Somehow or another, we’ve decided to go to Albany, Texas this weekend to see the Fandangle, an outdoor community musical that’s been put on by Shackleford County residents since the late 1930s, which commemorates Fort Griffin, a post-Civil War outpost established to fight the plains Indians. Fort Griffin was closed in 1881, but it still looms large, along with other long-gone posts such as Fort Phantom Hill, in West Texas history and mythology.
My mother has been after me for years to arrange it so we could go with her to the Fandangle, but I never felt the real pull until this year—and wouldn’t you know, she’s buried at work, exhausted, and not up to making the trip. But we’re going to go anyhow. We’ll pick up M from Girl Scout camp Friday about noon, then drive four hours to Abilene and reserve a motel, then drive to Albany (35 miles north and east of Abilene) for the Fandangle. Saturday, we intend to drive up to Lubbock and see both the windmill museum and the glider museum. Both museums are small and shouldn’t take that long to see, so we’re planning to be back in Austin either late Saturday or Sunday morning, in time for me to be at the Lane of Færie for work.
The result is an astronomer’s oasis. Fnord.
