Roadside 

So we were headed south on Hwy 17 somewhere between Balmorhea and Ft Davis when Kier gets this overwhelming urge to stop. For a rock. On the side of the road. My girl loves her rocks. And I’ve always rolled with her instincts concerning such matters. So there we were—her on the hunt for the perfect geological specimen and me hanging by the side of the car being supportive. When over the hill comes a state trooper. Now I don’t know if we are even supposed to be stopped on the side of the road much less cherry-picking cobblestones from nature’s quarry here along the highway. I’m a good thirty yards from Kier and I can’t summon a good clear whistle with my dry lips to alert her that she’s about to get busted. The trooper passes. As I suspected, he does a U-turn, throws on his lights and pulls up behind us. We immediately go to his drivers window and start up a conversation about what we’re doing on the side of the road. He simply wanted to know if we were OK. And that there was nothing wrong. Kier said, “Well, I was going to pick up some rocks would that be OK?” He shrugged his shoulders and said he didn’t care. We decided to get a selfie against the backdrop of the beautiful mountain. As we were lining up the shot and begin to take the first series of selfie’s, Officer Terry Lummus came over his intercom and asked, “Would you like me to take a picture for you? “

That is when this photo was taken. It captures that very moment. He then got out of his patrol car and did just that. We ended up having a conversation about 10 minutes. He told me where he patrolled. I told him where I carried mail. It was something memorable for Kier and me on our first leg of last week’s trip. And really an amazing experience with one of our fine Texas state troopers that tirelessly patrol the highways of this state and do such a fantastic job. Thank you sir.