Spring Is Coming….
February 24th, 2009Maybe it’s the time of year; outside it is quiet and brown, winter is ending, there is hope of new growth in the coming spring.
Maybe it’s the years piling up and the realization that there are more of those years in the past than I can hope for in the future.
Maybe it’s the romantic inside me that steals away for long periods of time and exposes himself to the light of day when the pent up feelings can stay hidden for not another hour.
Maybe it’s all of those. My mind is wandering through, pondering about, and reveling in the thoughts of life.
Spring is coming.
I had to drive out of town for business recently. In days past I would have checked the internet for the shortest route making plans to leave at just the precise moment where I could blaze along wide paved interstates full of vanilla scenery, rest stops, and other drivers in their zombie like state; their brains turning to mush with the lack of stimulation. There would be no time for stopping, the schedule must be kept, the average speed mustn’t fall below the speed limit. Those days have gone now. Happily I admit I haven’t missed them once. Now I shuffle through my stack of maps and travel guides searching for the perfect route. Small little red lines, sometimes dashed lines, call my name. I still take a fairly direct route, but speed is not the leading reason for road choice.
I hope to stumble upon some sense of normalcy, some place where things just make sense. Rejuvenation of the soul and finding something real is the goal.
Driving northwest out of Houston the landscape changes and it changes fast. Ah Texas, what a place. Within 30 miles a sky full of 737’s carrying people to another meeting quickly becomes the domain of eagles soaring over their grounds. They are the F16’s of the Texas sky. They own the air; nothing enters it without their permission. As the sun rises I notice a few take to the sky riding the thermals as the sun warms the earth and creates towers of rising currents. We have many species of hawks. They outnumber the eagles 10 or 20 to 1; yet they all steer clear of an eagle soaring overhead on the hunt. The eagle is King.
I find myself thinking about this huge state and the impact it has made on me in the past 20 years. As you drive through the Texas countryside something seems different, maybe domesticated, almost festive. Then it hits you. These are proud people. They are patriots. It isn’t the ranch or house that flies the American and Texas flag that catches your attention; it’s the one that doesn’t. They are everywhere out in the middle of nowhere. This time of year the crisp red, white, and blue colors make a stark contrast to the muted browns and mottled greens.
I grew up in liberal northern households; I don’t mind, they have a right to what they believe. I do miss the opportunity to talk about some of those issues though. Those discussions weren’t wise, heated words and personal attacks were always the result. That subject matter is best left to others.
In Texas I have found people with ideals that I respect. These are the epitome of hard working, god loving, ethical, and moral citizens. If you pull over to the side of the road and ask the rancher working on his fence if he’d like the government to stop by and give him a hand you’ll likely get a response that’s has something to do with him not minding the work and his belief that he can do it; it might be hard but he has faith. With a confused look on his face he’ll say, “It’s not the government’s fence, why should some other taxpayer have to fix it?” There is an independent spirit here that thrives. Nobody here talks about needing bailout money, they only shake their head and wonder why their tax dollars need to pay someone else’s mortgage when for years they’ve saved, worked, and sacrificed just to pay their own.
When you’re driving through Texas and you come upon a slow car ahead of you they will often pull over to the shoulder to let you by. We don’t call that dangerous; we call that kindness. By the way, they’ll offer a friendly smile and wave to you as you pass by.
Driving through towns with names like New Ulm, Frelsburg, and Lone Oak small farms and large ranches are the backdrop to Texas Longhorn cattle swinging their monstrous headgear side to side. Horses graze behind miles of wooden fences while goats, sheep, and yes even an emu or two enjoy the day.
Wildlife abounds here. Regardless of the time of day I see deer each time I drive this route. They’re not as big as their northern cousins but just as enjoyable to catch a fleeting glimpse of as they race across open ground towards the next patch of cover and safety. Armadillos, skunks, and opossum are a common sight. I’m reminded that while man has been in Texas for 100’s of years this is still a wild place; rattle snakes will often cross the road and cover the width of an entire lane as they do. Coyotes can be heard at night howling to their brothers across the valley. Cats, puma and bobcats, still slink through the stands of live oak and mesquite. Each bridge I cross as I drive my little road hovers over ponds or streams swarming with large mouth bass.
