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.

Forward!

Life is more than things.  Life is more than people. Sure, those bring meaning to life, but life would exist without them.  Technically.  It wouldn’t be a very colorful and meaningful life. But it would go on.  So, my real point is that life’s meaning and beginning starts elsewhere.  Inside.  The assessment of who you are and what you are doing here.  How do you identify yourself and put this meaning in your life?  It starts with purpose.  It is carried in purpose.  It is evaluated in purpose.  Beginning.  Middle.  End.  Just like a good book.  That’s the nature of everything, really.  Though catastrophic things happen in life that make us think we are nearing the end---hardships, trials, loss of relationships, etc.---we are the ones who decide if it is just the middle and that our best days are not behind us.  That is the dread that I, for one, deal with.  And I’m sure it does others just like me.  So, what do we do?  We drive forward, doing what we do, caring like we care, and loving like we always loved.  And realize that the dream still hanging around haunting us, may not be the past taunting us but a viable future calling us forward.