I just knew if I could be 8, that I would find what was at the end of the rainbow. The night before my birthday, I could barely breathe. I tried to keep my eyes squished shut and will myself to sleep but it wouldn’t come for the longest time...I was too excited. On the morning of October 19th, my eyes flew open and I was…the same. Nothing. I looked in the mirror that was over my pretty French prov
incial dresser and I was shocked to find that I looked EXACTLY the same as I did the day before. How is this possible?! I just knew that everything would change and I was willing to throw all of the days in the middle away…just to get the next level. My entire childhood was like that. One, two…skip a few, ninety-nine one-hundred! Where ever I was, it seemed I was always thinking about being in that next place and if I could have, I would have totally abandoned where I was to get to the next level. I don’t think it was competitive as much as it was impatience. I just had to see what was next and I did not care for surprises. I wanted to know right way what was next and how fast could I get there. I finally turned twelve and couldn’t wait to be thirteen. Whoo hoo! A teenager! I’d waited my whole life to be a teenager! I turned thirteen and was immediately going on 16. I had to get out of junior high school. If only I could get to high school… I’d be satisfied, until the day I actually got to high school. Then I couldn’t wait to get out. When I was 17, I pumped 35 cents into the box at the top of the steps and boarded a bus for Downtown. I got off the bus in front of the ‘ARMY-NAVY-AIR FORCE-MARINES’ recruiting offices and after a “soul-searching” Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Mo… I walked in a door. Who cares what branch? Who cares what job? Just get me going! Get me moving forward. Get me out of here! I hate to wait. I didn’t have a patient bone in my body and I had to be going a hundred-miles-per-hour… (literally) all the time. So I walked into the Air Force. It was too boring. I transitioned to the Army and loved it. I had two babies, did the college thing, loved moving from state-to-state and was thrilled to be in new and exciting places. Trust me, I did not gather moss. Always moving, always going. I arrived in Texas in May 1987 and I had finally met my match. I’d found something that could slow me down. Texas is the most amazing place I have ever been in, in my entire life. You can’t reasonably drive from Texline to Brownsville in one day. It’s the 900 mile dash! El Paso to Texarkana is just a little less. This place is so big and the regions of Texas were so different that I’ve finally found something to slow me down. The Panhandle gets the blowing snow, big sky, frigid temperatures and antelope, the Rio Grande Valley gets Citrus Crops, the magnificent Gulf of Mexico, sugar-cane and palm trees. Far west Texas has the mountains, rugged desert and breath-taking scenery which is second-to-none. East Texas gets the rain, the trophy bass and the tall pine-trees. Central Texas and the Texas Hill County have a beauty all their own - with rolling hills, magnificent wild-flowers and a deer and turkey population that’s out of this world. Everywhere you turn, everywhere you go; Texas has something to offer. Art, music, a unique wardrobe, food, culture, education, faith, the wild west, the new west, modern cities and even a cattle drive through downtown Fort Worth. Cattle, oil, natural gas and agriculture, tourism, professional level and college sports and FOOTBALL! 600 miles of coast-line and cities steeped in excitement and history; make Texas the most amazing place I’ve ever been. I have now lived in Texas for 35 years. Longer than I have done anything else in my life except for eat and breathe. I have a career that keeps me on the road and have discovered a passion for slowing down to take a picture. Lots of pictures. Snapping THOUSANDS of pictures and then sharing them with you. I always thought that taking the time to stop and smell the roses was for people that had nothing better to do, but it turns out that while I was racing from place to place…I was missing everything. Life is a highway but I’ve learned that living is all about the journey. There’s as much thrill in the travel as there is in the destination. Getting there is only half of life. Living takes place in the middle. At 61, I have finally slowed down (a little bit anyways, lol) and I have learned to take in the peace, beauty and bounty of the place I now call home. I can’t imagine living anywhere else and I have no desire to go anywhere else. I go every day… I drive 50,000 plus miles per year and I see more than I could ever have imagined. I don’t race from one place to the next anymore. I’m not in that big of a hurry. I’ve learned to look and not just see and it takes my breath away. In his song “Sweet Surrender”, John Denver wrote,
“I don't know what the future is holdin' in store
I don't know where I'm goin', I'm not sure where I've been
There's a spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me
My life is worth the livin', I don't need to see the end”. So I’m learning to slow down, have a few less irons in the fire, love my family, love my life, love my surroundings and love my job. I’ve stopped trying to guess the future, don’t worry about the road I’ll be on tomorrow or try to analyze the one I was on yesterday. I’ve turned my life and my will, over to the care of God as I understand Him and I finally feel worthy. I don’t need to see the end because I know it will come soon enough. I will stay in the here-and-now and just enjoy the journey, take the road less traveled most of the time and I’m even open to a couple of surprises every now and then. God blessed Texas and I want to slow down enough to take in those blessings. I chose "photographer" for my occupation on this page because "button pusher" wasn't available. (God sets them up and I just push the button) I am a hobby photographer, not a professional. I headquarter at Lake Fort Phantom Hill, Jones County Texas. If you ever need to get away, pack a bag and crawl up in my truck. Come to work with me, I’d love to share my view of Texas with you. �
