leaving early

500 and a few miles to go
and all day to get there

no hurry

.....

passed Kerrville
then past Junction

i love these
limestone and granite hills,
oak and cedar,
cattle and sheep

this highway
a two lane roller coaster ride
thirty years ago
as it curved over and around the hills

now an interstate
cutting through the hills
like a hot knife
through butter, exposing
millions of years of geological history
on either side,
flashing by at 80 miles per hour

a long, long story
none of the passers-by have time to read

.....

a palomino
with twin colts -
gold dancing
on a green field

.....

a gathering
of buzzards, fifteen, at least,
on a little hill on the side of the road

so unusual
to see them together like this
with no carrion
in sight

a meeting perhaps
to decry
the sharp decrease in dying
this season
as times are unfortunately good

possibly
stimulus package is required
but that sort of thing
is not in their nature, they seek
death and they await death, but it is not
their way to initiate it

.....

i saw it

past Junction
past Sonona and Ozona

looking like a natural rock formation
near the top of the hill

i’ve been watching for it for at least
twenty-five years - since the first time
we saw it by accident, took the short drive
up the hill to look at it,
and from it
look out on the long valley below
and the next rise of hills
and the valley beyond them

a look-out post
for one of the many forts established in a
long line through here
in the 1870’s,
when the fierce warriors of the Comanche
were feared by the anglos and the spanish
and the other native peoples as well

buffalo soldiers many of those who manned
these hot, dusty outposts, but others too
a long way from home, guarding that frontier

the forts did not stay open long, and little
beyond their natural rock foundation remain,
except for Fort Davis in the Davis Mountains,
a part now
of adjoining national and state parks

high on the hill
the look-out post,
looking like a natural rock formation

i think i saw it finally again

.....

travel with Reba
takes a while,
since she likes to stop and sniff and pee
at every roadside park,
but good companion that she is,
i humor her

this park,
one we stopped at for the first time
twenty years ago

concrete tables
covered by roofs anchored to large wagon wheels,

i have pictures of D and my mother,
who loved to travel with us after my father died,
just as we loved to have her in the back seat
keeping our son, about 6 years old at the time,
amused, or at least quiet

in one of the pictures he has climbed to the top
of one of the wheels, look, grandma, no hands

this is one of the better parks between San Antonio
and El Paso, so we stop whenever we pass, and
every time we stop
i think of those days past
and how much i wish i could live them again

.....

wind turbines
their sleek modern design,
curves and angles combined,
clean and white, standing tall
and twirling
atop the mesas all around

beautiful as any art

.....

the mesa,
formed by wind and rain
for thousands of years
to resemble a breast
complete with erect nipple
kissed
by the blue West Texas sky

.....

the interstate is left behind
at Fort Stockton,
with a turn more directly north,
the wind still blows strongly
as it has since i left San Antonio,
but now, instead of fighting against me,
it is at my back

*****

Carlsbad,
the Cavern
and the Grand Canyon,
two American holes in the ground
that should be seen
by anyone who hasn’t

.....

Roswell
is a bigger city that i remember
from my times passing through before

i pass a Starbucks as i search for my hotel -
all is well for tomorrow morning

i notice signs of scientific advancement
as i pass through downtown -
the flying saucer museum is now
the flying saucer museum and research center

a shower,
a poem, Reba sleeping behind me,
and dinner -
in that order of priority

Allen, as usual I loved your relaxed "travelogue". I'm curious...do you use a tape recorder as you drive to catch all of theses little scenes...you can't possibly keep pulling over on the highway? Or do you just have one good hell of a memory when you get to the motel?? At first I thought your "travels with Reba" was going to be you driving along listening to Reba Macintyre...then I thought maybe it was your wife...we women do like to stop & pee a lot...but we don't usually sniff...so I guess it was your dog!

I liked the reminiscing of the old lookout...it sounded like a scene from all those cowboy shows I grew up on...Wyatt Earp, Buffalo Bill, Sugarfoot, Broken Arrow...

I liked your contrast of the beautiful scenic roller coaster ride now a swift interstate cutting through those hills like a hot knife through butter.

The palominos, golden against the green...

The group of buzzards...maybe they already had their carrion on the ground in the midst of them, unseen by passersby?

Let's face it...I liked it all, as usual. Thanks for sharing it.

~~flutter~~