There’s a vastness here(Texas)
and
I believe that the people who
are born
here breathe
that vastness into their soul.
They dream big dreams
and think big thoughts,
because
there is nothing to hem them in.
~Conrad Hilton
I wasn’t born here in Texas although my mother was, and we didn’t move here until I was 13 years old. Then in college I met and married a born and bred Texas man who put an end to any dreams I might have had of ever leaving here. But I’ve come to love much of the mystique and the vastness of the unique Texas experience just NOT the intense summer and sometimes into autumn heat. It has always very been difficult for me to withstand these excessively sweltering temperatures as well as their often accompanying high levels of humidity. So until it begins months later to subside again and being ever-so-thankful for air-conditioning I incarcerate myself indoors. Unfortunately my self-imposed imprisonment lasts much longer than I would like. However, the Lord in His goodness always answers our calls of distress and finds ways to provide that which we need in some way. So it was when I bought a house with lots of windows so I can still see outside and then later purchased a digital camera to record outdoor scenes and store them on my computer for indoor viewing. Now at least I don’t feel so totally cut off from nature. How blessed are we that the work of His hands is as apparent as ever in His world.
May the Lord answer you when you are in distress… May He send you help from the sanctuary… May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your praise offerings. May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. May we shout for joy…and…lift up banners in the name of God. May the Lord grant all your requests. ~Excerpts from Psalm 20:1-5 ✝
Well it’s bulls and blood
It’s dust and mud
It’s the roar of a Sunday crowd
It’s the white in his knuckles
The gold in his buckle
He’ll win the next go ’round
It’s boots and chaps
It’s cowboy hats
It’s spurs and latigo
It’s the ropes and the reins
And the joy and the pain
And they call the thing rodeo
These are excerpted lyrics from a song
by Garth Brooks entitled RODE0
**All but two photos in my collage above were taken by me
Sacred Touches 
❤ ❤ ❤
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❌⭕️🌵
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as I was sweating like a pig today while merely watering… I was thinking about you—and wondering how you were enduring—cause I know if it’s bad here, I know its worse there…..whew
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Yeppers it’s nasty and I’m whining big time and staying behind the bars of my cell most if the time! Our humidity is higher than our temp when I first get up and in the low 80’s! So its like a freaking sauna out there‼️ and I know it’s bad there too! So woe is me to both of us!!!💩💩💩
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You are so right about the massive vastness of Texas. From a tourist perspective, I don’t understand how people want to live in such a hot place that keeps them indoors. We spend spring and summer there while we toured the state and couldn’t understand. My husband would avoid the heat outdoors like a plaque. I couldn’t do it. I had to go out and I suffered for it.
On the other hand, I really appreciated the friendliness and the strong faith. It was empowering to be in a place I didn’t have to look over my shoulder when I spoke if Jesus!
It’s so lovely to get to know you. ❤
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You can actually start up in the Panhandle and drive down to the very tip of Texas and it will be all but a 24 hour trip one way. Sometimes its vastness still staggers my imagination. As for the heat it is dreadful and I whine about it all summer long and until it starts to let up sometime in mid to late October. If we’re very lucky, however, sometimes it will lessen a little by late September. But I must say the rest of the year is very pleasant here. Our winters are not too bad except occasionally we have a really cold spell but even they don’t last too long, and sometimes we get a lovely and long springtime which of course starts earlier here than elsewhere but that is nice in a way. I grew up in Southern California and being outside is a way of life out there. I remember spending far more time outside than in year round. My mother who was from Texas originally told me until she died in her 90’s that one day I’d get used to the heat after we moved here, but I just never have. And like I said in my post I hate beingng cooped up inside most of the time for months but I hate even more being out in that awful awful heat.
I often tell my husband that if I’d had to work outside, I’d have died on the job the first day. And what does he say, “oh no you’d get used to it!” Go figure. That must just be a standard Texas response to the heat.
But oh well what are ya gonna do. One just has to find a way to bloom where he/she is planted. And my husband of nearly 54 years “ain’t” as they say hereabouts never leavin’ God’s country. So I’m stuck! I do go out from time to time less now that I’m older and work in the yard in the early morning or around 7:30 or 8 for a little while. But it can still be nearly a 100 degrees at 10PM sometimes so I still come in dripping wet and whining. I have no idea why people choose to live here either except that like I said the bulk of the year really is fairly nice. My ancestors I’ve been told came here in covered wagons from the east and I’ve always said that had I arrived here on a wagon in the summer, I would have done one of two things the next day, kept going west or headed by back east. However, you are right though people tend to be very friendly here for the most part and here in the heart of the Bible belt Jesus is spoken freely and frequently. Thank you for your very nice comment and it’s lovely getting to know you as well. Blessings, Natalie 🙂 ❤
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Would you like to write a guest post for me of your perspective of Texas? I love the way you wrote “bloom where he/she is planted”. And as my writings have been from a touristy perspective, an outsider. I would love to have your heartfelt guest post if you would agree.
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Sure. When would you want something?
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After my husband and I retired we took frequent little trips to places in Texas or Oklahoma or New Mexico and I always wrote a journal entry that included some of the things that we did and some of history or highlights of those regions so I could probably come up with whatever you might be interested in.😊❤️
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Did you get my reply? Email me and I’ll send you a contributor initiation on my site so you can write it up 🙂 cbruner.cb@gmail.com
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I did Chrissy! I’m sorry but I had a bad migraine that started about 4AM and so I got off to a late start on the day. Also had to watch Speith win the open after he nearly lost it. When we get back in from lunch and grocery shopping I’ll email you. Hope your day is going well.😊❤️
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It is 🙂
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😊❤️
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Anytime you’d like. I’m not in a rush. If you could email me i can add you as a contributor to my blog so you can write it. Cbruner.cb@gmail.com
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