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During the days after Rick McLaren declared war, what would come to be known as the Republic of Texas Standoff, an unprecedented number of people descended on the Davis Mountains, waiting to see what would happen. And people across the world were all tuned in -- watching their TVs, listening on the radio -- to the real life Wild West drama, playing out in the reaches of Texas.Flavors of this episode: Cameras, kidnappers, car tires, impromptu laundromats, novelty tee shirts, baby aoudads, the horse brigade, satellites, shiny belt buckles, and ham radio.

Órale, the feature of this episode of Caló is the expression, hay la llevas. In Spanish, it means there you have it. It’s a curse. There’s a classic Greek mythological tragedy behind the curse of hay la llevas, known in many languages as a Sisyphean feat. As the tragedy goes, a deviant king violated the sacred tradition of showing hospitality to visitors and was condemned by the gods to forever roll a rock up a hill, only to have it slip his grip at the precipice and roll back down. The saying is not a curse you cast on anybody, as it’s something that the cursed is already experiencing. And you can’t relieve them of it. You can only acknowledge it, perhaps wish them the best existence they can possibly have under the circumstances. You say hay la llevas to somebody whom you see trapped in such a curse, where all you are doing is acknowledge their fate. Sometimes the cursed acknowledge it themselves. How are you doing, carnal? Pos hay la llevo, ese.

Órale, the word of the week is papas. In modern Spanish is means potatoes. In Caló, it means lies. The grandfather put his hand on his grandson’s should and said, “that onda about landing on the moon? Puras pinches papas”

Arizona cypress can grow 80 feet high, with blue-green to gray-green foliage. These Southwestern conifers are “obligate seeders” – they require fire to reproduce – and changing fire patterns have put them at risk.

Carpenter bees are known to “rob” nectar – to take the sweet stuff without moving any pollen. But in Big Bend at least, carpenter bees and ocotillos have a mutualistic relationship, one that benefits both lifeforms.

The headline of this episode is a well-known word: calcos. To be sure, along the Río Grande, calcos is a general term. Work shoes and dance shoes are considered calcos, but not boots or chanclas. Of course, when you dance in calcos you are actually chancleando, but that’s another episode.