What I Saw

Stephen and I have been thinking about clearing out of Austin. We love the town and all our friends here. Howver, Austin has gotten to be a much bigger place than either of us is comfortable living in. It would be different if we could live a half an hour out of town and be able to be in the country or if we could drive for a half an hour and be out of town. As it is, it takes at least twenty minutes to get downtown or anywhere else we want to go from out place in the south part of town.


One of the reasons for my trip to Santa Fe was to check it out as a possible place to live. It is about the right sized town. You can pretty much get or do anything you want or need there. The climate is nice. It may get a little colder than I like in winter but the mild summers make up for that. The best part is that you can be anywhere in town in about fifteen minutes. I am sure that it takes a little bit longer during peak traffic times but not nearly as long as it takes here. You can be fifteen or twenty minutes out of town and be in the country, beautiful country at that.


One of the areas that we have been thinking about is Pecos. My friend and I drove down there and the first thing we saw there was a horse that was out and eating grass right in the entrance to the village. That has to be a good sign.


I did not make very many pictures. Here are a few on the Pecos River near its head waters.

Sound track for this post: Jerry Jeff' Walker's Leavin' Texas

It's All Good

Thanks to all of you who offered me encouragement regarding the job interview. I got the job then decided not to do it after a couple of days. I get to choose how I am treated and how to treat people. I just couldn't get my head around some of the ways that place treats people. I let it go and since then, I have had to turn down work due to the number of calls I have been getting. I view the experience as helpful in getting clear about just what it is that I want out of my career.

Goodbye, Old Friend

I turned my back as he pulled out of the gate and headed up the road, not wanting to see him leave for the last time. We had been together more than eight years and covered a lot of territory in that time. More than a hundred thousand miles. My friends were all a little surprised when he came into my life in 1998. They just didn’t see him as my type.

We had many adventures together. He took me to Phoenix, Flagstaff, Barstow, Bear Valley, South Tahoe, San Francisco, Eugene, Yellowstone, Flaming Gorge, and brought me back home to Texas. He took me to Key West, Asheville and DC and brought me back home again. He provided lodging and music along the way. He was always willing to carry my stuff, even if it meant pulling it along behind him.

The first thing my friend David Lamotte said when he saw him was “That’s a big honking truck.” That stuck and he became BH. (I don’t always name my automobiles but if one comes out and tells me its name it gets to keep it.)

Stephen had been grousing for more than a year about how I really should start thinking about getting a smaller vehicle. I was resistant to that idea even though it was a pain to park due to its length (extended cab with a long bed) and used more gas than I was comfortable with from an environmental stand point and parts were wearing out on it faster than I could get them fixed. It took awhile for me to realize that I had formed an emotional attachment to a huge hunk of metal and rubber. That really gave me something to think about. Finally the day came when the transmission started failing and it started dying on me for no apparent reason in the middle of the street. I knew it was time to let go. I parked it in front of the house and bought a ’99 Outback.

A guy who works for my landlord wanted to buy BH. I know he will be able to do all the work it needs himself and will give BH a good home and a purpose is life. BH will be hauling tools and materials around to his new owner’s work sites. The new owner appreciates BH’s body style and the captain’s chairs I put in to replace the bench seat. He is very happy to get such a great ride. I am happy that my old friend will not be sold for scrap just yet.