About roads...

As we drove along Hwy 473 we saw a numerous interesting gates to ranches and have included a couple here. I think what struck us is the road ... a good road maintained by the rancher, not the county. It is about 100 times better than the road that goes to our house and we live in a suburban area.

Even this caliche road is in better repair than ours. If we continue to bump and rattle along on these roads our autos will become as run down as this old covered wagon!

We pay road taxes, but little gets done to repair them. If we are lucky potholes get filled occasionally. As it turns out we have a new postmaster in our town and he/she sent out letters to about 70 people in our area saying our roads need to be repaired or no mail will be delivered to our homes. Interesting. The postmaster also sent a letter to the road district and now we have had repairs done. Shoddy repairs, but repairs none the less. It's a start.

Coffee Anyone?

First Coffee Hollow

When the G-man & I drive through rural areas of Texas everything appears to be so peaceful, so quiet. We come upon interesting places that make us want to stop and relax under the trees. We begin to wonder how these places got their names. What significance is there to the name?

For example, how do you think this hollow came to be known as Coffee Hollow? There is a first & a second one. As we drove along we came upon First Coffee Hollow and I thought, "Huh?" Then we approached another dip in the road and I jokingly said to the G-man, "Here comes the Second Coffee Hollow"... and sure enough there it was!

Second Coffee Hollow

How does one come up with naming a hollow, Coffee? Perhaps it is the last name of a person who owned the land in this area although it does not say "Coffee's Hollow". Perhaps cowboys camped in these depressions, built fires, and made cowboy coffee over the open fire.

Imagine life on the range. I suppose it was a "simple" life. The tasks were to take care of the herds of animals, to move them from place to place, to make sure no one came along and "rustled" the cattle or horses. But then there were bandits and Indians to cause concern.

Perhaps I look at that rural life style and think it is a simple life. True it is isolated, neighbors may not be very close, usually they are a few miles down the road, and there is not the hustle-bustle of urban life. Isolation makes one think safe, simple, easy. In truth none of us are so isolated anymore because we have television, radio, G3 phones, and the ever present Internet to keep us up-to-date on the latest occurrences.

No even in this rural hollow I'll bet life is not as simple as I'd like to think it is.

Morning Sounds and Beautiful Scenery

Old Barn at the Buckhorn

I awoke to the grayness of early morning, to the sound of many birds chirping and tweeting in our woods. It was a lovely sound and caused me to rouse myself early to enjoy the morning.

Very early, at about 5 AM, I heard a Chuck-Will's-Widow in the woods near our house. It is the first one of the spring and I am always so happy to hear its mournful sound. It is a similar sound to the Whippoorwill although not quite as sad sounding.

I knew I would not mind coming to live here with the G-man when first I heard the Chuck-Will's-Widow. There were always a couple in the woods behind my house in the country so this lovely sound made me feel quite at home here.

Wild Verbena

Looking up-creek

The photos in this post were taken last Sunday on our little Texas Hill Country jaunt. We drove the scenic route to Comfort, TX rather than taking the interstate highway to our destination. It is much more fun to leave a bit earlier than needed and take a winding route to enjoy the countryside.

Looking down-creek

This creek near Comfort is beautiful. So serene. It invites one to stop and enjoy the babbling brook sounds and take in the scents of the wildflowers and the exquisite fresh air. Simply lovely.

Along the creek-bed

A Good Omen

Rainbow appearing on the western horizon.

As we headed toward the Texas hill country Sunday morning a rainbow appeared in the western sky. Could it be a good omen; I hoped the clouds would drift away and the sky would turn a gorgeous blue. As it is the gray matched my mood and my mood needed uplifting.

I have begun to feel discouraged by American civility. What has happened to our happiness? Why are we so angry? Why can't we be civil to one another even if we disagree on politics, religion, education, etc.?

Someone recently posted about a group on FaceBook who is "praying for our president to die". It is written almost as a joke, but not a funny one. The last time I looked over 600,000 people are asking FB to remove this from its pages (that over 1 million people have "liked"), but I don't know if FB can remove it. Would it go against free speech, but what a horrible speech.

When I marked that I would like for it to be removed & visited the site, I saw where someone I grew up with had "liked" this page. How could this person feel this way? I was so shocked & disappointed. I wrote and asked for a reconsideration, but the photo & "liked" is still there so I decided to "un-befriend" this person. Now I wonder if that was the right move. I don't think anything I put up on FB would change a person's mind who is dead set to hate. The thing that distressed me the most is this person professes to be a Christian and this is not a Christian way to act... it is not a human way to act.

One lone cloud...

Later in the morning (by 10 AM) the sun came out and there was one lone cloud drifting in the sky. It lifted my mood. I was positively elated! The wonderful westerly breeze blew all day, the temperature was very pleasant, there was no humidity and the day was glorious.

The G-man played golf, Gertie & I walked and sat in the shade looking at the beautiful surroundings, and I meditated my way out of a funk. That rainbow was a wonderful omen.

Magnificent Scissor-tail Flycatcher

And speaking of good omens, the G-man took this photo of the Magnificent Scissor-tail Flycatcher sitting on a barbed-wire fence. These birds live here in the spring and summer and are very beautiful. On the golf course there was a pair of these flycatchers tending a nest of babies. They zoomed off before I could photograph them, but this one sat & posed for this shot. They have a pale orange near their wings and a rose color underneath the wing. Beautiful birds.

Today is another beautiful day. We have workers coming this afternoon to replace doors on our patio. This 20-year old house is in need of an up-lift. Now I try to put aside my worries about civility and concentrate on my little world. Sometimes I feel like I need to become a hermit, but that would not help solve any problems... not that I can imagine how I can contribute to solving problems. What are your solutions to our nation's problems with civility? Do you have any to share?