I was standing out in the “backyard” today watching some weather moving in and enjoying the wind blowin’ the heat away. The feel of the wind and the heat brought back a memory of a spring road trip. I was returning from a job in San Antonio and decided to take the “scenic route”. Now in my family the words “scenic route” have a bad connotation. For my route that day I thought I would take a run by my Grandparents old ranch out of Calliham, Texas. When I pulled up to the road between the two sections of the old place it was just passed lunchtime, so I pulled the truck over to the side of the road. I opened a bottle of water and made a peanut butter sandwich and sat on the tailgate as I listened to the wind blow. South Texas wind has sound that once you’ve heard it you never forget. The memories from my year living on the ranch back in the ‘70’s rolled over me as I sat there with my simple lunch. After a decent amount of reflection, I drove into town and stopped by the cemetery to say hi to the grandparents…
Like I said, my family hates to hear the words “scenic route”. My trips have a bad habit of taking twice as long as they should just ‘cause I like to see “new” country. I tend to not travel back the same route I use to get someplace either, so you never know when a side road will call me off the map. Like Daniel Boone, I’ve never been lost…but boy, have I been confused on occasion (and the old saw about guys and asking directions…don’t ask my wife her opinion about the accuracy of the statement).
Like Fred we found ourselves in the position of needing to replace a vehicle. And like Fred we ended up with a Subaru, though, unlike Fred our neighborhood isn’t overcrowded with the brand. Luckily, the dealer was located just down the road. We had been discussing the need to plan our next car purchase with the mountains in mind since we tend to hold on to cars longer than most. The Subaru is replacing an 8 year old Toyota which is still in pretty good shape so it rolls down to our youngest son who just started driving across Houston each day to work…
