East Texas Evenings
Last week I had the true pleasure to go back down to East Texas, surrounded by the big green pines, standing over the soft red dirt, breathing in the warm summer breeze of a land overlooked in this grand state.
Truly God’s Country.
I drove 8hrs to spend time with nature, and best of all my Great Aunt Marcia. We sure kicked it like the good ol’ days.
Growing up my family would visit every summer so my mom could raise a few boys who at least knew a little taste of ‘country life’, and ease her conscience.
Most of that taste consisted of the flavors of gunpowder and diesel burning, but also a good savoriness of exploration, good conversation and learning.
My Aunt Marcia and I hit the major things to do on an ‘Alto Trip’. We rode on 4 wheelers, shot MANY, many guns, rode out to ‘Cow-Patty Holler’, ate her legendary chicken spaghetti and talked until the lightning bugs and stars emerged.
And on a usual trip you then wake up, eat powdered donuts the next morning and repeat to your heart’s content.
My trusty, and beautiful M1 Garand
Here on this gallery below, you can some truly old photos. I got to visit the local Alto library and take photos of many glass plate negatives that are well over 100 years old, all preserved and cataloged thanks to the invaluable Mrs. Singletary. We were told these negatives were donated by a ‘Ms. Rogers’ quite some time ago. Unknown to me until handling these fragile plates is that, in someway, through my shared bloodline with my Great Aunt Marcia, I, like her am related to the Rogers family in some regard…so my perception changed once I realized that these photos likely contain at least one of my direct ancestors.
Quite humbling if you ask me.
This trip was really something distinct, yet quite doeful.
This trip was my first back down there in well over a year.
This trip was my first one without my Unky there.
There were no westerns playing on the TV. There was an empty chair at the head of the table where he sat. There wasn’t his conniving chuckle to echo on the porch.
It’s been well over a year since he left us, but Aunt Marcia and I made-do. East Texas is God’s country and if heaven is even half as pretty, I know he’s happy
-Jace Miserak
