I appreciate having a Texas Flagstone on which to rest the perfectly formed cow paddy, a partial deer skull and cattle fémur bone, a sign of drought so severe the cactus dry up, and a couple of flower species poisonous to livestock were they desperate enough to eat them; and just for my host who deigned not to attend Texas A &M university, an orange Longhorn beetle who feasts on the marvelously named Spider Antelope Milkweed. So what do Texas ranchers get for all their hard work and gamble? One penny — I found on the pasture path, and a Texas Lottery coin I’ve been carrying in my suitcase. That about sums up life in Texas as per this collection.
And interestingly enough, my reading assignment for this journey west offers this observation which is most appropriate to the arduous efforts of Texas farmers and ranchers: From Hermann Hesse’s Journey to the East — muses:
“One paradox, however, must be accepted and this is that it is necessary to continually attempt the seemingly impossible.”
Makes me a little homesick.