Oh yes, nature is thriving here.
I wonder about friends current, t
hose that are now gone, and those who I’m sure think my same thoughts…I need to call. Is it just me or do they see the same thing in the field across the way? A live oak dominates the area. Boughs stretching out well over 40 feet, so heavy that gravity has pulled them to the ground. This grand old man has been here through most of the entries in a high school history book. When I married the love of my life, he was here. When I took my first step, he was looking over this land. In 1861 when the 11th Texas cavalry chased Unionists through this very county did they pass by this tree? He was smaller and younger then, but he was there. I wonder how many couples have stolen away on a late summer evening listening to the crickets, speaking soft words, and watched the sunset while perched on one of the great arms emerging from this giant.
Crossing through an area North of LaGrange on a road so small it isn’t even on most maps I look for a familiar sight; two old horses one white and one brown with 3 white socks. They’re always together; friends, mates, who knows? I’ve seen them over a dozen times. They live in a pasture exceeding 10 acres yet they are never more than 10 feet apart. They share a bond.
Ahead there is a rancher working on his water well. I didn’t want to interrupt him but I wondered if I stopped to say hello, I’d be miles from nowhere, would others think I was not being careful? If they were here would they worry about their well being? Texas, you have to love it. We’re armed. He has a gun handy and so do I. If we talked about this subject we’d probably both laugh at the thought of making our country safer by outlawing all the guns. Wouldn’t it be great? All the law abiding people wouldn’t have protection and only the law breakers would have the guns. Yep, that makes sense to me!
I thought about this water well repairing rancher’s reaction to this subject when I remembered a news show where a guest was saying that we need to control guns because they are the deadliest weapons. The statements and application of logic that some of these people use is beyond me. Considering that a motor vehicle kills or injures people at a rate of over 100 to 1 versus a gun I wonder what the rancher would say when you showed up to take his Ford F250!
Argue it anyway you want but get over it. It’s our right and it makes sense, period.
Outside of Winchester I always draw a sigh and my heart goes quiet for a second as I come upon a scene. At the top of a hill is a steel statue of a horse and a cowboy on his knees, hat in hand. He’s kneeling in front of a cross. Respect and faith; nothing more needs to be said.
There is an area in the foothills of West Central Texas that always makes me smile and then launch into a belly laugh. It’s the place where on a spring afternoon I took a picture of the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen while she was sitting in a field of Texas wildflowers.
That’s the smile part.
The belly laugh comes from the look on her face when a 6 foot rattle snake crawled out of the flowers after I helped her back into the car.
Why she ever agreed to marry me I’ll never know but I drop to my knees often and say a word of thanks for her having the courage to take a chance.
The Colorado River wanders in and out of view as I begin to enter the Lost Pines area. Loblolly pine trees that live here are separated by over 80 miles from their nearest relatives in East Texas. The legend is Native-American runners carried seedlings from East Texas to comfort a homesick girl who married into a Central Texas tribe. Botanists say they are left over from glacier activity.
I like the first reason better.
As I look at the beautiful scenes around me my mind wanders.
I also see the headlines. I see the frightening trends we march ever onward to. I see the lack of responsibility of one’s own actions. Around this country I see apathy. Why should I work hard when I can get someone else who works hard to pay my way? If you make me be an individual then I have to rest on my words and actions. You might actually hold me accountable. If I’m quiet and allow us to fall into this homogenized society with socialistic agendas at least I won’t have to put forth any effort. Life will be grey.
You can never truly appreciate the view from the top of the highest peak unless you’ve seen that peak from the bottom of the valley below. I hope we wake up and choose color, rich vibrant color. I hope we stand up, be right, be wrong, but at least we do it ourselves and don’t ask others to do our share.
It is dry here. Dangerously so. Lives are at stake. The native grasses are trying to maintain a foothold. The rabbits and rodents are losing weight from the lack of tender vegetation to consume. The ground is cracking. Open fissures cross the land and the wind picks up dust from their crevasses throwing it high into the air. It has been over 140 days since some of this area has seen moisture.
….but Spring is coming.
.
