Red Pickups, Bison Bones & Second Chances

I had a clear idea about what I was going to write when I logged in. The perfect words presented themselves but now they're gone. It has to do with a bank deposit at the drive-thru, a red pickup and second chances. I can tell you this...

It's hard to see through tinted glass, especially when you're having trouble believing what you're seeing. I can be very slow on the uptake, in any case but I'm fairly certain that's obvious. If this sounds cryptic - that's because it is.

This evening was spent at the Wimberley City Council Meeting. It's now my job to cover the happenings that relate to city business so all those kinds of meetings are part of my beat. We had an enormous agenda so it went late. I can't believe I'm in this role and yet I'm loving it, really and truly. There's more developing there too. Details to follow...

In other news, I finished that feature article for Cedar Park Magazine. It led me to some incredible archaeological research and an interview with Dr. Michael Collins, the principal researcher on the Wilson-Leonard excavation.

From a writing perspective, the project was a structurally complex exercise - but that was my choice. I wrote it in a non-linear format with a bookend device to hold it together. Check out the next issue of Cedar Park Magazine. The Fascinating History of Cedar Park (by me) is the cover story.

I'm in the process of buying a classic, white 300E Mercedes Benz. She's very pretty and will be the only one of it's kind Wimberley I can almost guarantee. All the driving from Austin to Wimberley is getting old so I'll be moving closer to Wimberley as soon as I find the right space.

It's a great little town. Last night former mayor Steve Klepfer attended the city council meeting to ask the council to name the gate house of the newly dedicated Blue Hole Regional Park after the Way Family. When I asked him about his love for the community he said, "It's only town in America without adult supervision."

Just My Imagination

Great weekend in Wimberley. I decided to take in the local rodeo the night of July 3 before the big fourth of July parade and took tons of photos. Most of them didn't come out because I don't know this camera very well but it was oddly like Deja vu. Even though I've never been to a rodeo before in my life, relatives on my mother's side of the family are native Texans and one cousin owns a small ranch and hosts a rodeo.

So I had this odd mix of feelings - roaming around amid a bunch of professional cowboys. A sea of white hats and a down-home feel. There was one man there who struck me as someone I knew and it haunted me for the rest of the evening. Was it just my imagination, running away with me? The whole experience was loaded with longing and passion. I went home alone feeling things I haven't felt in ages.

This isn't him (my guy was standing on the sidelines) but I love this shot because the cowboy is so naturally exuberant and in his element. There was something wonderfully pure about the whole event - at least from my perspective. Some part of my childhood came thundering back, made me want to stay and stay even though I was there alone and being there alone was painful - apart from the attractive man on the sidelines and in the midst of such community as an outsider.

I missed the bull-riding but paid the brahma beasts a visit in the pen and found them strangely beautiful too. They seemed to enjoy having their picture taken. One of the cowboys told me they like the attention.The fourth of July parade was so idyllic it was hard to believe a place like Wimberley actually exists in real life. This too produced powerful bittersweet emotions. I found myself hoping I would see that guy again - looking for him in the crowd. It's like he's the symbol of everything I ever hoped for or something.

Anyway, since then I've been working hard on stories for the paper and have just been hired to write a feature for a magazine so I'm super busy but in a great way.

Fourth of July in a Small American Town

This is one of the big holiday weekends in the United States. Fourth of July is our independence day and this year I'll be covering the event as a reporter in a small Texas town. When you've lived in the massive urban sprawl that is Los Angeles for as long as I have, it's like culture shock to experience the closeness of a village of 2,700.

Wimberley is a place where you can't cross the street with out seeing somebody you know. That can be a good and a bad thing! Sometimes I feel like I'm backstage at Disneyland again. This is the Americana Hollywood tells stories about but it's better because it's real.

A parade starts the day on Monday at about 10 am. Ranch to Market Road 2325 (one of the main roads that lead into the village of Wimberley) will be shut down for the event. They'll march to the town square and then everyone is invited to a jubilee on the green next to Cypress Creek. I'll be there with camera and notebook in hand.