 501c3), but we need you to allow us to list you as a supporter even more. Local business supporters are especially appreciated.
Taqueria El Milagro--Authentic Mexican food and more in the Ghost Town. Serving Mexican recipes from street tacos to steaks and huge side dishes. Great food, great setting. BYOB. Open Wednesday through Sunday from 3 pm until 9 pm. 432 371-2060 for take out via our drive through window.
Espresso ... y poco mas
Open seven days a week for home cooked breakfasts, lunches and the best coffee in the area. Located in the Ghost Town, great seating with fantastic views, strong wifi, and newspapers. 432 371 3044 for to go orders. Open at 7:30 a.m.
Reminders from No Wall 79852
Deadline for CBP Public Comments - Friday, May 22nd
US Customs and Border Patrol have extended its public comment period on the proposed Big Bend border wall to May 22. Include: Big Bend Border Barrier System in your subject and comments.
Email: bigbendcomments@cbp.
Call: (833) 412-2056
CBP states, “Helpful comments are fact based, include links to data or research, and provide specific information concerning potential impacts on biological, cultural, and natural resources.”
Terlingua Rally at the ‘Y’ - Saturday, May 23rd
FM 170 & Hwy 118 8:00-10:00am or later as you please...
Join our non-partisan, family friendly rally against proposed drastic infrastructure along the Rio Grande corridor. The irreparable damage these incursions will cause will devastate our water table, our tourism economy, and our fragile desert ecosystem. There is no border crisis in Big Bend.
No Wall Shirts Available
No Wall T-shirts with a Crystal design are available to order online (https://crystalallbright.
For current updates check our Facebook page No Wall 79852, email us at nowall79852@proton.me . Check out nobigbendwall.org and no-
BIG BEND ARTS COUNCIL MEMBERS SHOW
PROSPECTUS: Landscapes, Near and Far
THEME: Any image that is landscape in theme, open media
Show Dates: June 4, 2026 – July 28 , 2026
Take-In DEADLINE: on or before TUESDAY, June 2, 2026. Big Bend Gallery, 121 W. Holland.
(ARTWORK may be brought in BEFORE the end of the workday, Tuesday during regular gallery hours: from 11:00 am
to 4:30 pm, Thursday –Tuesday). Please have it in before 4:30 pm during those days to have time to sign in your work.
Reception: Friday 5:00 – 7:00pm, June 5, 2026
Pick up Artwork: Tuesday July 28, 2026.
Curator: Liz Culp lizbartlettculpfineart@gmail.com
