The Camel's Tale

Dec. '11

2012-01-02T07:02:00.000-06:00

Howdy folks and welcome to another month gone by with the Texas Camel Corps.

December's business activities with our family's camels were primarily Christmas related, providing animals for Live Nativity scenes all across Texas (and a small bit of Arkansas!).

The better part of January I'll be in Egypt, Jordan and Sinai guiding a tour for intrepid traveler Jimmy Ly.

Here's to a great new year to you and yours...

Thanks as always for your interest in our family's camels.

Xi'an at Baylor University's Christmas on 5th.

L-R: Paul Arellano, daughter Delany and son Pecos at Bethlehem Revisited in Waxahachie, Texas.

Folks at St. Helena's Episcopal in Boerne, Texas are excited about the camels!

L-R: Doug Baum, Ben Adam and Gil T. Hernandez with Richard the camel in Boerne, Texas.

Irenie, Ibrahim and Richard in front of the Texarkana, Texas/Arkansas Post Office after a Christmas parade. This post office is unique in that it straddles Stateline Avenue, placing it in two different states!

The cheapest camel diaper ever! Employed at the request of the Texarkana Christmas parade committee. Net laundry bag, elastic and carabiner clips, voila!

Ibrahim in Herod's Court, Bethlehem Revisited. Waxahachie, Texas.

Camels enter the city gates of Bethlehem, Waxahachie, Texas. This event immerses thousands of visitors into the Biblical village, complete with over a hundred costumed cast members, livestock, etc for a very authentic experience.

Live Nativity in Valley Mills, Texas at First United Methodist Church.

Indoor Christmas production in Bedford, Texas at the Church at Meadow Creek Drive.

Son Pecos with donkey Blanco at Regent Care, Woodway, Texas.

Regent Care, Woodway, Texas.

November '11

2011-12-05T11:40:00.000-06:00

Howdy folks, and welcome to another month gone by with the Texas Camel Corps.

November was busy! Here's the month in pictures and headlines. For full stories, subscribe to my e-newsletter The Camel's Tale by sending your email address to texascamelcorps@gmail.com

A Saddle For Bobette

I delivered a saddle to a family in California for their camel. Here she is. A perfect fit!

The family's other camel gets fitted with a quickly-made Somali pack saddle.

Camp Vision Education programs and camel rides for vision-impaired students.

Kisses...

Paul Arellano, left, leads and Chap Traylor helps steady one camper as he rides.

Richard the camel inspects the troops. 'Tis I in my 19th century US Army uniform.
You've not lived until you've marched a group of vision-impaired kids!

Kids cuddle with and capture (on camera) our camels.

Paul Arellano helps one of the campers "see" the camels.

Corinth, Mississippi
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center. Living History Programs

Marianne serves as "Old Douglas", the Confederate camel mascot of the 43rd Mississippi Infantry.

Confederates and camel.

Rebels about to present a firing demonstration.

Private Party in Dallas

Our camels greeted guests at a Moroccan-themed party. Special thanks to wife, Trish, and daughter Vanessa for taking this on while I was in Mississippi.

Daughter Vanessa and Richard outside the house, greeting guests as they parked.

The parking area. "Camel Parking", the sign says!

Brazos Valley Worldfest

Annual cultural event at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. This is another event my wife and kids handled as we were double (triple?!!) booked one November weekend.

Our Bedouin tent, enjoyed by visitors from around the world.

The public enjoys mingling with our camels.

Cultural Anthropology Classes in Gatesville, Texas.

Our third year to present programs to the students at Gatesville High School.

Students listen attentively.

Explaining traditional Bedouin and Egyptian clothing.

Some of the students, Ibrahim and I.

Homeschool Group Visits Camel Farm

Education program and rides for two dozen folks.

Jennifer Seagle organized the day's events.

One of the students, atop Ibrahim.

Schampers Family Visits Camel Farm

Members of this family from McGregor and Dallas, Texas and New Mexico visited the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Christmas Season Starts in Hallettsville, Texas

Our family's holiday traditions always kick off in Hallettsville for their Festival of Lights and Christmas pageant.

The Lavaca County Courthouse, site of the Christmas pageant, at dusk.

At the conclusion of each performance, the courthouse and square are beautifully lit.

Daughter Vanessa and I lead Marianne and Virgie in their part of the performance.

Thanks as always for your interest in our family's camels. I look forward to seeing you on the trail!

October '11

2011-11-03T20:27:00.001-05:00

October was busy. Let's get to the month in pictures!

Camel Training School.

Pipe Creek, Texas.

Each May and October my friends Bill Rivers and Jim Hale and I host a camel training clinic in Pipe Creek, Texas at Bill Rivers Lightning Ranch. The small, but enthusiastic groups always seem to get a lot out of the weekends which are designed to give camel owners more skills for training their own camels. Many attendees bring their camels and it's always fun for us trainers to work with different folks' camels. Again this time, Dr. James Jensen, DVM DACZN, retired section chief of zoological medicine at Texas A&M University was on hand to present and we are always honored to have him as part of our team. Thanks to all of our guests at this month's clinic.

Jim Hale works with Ronnie and Kathy Price's hybrid (half Arabian/half Bactrian) camel, Ziggy, on basic commands.

Our group on the steps of the Camp Verde General Store, which served the historic Army post of Camp Verde, home of the US Army Camel Experiment of the 1850s.

Our group at Camp Verde (now on private land), home of the historic
US Army Camel Experiment of the 1850s.

Dr. James Jensen tells stories of his international work with camels in Abu Dhabi and Mongolia.

Dr. Jensen shares his experience drinking camel milk in Abu Dhabi.

