Texas Tidbits: Dad, Me, The Cantaloupe and the Salt Shaker

I don't know much about Pecos, but I feel like I have been there a hundred times. As many of you know, my Dad was a trucker and he's the reason that, as a child, that I even knew Pecos existed. At the time, the company that Dad worked for only delivered in Texas and Pecos was the crown jewel of all the trips. We lived in Irving at the, so Dad drove out of the Dallas terminal, making Pecos the longest and best-paying trip Merchants (the company) had. I remember Dad saying 1000's of times, "I wish I could get a Pecos tonight". To me, a kid of 6 or 7, Pecos was in another world. It was 427 miles from Dallas! 427 miles!In West Texas! Wow! I had never been to West Texas at that time, so it sounded like a whole other planet. I knew East Texas very well by the time I was 6 or 7, Tyler, Gilmer, Betty, Thomas, Gladewater, Lindale and so on. But West Texas was in the desert! I imagined Pecos as the kind of place John Wayne would live. Cowboys, saloons, cattle, bad guys waiting for The Duke to come kick their asses or meet their Fate at the end of a rope. That is how I "knew" Pecos. For some odd reason, I also knew that Pecos was home to the World's 1st Rodeo . Why? Don't ask me. It's probably something I learned from Dad. Oh, yeah! Cantaloupes! Pecos was famous for cantaloupes! I learned that from Dad, too - probably over a Pecos cantaloupe split in half and a salt shaker, neither of us looking up from that melon while, carrying on a conversation about race cars or something similar. My Dad lived in Pecos for a while after my parent split up when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I remember him telling me of going to Mexico for what I guess now was a little "cultural exchange". He never did say, and I never asked. I started writing this post with the intention of sharing some history and general info about Pecos, but after I typed the first sentence, the memories of my Dad and his stories came to me in a flood of yesterdays. You know, I'm glad I wrote that first sentence. I have a big ass cantaloupe in the kitchen, I think I'll split it in half, grab a salt shaker and share the melon and some stories of my life with my little girl. Oh....and Dad, I'll tell her about you, me, the cantaloupe and the salt shaker.

Happy Birthday, Number 2 Son

My Bouncin' Baby Boy

April 27 is a very special day for me. It was on this very date in 1982 that I became a father for the second time with the birth of Number 2 Son, Toby Dillon Shoemaker. Toby came kickin' and screamin' into this world several weeks early at a mere 5 lbs 5 oz. Shortly after his birth, Young Tobe was placed in an incubator with so many wires hooked up to him, he looked an alternator for a '64 Chevy, although not nearly as heavy. I was the only new Dad at the NICU (Natal Intensive Care Unit) at the time and I was given a gentle knot on the head by the Good Lord, a dose of reality if you will. I wasn't sure if Toby was gonna go home with his mother and I or not. He was so tiny and helpless laying there just on the other side of the big plate glass window I was looking at him through. Worse, there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. Talk about a feeling of helplessness. Hurry up and wait isn't one of my strong suits. Toby did come home a few days later weighing a hefty 4 lbs 13 oz. He was so small, I could cradle him in my arm like a football. It was something to behold, I'm tellin' ya.

I remember a few weeks (?) later when, on a clear starry night, I took Toby to the top of a big mesa just outside town. I held him up with my arms outstretched as far they'd go, my hands holding my son behind his neck and under his bottom reaching to touch the Face of God and I said out loud, "Behold, my Son...the only Thing greater than you". Just like in Roots. Ever since that time, Toby and I have had a spiritual connection that defies a simple worldly explanation. But I know the reason why it is so. God heard my payers while I was praying to Him for the health of my new son at the hospital a few weeks earlier. Toby, even as an infant, heard the voice of God tell him that he (Toby) and I would never be far from each others' hearts, no matter the circumstances. And despite some really tough times over the years, my son and I have never lost that supernatural ability to "feel" the other's love and commitment as Father and Son.

Toby D. is twenty-nine years old today and has a new family of his own - Faith and my three new grand children. Tobe's new family was ready-made for him, but he didn't miss a beat stepping into his new Tribe. He's is an excellent Dad and I hope (LOL) a great partner to Faith. My tiny 5 lb 5 oz baby boy is now a Man...and a damn good one. I couldn't be more happy for him.

Long ago and far away on a mesa top near Carlsbad, New Mexico, my Son beheld the only Thing greater than he and ause of that, I think, has been blessed since with unique and special qualities that make him a fine young Man today. On top of that, he got his good looks from me. :)

Happy Birthday, Son. Your Old man is mighty proud of you.

I love you.

