Build it and I will come…

I packed it all. Everything I thought I might need or use for the next couple of days was tossed in the 4-Runner and away I went on a short road trip. Making a big circle through the heart of Texas, my final stop before I head to the house was in Taylor. The school mascot was a duck when I was in high school. The Taylor Fighting Ducks. I guess I will always remember that. How could I not?

But this trip was to a new secret spot. Way out in the middle of the corn fields that are so abundant on the east side of the Balcone’s Fault line. East side of Interstate 35 is the black, sticky gumbo dirt with some pine trees in the red sand and Elderberry, Blackberry and all of those other berries.

Otis stuck his nose out the window as we entered the corn fields. I bet it smelled different and new. Down a little county road, across the railroad tracks and take the first right were her very clear instructions.

The narrow dirt road ran along the tracks for a bit and I could see the roof of the farm-house just above the rows of corn plants.

One wrong turn sent me to this scene. Whoops! Sorry, momma.

Then I was there. My friend Karen’s new home. Situated under gloriously old and thankfully shading pecan trees, surrounded by crops offering all the privacy any fence could ever give, sits a sweet old house and farm created by her grandparents that she has been so blessed to be able to move in and make her own. She has already  felt evidence that they are there with her and I’m sure they are jumping with joy that she is getting settled into the land steeped in years of childhood memories. She will take care of retired horses here. It will be a horse heaven on Earth.

First project…let’s get this little grill put together so we can cook the chicken sausages I brought. Yum…with spinach and feta cheese in them.

Read the instructions girls because this could prove to be a mind blower…

Finally, supper and some wine, Otis and the farm dogs wrestling in the background.

Alison Krause and Johnny Cash songs floated out of her bedroom window and over the patio following me to the railroad tracks. Walking up there on those tracks, I found cool stuff, spikes and chunks of metal that I only assume fell off the train or were left in the construction and maintenance of the tracks.

Roasted veggies and sausage satisfied us both and night fall brought out the frogs and crickets orchestra.

A sacred moment with a friend in her most special spot. Thank you, ancestors.

Names of ancestors

Golden and silky corn ponytails

One of many lovely views from the house

Happiness is so simple. All you need is a tractor and some dogs

Cross on the horizon

End of a gorgeous day

Her cool, old stove fits perfectly in the farm house kitchen

On the back of the horse trailer…

On sale for 8 dollars at the grocery store cooks anything you want with pecan twigs we picked up under the trees and a chunk of mesquite wood for good luck…and flavor