Thursday, April 16, 2015

Thoughts on "Home"

written: April 12th



Sundays are usually quiet days.  I work four hours at Starbucks -- just 7 am to 11 am -- and leave right as the big Sunday rush hits.  It's one of my favorite days to work at Starbucks, to be honest.  It's usually the calmest our store ever is.

Typically, the rest of the day would sprawl lazily ahead of me.  But today I drove three and a half hours to my little hometown, where my Mom still lives.  I have a dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon one town over.  I could easily find a dentist in the massive Metroplex, but I love my small town dentist and dental hygienist.  I love that my dentist always teases me about my wolf fascination, even though I haven't been to Wolf Park since 2007.

So, on this atypical Sunday, I enjoyed a nice leisure drive through the heart of Texas.  I kept my eyes peeled for the bluebonnets that are just beginning to bloom.  It's a huge Texas tradition to take family portraits in the bluebonnets.  But it seems to be a bit too early just yet to do that.  In a week, we should hit peak bluebonnet season.  That's when there will be acres of bluebonnets covering the land, turning the meadows from lush green to inland seas of brilliant blue.  Just gorgeous.  I'll have to make a special trip out to the Fort Worth Nature Center with David to get our photos done for this year.

I enjoy these drives between the Metroplex and Lil Hometown.  It's mostly open highway and gorgeous country driving, with just a few sprinkles of small towns along the way.  When making this drive, it's always a good idea to never let your gas tank fall below half full.  When you hit the half full mark, you start looking around for the nearest gas station, just in case.  Some of those stretches of road are devoid of towns for quite a ways.

The bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes are just starting to bloom.  There were small splashes of blue and white -- courtesy of the bluebonnets -- and mixed in were various shades of pinks, mauves, and oranges -- the Indian paintbrushes' contribution.  It really makes the drive so pretty.  I'm not typically a Spring person, but I love seeing all the wildflowers that blanket the Lone Star State.  If we were to ever move away from Texas, I would certainly miss the Texas Springs -- all the wonderful flowers.

I also love the drive because the last hour or so, I don't care for what the radio stations play -- a very nice selection of Country, Evangelical Christian, or Tejano music.  So that last hour or so, I drive in complete silence.  And I ponder all the things I want to under the sun.  No topic is off limits.  No topic is too grandiose nor minuscule.  I turn it all over in my mind -- religion, politics, and personal ideas.  I love the quiet and the peace the drive gives me.  I love the time and place it gives me to sort and order my thoughts and feelings on everything.

You know, I talk a huge game about being a Gypsy spirit -- of not wanting to settle anywhere for a long term.  But, no matter how far my dreaming mind takes me, I've always pictured Texas as home.  I've dreamed of traveling the world, but at the end of each dream, I always returned to Texas.  This place honestly is my Soul's Home -- I feel my happiest driving through this amazing state.  Not knocking the other states -- I've seen many gorgeous places outside of Texas. Some even called out to me -- that I wouldn't mind even living there for a few years.  But in the end, I believe I will always return to Texas.

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