October '11 Camel Clinic attendees, L-R: Joe and Jackson Turner, Kathy Price, Ziggy, Ronnie Price, Rocky, Bill Rivers, Dr. James Jensen, Rufus, Cookie Morkel, Dr. Steve Komadina, Dr. Kristi Fowler, Peggy Reeves, Doug Baum.

Bill Rivers and Jim Hale explain camel gear from around the world.

Bill Rivers with a steel bosal and reins, for riding camels.

Jim Hale teaches a class on tying knots.

Jim Hale teaches Cookie Morkel the Alpine Butterfly knot.

Dr. Kristi Fowler ties a perfect Alpine Butterfly knot.

First Baptist Church Lorena.

Christmas Video Shoot.

FBC Lorena (near Waco, Texas) is shooting a Nativity video and needed critters. We provided a camel, a cow, a donkey and some sheep. We also helped dress the set (in Waxahachie, Texas) with a number of rugs and other textiles picked up in my Middle East travels.

Kids Delany, Pecos and Vanessa with sheep and camel in trailer. Not
visible are donkey and cow, but they were crammed in there, I promise!

Baum kids make music in Bethlehem.

Ibrahim and the Magi.

Pecos delivers fruit to his sister, Delany. The cast was made up of
church members and our kids got placed into a number of scenes.

No room at the inn. That's Blanco the donkey, acting!

DriveThru History Video Shoot.

DriveThruHistory.com is a series of educational videos and this one is set in the Holy Land. Marianne, our sweet, brown, 11-year old camel was needed for some scenes the production would be adding to footage shot in Israel. The premise is: host Dave Stotts has decided to purchase a camel upon his return to Texas. Marianne fit the bill!

Host Dave Stotts takes riding instruction from yours truly.
Dave was a far better rider than I was an instructor!

Dave explains some of the more unique features of his new transportation.

Dave studies the script, while producer Jim Fitzgerald supervises.

Dave rides Marianne down the street.

Dave offered Marianne roses. She ate them!

LBJ National Historic Park.

Johnson City, Texas.

Each year LBJ puts on Frontier Life Days and invites students from all over the Hill Country of Texas to visit the homestead President Johnson's grandfather and great uncle settled. While the historic US Army Camel Experiment pre-dates the Johnson family's arrival by a bit less than a decade, the proximity of the camels' home, Camp Verde, to Johnson City, brings us into the Johnson story. What an honor it is to be a part of this annual event.

Students visiting the Johnson Settlement try and hide Ibrahim!

Ibrahim and Marianne with Air Force One, from the LBJ era. Each night
the camels stayed at the LBJ Ranch, home to the Texas White House.

Buffalo Soldiers

Try as I might, I can't stretch Noah's leg to make it as long as a camel's!

Clifton Fifer- One of the best at what we do. Clifton shares
stories and song about people of color on the frontier.

Typical Texas Hill Country architecture on the Johnson Settlement.
Juniper fencing and barn lumber, combined with locally quarried limestone.

Amistad Archeology Fair. Del Rio, Texas.

Amistad National Recreation Area puts on this annual event that details the thousands of years of human habitation in the Del Rio area. With three rivers, the Rio Grande, Pecos and Devils, in the region, cultures from Paleo to Apache have taken advantage of the abundant resources and have left their marks on the landscape through a rich rock art language that dots cliff shelters up and down the canyons. Thanks to the Whitehead Memorial Museum for the use of their grounds each year!

Ok, you've likely seen me acting goofy with students and camels, so this will be the only shot of that type. The rest will be of a fantastic day of hiking and canoeing on the Pecos River, exploring.

Seminole Canyon State Park. This area is covered with ancient pictographs, pictoral evidence of
a long-gone culture known as Pecos River. This area is truly my favorite place in the whole world.

Yours truly with good friends Angel and Jack Johnson in the Fate Bell Shelter at Seminole Canyon State Park. Angel works for the SHUMLA school, a rock art preservation organization and Jack is an archaeologist with the National Park Service. I couldn't have had better companions!

Panther cave, home to 4,200-year old pictographs.

Monarch butterflies on migration.

Ft. Stockton Living History Event.

Ft. Stockton, Texas.

Historic Ft. Stockton holds their annual living history event each October and celebrates the time, not so long ago, when West Texas was still the domain of Native Americans. The historic US Army camels caravanned all over this area and even sent two expeditions (1850 and 1860), into what is now the Big Bend area, from this army post.

There is simply no more beautiful sunset than that of West Texas.

Saddling up.

'Tis I, leading camels through camp.

Buffalo Soldiers.

One of the earliest "conveniences" Ft. Stockton lays claim to is the Laundresses,
ladies who were generally wives of enlisted men and non-commissioned officers.

Frontier ladies on the porch of Ft. Stockton's Officer's Quarters No. 8.

Native Americans

Again, walking the parade ground of this historic post.

'Tis I, with Ibrahim and Marianne. (photo by Ann Dixon)

Soldiers assemble for morning report. (photo by Ann Dixon)

November Schedule of Events
November 1/2: San Jose, CA. Private camel consultation
November 4/5: Ft. Davis, Texas. Camp Vision, camel rides and education programs
November 11-13: Corinth, MS. Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, living history programs
November 15: Gatesville, Texas. Gatesville High School Cultural Anthropology class, cultural programs
November 16: Waco, Texas. Lake Brazos Rotary Club, speaking engagement
November 18: Valley Mills, Texas. Camel Farm, homeschool group visit, education programs, camel rides
November 26/27: Hallettsville, Texas. Festival of Lights Christmas production

Thanks as always for your interest in my camels. I look forward to seeing you on the trail.

Doug