On Being a Wimberleyite

Actually, I'm at a loss for a blog post title but since I have recently relocated back to the village of Wimberley, this seems as good as any.

Cattle and deer now outnumber human neighbors by a large margin and a tin roof wreaks havoc with cell phone service. There is very little light pollution out at my place so it doesn't take much imagination to drift back on the currents of local memory and get a sense of what it was like living here a hundred or more years ago.

I'm also delving into a bit of historical research on the area and have been indulging in a cable channel bonanza of classic westerns. It's a long way from Los Angeles life and most times that just fine with me. My editor at the paper has also asked me to write a couple of pieces for the bi-annual magazine we put out and I have chosen to do at least one report on former Wimberley writer, J. Frank Dobie.

Dobie is known for being a left-wing radical, credited with saving the Longhorn breed and (what's most fascinating to me) collecting the tales, legends and folklore of the old southwest, Texas in particular. So I've just renewed my library card here and am checking out a pair of books compiled by the late great folklorist and storyteller.

I'm keeping my eye out for a certain red pickup truck too but haven't seen it anywhere since I got here a week ago Sunday. We must stop meeting (or not meeting) this way. No idea how that will happen but I'm thinking about drawing a large sign and keeping it in my car so I can flash it at him when next we cross paths.

That way I have a built-in device to counteract my automatic "flight" syndrome and it might be funny enough to break the ice. But what will it say? Howdy? Perhaps it will come to me. I'm open to ideas.

Meanwhile, my father has been in and out of the hospital and in rapidly deteriorating condition. He's so macho though he refuses to stay long enough for the heart treatment he needs because he insists on making the move to Tennessee right on schedule. My sister and I are praying for the angels to keep him safe until he reaches his destination later this week.

Sometimes, as my etiquette teacher once said, your strengths become your weaknesses. It can be hard to know when the winning formula that has saved you and kept you all your life, is not working in your best interest and has turned against you.