I’m doing a back-to-back post because I suspect that tomorrow will be a total loss with the drive up to Branson (about 8 hours) and questionable connectivity on that end. Last night was with my girlfriends and having now entered our 60th year and knowing each other for much of that, we discussed a lot of topics. The warmth that comes from friendships of that duration (notwithstanding that I’m the one who was away for nearly twenty years) hovered around us as we enjoyed fajitas, homemade guacamole, and so forth. While I usually do beer with such, wine was fine. Now, the roads that I take to get from my daddy and stepmother’s house to Natchitoches is one of my favorite drives. Not that it is scenic in the traditional sense – nostalgic is much more accurate. It is mostly two lane driving with a fair stretch of it in no-passing lanes with slight hills and curves. There is a mix of agricultural, (and they were harvesting cotton yesterday), gas and oil sites, the pulpwood mill is still going, small towns, and someday I really am going to stop at the Red River Cowboy Church (complete with small corral outside) to see what it is about.

I find a Country and Western station to listen to as I make this drive and think of what I didn’t know back in the days when we drove that road, and what I dreamed of was getting away to see what else was out in the world. Having now been out in that world, I am glad that I have been, and would always urge anyone to do the same. Go, and see, because only then can you make a genuine choice as to what it is that you want. You don’t have to go do everything, but at least enough to understand why you might want to come back to the familiar if that is what you choose.