Riding with the window down…

Okay, so I am about a year into this “change of life” that culminated in my marriage and the addition of three amazing kids to my household - so what’s the verdict?  Duh - you KNOW I think it rocks.

A lot has changed in the last year.  Again - duh.  I am writing this post sitting in our new chocolate shop - Sweet Wimberley, located right off the square in Wimberley, Texas… who saw THAT coming?  Dawn, the kids, and I own five acres in the beautiful hill country that surrounds Wimberley.  I drive kids to school in the mornings, take them to scouts and Young Women’s at the church and barbecue in the backyard.  My long-time friends ask, “Who are you and what did you do with Chris?”  He just grew up is all.

I spend each day more thankful than the one before.  I am thankful that I was born in the United States, thankful that I grew up and live in Texas, thankful for my beautiful, intelligent wife, thankful for the blessings that are Kenzie, Logan and Dallin, thankful that I have the best Mom ever, thankful for life lessons taught by my father, thankful to have intelligent and fun siblings that wouldn’t hesitate to give me the shirt off their backs, thankful for the opportunities I have had to learn and to grow along the way, thankful to be surrounded by great friends, thankful for my health and thankful most of all that, despite a lifetime of stubbornness and pride, I have learned to stop and be grateful - to acknowledge just how lucky I am.

When something goes right for a person, you have heard them exclaim, “must be good living.”  I hope where I find myself now is a reward for trying to do the right thing, but even if it isn’t - I’ll take it.

I’ve already mentioned the serious numbers of scorpions around our new home in Wimberley, but thought it was time to mention a couple of the other critters we have in abundance.

The first one you cannot help but notice this time of year.  You may think the cacophony of sound you hear in and around the Wimberley valley is the cicada, but you’d be wrong.  It is the katydid.

This little booger makes a horrendous noise that can be heard day and night.  Talking on a cell phone while outside is nearly impossible.

Another cool crawly that we have a lot of around here are walking sticks.   Not only are these MUCH bigger than any I have ever scene along the Gulf Coast, they are just too cool.  The fact that they are endangered makes their numbers and size around here that much cooler.  This one is nearly 8 inches long!

So yeah, we have some scorpions, huge centipedes and even rattlesnakes, but there is a lot of coolness to the Hill Country as well.

Chris flips the Blackberry on for a quick video update on a beautiful drive through the Texas Hill Country.

The weather the past few weekends has been amazing. That, combined with the Spring flowers, prompted me to grab the camera. Here are just a few of the recent shots.

Weathered Beauty

Sleeping Beauty

Lone Star Beauty

Anyone who tells you that life isn’t good - just isn’t looking.

I went with the boys to Camp Ben McCullough today so for a scouting activity. The setup was that each boy had the opportunity to earn five belt loops by participating in various activities. Logan and Dallin both earned the same five belt loops Soccer, Kickball, Hiking, Marbles and Baseball. There were several other options like Geology, Art, Maps etc.

It was a blast and I got to take pics throughout each of the events except for soccer (because I was running that event.) We snapped this picture while on the hike.

Click on the photo to check out all the shots from the event.

Good times!

Upon discovering a scorpion in the bathtub of our new house this morning, I was reminded of a poem that absolutely enthralled me as a child of about 7 or 8. The piece, called “Hell in Texas” was in a book of poetry that my mom kept around the house and has stuck with me to this day.

We had recently moved to Texas from Minnesota and for a wide-eyed kid to find himself smack dab in the middle on the biggest of the big places in the world - Texas, was amazing. I instantly fell in love with the larger-than-life characters of Texas history as well as the rugged, individualistic swagger that said (without a word) - Texan!

When I discovered the poem, I read it over and over until I had it memorized. This is the only poem in my life I have ever memorized. It just meant that much to me. Without further prefacing, let me post it:

Hell in Texas

The Devil, we’re told, in hell was chained,
and a thousand years he there remained,
and he never complained, nor did he groan,
but determined to start a Hell of his own
where he could torment the souls of men
without being chained to a prison pen.

So he asked the Lord if he had on hand
anything left when he made the land.
The Lord said, “yes, i had plenty on hand,
but i left it down on the Rio Grande.
The fact is, old boy, the stuff is so poor,
i don’t think you can use it in Hell anymore.”

But the Devil went down to look at the truck,
and said if it came as a gift, he was stuck;
for after examining it careful and well
he concluded the place was too dry for hell.
So in order to get it off his hands
God promised the Devil to water the lands.

For he had some water, or rather some dregs,
a regular cathartic that smelt like bad eggs.
Hence the deal was closed and the deed was given,
and the Lord went back to his place in Heaven,
and the Devil said, “I have all that is needed
to make a good Hell.” And thus he succeeded.

He began to put thorns on all the trees,
and he mixed the sand with millions of fleas,
he scattered tarantulas along all the roads,
put thorns on the cacti and horns on the toads;
he lengthened the horns of the Texas steers
and put an addition on jack rabbit’s ears.

He put little devils in the bronco steed
and poisoned the feet of the centipede.
The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion stings,
the mosquito delights you by buzzing his wings.
The sand burrs prevail, so do the ants,
and those that sit down need half soles on their pants.

The Devil then said that throughout the land
he’d manage to keep up the Devil’s own brand,
and all would be mavericks unless they bore
the marks and scratches and bites by the score.
The heat in the summer is a hundred and ten,
too hot for the devil and too hot for men.

The wild boar roams through the black chaparral,
it’s a Hell of a place he has for Hell;
the red pepper grows by the bank of the brook,
the Mexicans use it in all that they cook.
Just dine with a greaser and then you will shout,
“I’ve a Hell on the inside as well as without.”

Thank you Mom for having the book in the first place and for instilling in me a love of reading, thank you Dawn for the conversation this morning that reminded me of this lost gem, and thank you Hap for doing the legwork to track it down and send it to me.

Most of all - thank YOU for reading.

Chris finally lays down some video at the new homestead and reminds you to pay special attention to the “little things.”

I sorta walked away from YouTube years ago and recently decided to look into putting more of my content on that site.

Here is the first ChrisCast that I posted to YouTube

Playing around with the tagging and various other aspects to posting on YouTube.

0:38
On one of our bike trips we discovered Jacob’s Well Nature Area… now we delve further into the woods.

Maddi, Dawn and I climbed Old Badly this afternoon after a quick meal at Mima’s. It was a lot of fun and the weather combined with the view from the top made it well worth the climb.