The Sand Sheet

More than two million acres of sand, born and blown from an ancient sea beginning about ten thousand years ago, stretch across eight counties in deep South Texas. Known as the Coastal Sand Plain, the Texas Coastal Sand Sheet, or just the Sand Sheet, it is a region of few people, little rainfall, and no water. Among the dunes and dry, brown flats, only the hardiest shrubs and grasses provide habitat for the coyotes, quail, and rattlesnakes that live here.

Arturo Longoria, whose cabin sits amid the sand scrub and desert motts of granjeno, brasil, and mesquite, knows this land intimately. A student of bushcraft and natural history, Longoria found refuge in this remote and hostile country as he recovered from a rare illness. He weaves a story of beauty and survival in a land where the vastness of Texas' storied ranches and rich oil fields serves as the backdrop for a steady migration of long distance “travelers,” who cross over the border and into el desierto at great peril.

This book is about a harsh and dangerous landscape that has nonetheless given sustenance and solace to a writer for whom the Sand Sheet became both his home and his inspiration.

ARTURO LONGORIA is a writer and former journalist and teacher. He is the author of two award-winning books of non-fiction,?Adios to the Brushlands?and?Keepers of the Wilderness,?also published by Texas A&M University Press.