Relativity - Texas Hill Country 2017

It is interesting to travel surface roads. You experience places ‘first thing in the morning, no make-up on’.  No fancy photo-shopped travel brochure images here. This is the real thing with the real people. I make it a point not to travel any other way if I can help it.  What’s interesting, to me, is to compare and contrast (oh god, I just sounded like one of my college professors) the things that define the area I’m in, compared to the one I’m used to being in.

This winter we are in the breathtaking Hill Country region of central Texas.  One of the first things I noticed were Fresh Peach stands dotting the highways. Typically, just on the outskirts of some small town.  We arrived just as season was getting over and most were vacant but permanent enough structures to assure one that they would be returning next season. At home in central Iowa these would have been Sweet Corn stands.  Fields along the highway are filled with Prickly Pear Cacti and the windbreaks are made up of Live Oak and Cedar Trees. In Iowa, it would be Dandelions, Black-eyed Susan and the wind breaks are mostly Dogwoods and Poplar trees. Roadside BBQ stands are as common as Casey’s General Stores in the small towns that populate the county highways, called Farm to Market (FM) roads in Texas.  A quick aside, if you are pulling a large rig and your GPS tells you to turn down a Ranch Road, by all means, stop and figure out an alternate route! These roads are narrow, windy and filled with cattle gates, flood gauges and signs warning you that cattle are roaming free. FM roads are okay, it’s what we would call a County Road such as E-18 running from Ogden to Zearing Iowa. Yes, I tell you this from personal experience pulling our 40’ 5^th wheel 30 miles down Ranch Road thanks to the lady on the GPSs' infinite wisdom in finding us the most direct route!  But, I digress…

Skylines are also very different in Texas Hill Country compared to central Iowa. The most noticeable is the absence, in Texas Hill Country, of grain elevators. What one notices here are very tall crosses marking churches in the hills. Otherwise the skyline in Hill Country is mostly dominated by, well, hills. A site to behold!  The roads here are not only hilly (much like Iowa, anywhere near a river valley) but they are also quite curvy as they wind through the hills and around the, privately owned, ranchland that dominates the area.

People here don’t have front doors, they have beautiful stone and wrought iron gates for their, who knows how many acre homesteads. When driving by a large farm in Iowa the farmhouse is a major fixture seen from the road, as are the out- buildings. In the case of a Texas ranch all you see is a road leading into the hills. The house and buildings are well off the road, maybe miles. A traveler can only imagine what lies beyond the beautiful gates.

A shop owner said to me when I first arrived “Hill Country is where God kissed Texas”.  I must agree, it is indeed a beautiful place and the winter climate is amazing, so long as you figure out how to combat the Cedar Trees as they pollinate and wreak havoc on your histamine system! I love the BBQ and the abundance of fresh delicious, comparatively cheap citrus fruit. I arrived too late for the peaches this year. The people are amazing! It is rare to find oneself in the company of such warm, welcoming and geuninely friendly people.



I do, however, look forward to sinking my bare feet in soft luscious grass, eating Iowa Sweet Corn and smothering my grandkids when I return to Central Iowa for the summer.

What I look forward to the most, is being in as many areas as I can to make such comparisons. Not only, to give me new things to learn to love and more people to meet, but also a reminder of what I love about home.  My Dad said to me many years ago, after returning from a long trip, “Iowa is a nice place to come home to.”  He was right.

Until next time....