Texas Tidbits: The Lost Maples That Aren't So Lost Anymore

The world today is a rat race and the rats are winning, as the old saying goes. From time to time we all need a place to escape to, to recharge the old batteries and not have to travel too far from home. I have found such a place. Lost Maples State Natural Area near Vanderpool in the Hill Country. It's a 5 to 6 hour drive from Dallas, depending on the route you take. Personally, I would take I-35 South to Highway 16 and head west to Vanderpool. Wild Texas' website tells us that "Lost Maples is "Located along the Sabinal River in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, 2,208-acre Lost Maples State Natural Area is an inspiring mixture of sheer limestone cliffs, deep canyons, dense woodlands, and numerous clear streams." Numerous clear streams? I'm in. Fish.Fear.Me. As I was looking for info on Lost Maples, I came across a website belonging to Brian Greenstone. Brian has some great tips for you so you'll have a game plan before you leave home. Remember, luck favors a prepared mind. The mad rush of summer vacation season is coming up, so a trip to Lost Maples during the week (weekends would be too busy for me) would be ideal for fishin' and camping in the 2200+ acre park, especially since the kids will have a break from school for a while. On the way home you could make a planned stop in San Antonio for some Mexican food and a visit to Texas' version of the Vatican, the Alamo. What a great trip to make. Lost Maples State Natural Area ain't so lost after all. Thank goodness.

A New Blogroll Addition!

Beef Blogonoff One blogger's beef with the entire world, and has had enough of it.

If you go to the right sidebar and scroll down to the blogroll, you'll find a new name on the list - Beef Blogonoff. If the name alone doesn't grab ya, then scoot on over and give it a look. Beef's daily posts are short, to the point and pretty damn funny.

I just "met" Beef this weekend, and as I understand it, he's fairly new to blogging and would welcome new readers with open arms - and a $20 bribe. OK, I made that part up. He won't welcome you with open arms, but he'll bribe the hell out of you!

Beef, welcome to the Three States Plus One Blogroll! It's good to have you on it.

P.S. You can send my $20 to my PayPal account.  :)

The Reason for the Season

         HAVE A BLESSED EASTER

                        HE IS RISEN!

The History of the Easter Egg

I know. I know. I know. I was supposed to take the weekend off from blogging, but my wife is watching some TV shows on the DVR and I figured "what the heck?". So here I am. Luck you, huh?

Here it is Easter Saturday and other than the obvious religious aspects of the day, what is one of the things most associated with Easter? You got it! The humble Easter egg. Using a little Google Fu, I looked up the History of the Easter Egg. You may be surprised at what you learn.

The Holiday Spot website has the scoop, but first here's a preview:

"Easter eggs are specially decorated eggs given out to celebrate the Easter holiday or springtime.

It is the influence of the traditional spring rites that made Easter so egg-special. And myths coming down to us from an incredibly distant past have shown man's relationship with the egg to be very deep seated one. This is caught in old Latin proverb: "Omne vivum ex ovo". This means "all life comes from an egg". Not just the Latin saying, eggs are just laid well over all corners of the world. From ancient India to Polynesia, from Iran, Greece, and Phonecia to Latvia, Estonia, and Finland, from Central America to the west coast of South America, there are reports of myths of the whole universe created out of an egg. Thus, it is not unusual that in almost all ancient cultures eggs had been held as an emblem of life. The concept of all living beings born from an egg is also a foundational concept of modern biology."


The article continues, "Despite claims being made that Easter Eggs were originally pagan symbols, there is no solid evidence for this. It was not until the 18th Century that Jakob Grimm theorised a putative pagan connection to Easter Eggs with a goddess of his own whom he named Ostara, a suggested German version of Eostre."


It's a very interesting read and you can catch the whole thing on theholidayspot.com.


Once again, I wish you a blessed Easter Weekend and may the joy of redemption through the crucifixion of our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you.

Good Friday: For God So Loved the World....

John 3:16

Today is Good Friday, a day of remembrance. Christians the world over are humbling themselves before God, commemorating the crucifixion of His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, at Calvary, that we may all live forever in Heaven with the Father and Son. Holy, Holy, Holy...

For our Brothers and Sisters of the Jewish Faith, today is Yom Vav, 18th, Nisan, 5771, Pesach, 3rd (Tiferes ShebeChesed) Omer Day. Shalom.

I observe this Holy Weekend as a Roman Catholic, therefore I wanted to share the way that we observe this Glorious day with all my Christian Family and our Hebrew Cousins. Wikipedia has a very good summary of the Catholic Celebration of the Holy Weekend.

May the Almighty bless and guide you for all the days of your life. This is my wish for you.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Allelujah!

***I am taking Holy Weekend off from blogging, so please feel free to access the blog archives to catch up on some of the posts you may have missed. Thank you and God Bless.***