Word: marfa
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Bigger towns might consider it a boondoggle or an eyesore. But the depressed West Texas ranching town of Marfa (pop. 2,500) is delighted about the economic benefit of a 240-ft. radar surveillance balloon that the Customs Service has tethered nearby and plans to fly at an altitude of 14,000 ft. One of six in a planned network along the Mexican border, the helium-filled aerostat can spot suspected drug-smuggling planes up to 200 miles away, then flash data to authorities who will try to intercept the aircraft...
...mysterious-looking from afar. Roadrunners, heads down and tails up, sprint across the highway. River and road separate here as the Rio Grande, cutting through deep limestone canyons, makes a wide arc that has given this bulge of Texas the nickname Big Bend. Driving south through Alpine and Marfa, I see the border again at Presidio...
...dream. In the weeks before the 109th Derby, when seemingly no two prep races could settle on one three-year-old standout, Sunny's Halo and the rest of his generation were belittled as mediocre. Now he and Desert Wine, who gamely finished second, and maybe even Marfa, who politely came in fifth, will have something to say about that...
From the start of the week to the start of the race, this was the Marfa Derby. The brightest debate and sharpest humor centered on a reckless rogue from California. Handsome and as gray as half past 7 o'clock with a splash of white blaze on his forehead, he went off as a 2-1 favorite. For racing sideways at times, Marfa inspired the nickname of "the Mugger." Even in the post parade leading up to a race, the pony escort is not safe alongside, and neither is the pony girl holding Marfa's bridle. The brute...
Though the shiny day had turned forebodingly thunderous just before the race, Marfa bothered the field no more than the rainstorm did Sunny's Halo, who broke second from the tenth position and was never worse than second or first over the entire mile and a quarter. Preoccupied with the promise and problems of this one robust chestnut colt, Trainer David Cross had lost most of his clients this year. He started with 35 horses, ended with just three and did not really blame the defectors. Sunny's Halo's groom and best friend, John...