19.) Other Lives....Co-Pilots...."The Most Beautiful Place In Texas"....

     It never fails does it? After you have a stellar day complete with fresh air, accomplishment, and a vague sense of pride something happens to knock you back to earth.  My fall was delivered in the form of flashing red and blue lights in my rearview.  The second I saw them my eyes dropped to the speedometer but I knew I was speeding before they even got there.  At this same moment I became conscious of the fact that I was traveling downhill which would only aid me in breaking the posted speed limit.  *sigh* “Shit..” quietly to myself, but still out loud and pull over.

The officer walks to the passenger side window so he isn’t standing in the middle of the highway while we converse.  The first thing I notice is that he’s probably the most handsome man in history. Like, distractingly so.  I’ll admit that it’s a weird thing for me to notice but I maintain that this man was operating at a level of handsome so out of the realm that this would have been the first thing ANYONE would notice about him.  Even the super manly, sleeveless flannel kinda lesbians would have noticed and been momentarily thrown by it. Given each other a little nod and a raise of the eyebrows....humph, good looking dude.
  He proceeds to tell me that I was speeding and I admit that yes, it got away from me a little coming down that hill there.  He then informs me that my passenger side tail light is out.  What the fuck?! I just replaced it! Wait, no, I just replaced the driver side one….now the other ones out? Is that a weird coincidence or does that sort of make sense? Both of them going out around the same time. It doesn't matter really, and I prepare myself for a ticket after venting my frustrations with taillight replacement to the officer.  To my surprise he lets me off with a warning and a promise to fix the light as soon as humanly possible.  I believe I’ve mentioned this before but I had been pulled over a month or so previously when the other taillight had gone out.  This was in Houston, Texas before I left on my trip.  THAT officer was waiting in a parking lot across the street from a bar where I played darts.  When I left he had followed me more than halfway home and finally he pulled me over.  I had go through a whole field sobriety test. The line walking, the nose touching, the one foot standing.  I passed them all and afterwards the officer hands me a ticket for 130 dollars, says your driver side taillight is out and walks away.  The moral of the story is that cops in Houston are way more douchey than border patrol officers in the middle of the west Texas desert.  

The closest congregation of people is the liberally named Dell “City”, population 413 or so says the  green, sun faded sign on the outskirts of town.  Just a few low buildings on an indiscriminate stretch of highway.  A school, a post office, a gas station….that's Dell City.  The kids probably dream of escaping; and for a moment I wonder where they go in their dreams. Theres nothing visible in any direction, just desert and mountains; so I think,  "Wherever they go, it’s a long way off". I receive a package from, and send a postcard to, another life.  A life that’s not too distant chronologically but still seems a million miles away. In the package I get some new cd’s which is perfect, (all my cd’s are buried somewhere in the bowls of the jeep) and a small stuffed penguin wearing a flower lei. He is quickly dubbed Aloha Penguin. His friends call him A.P. And he becomes my co-pilot from here on out. He’s a fine soldier and he never abandons his post. 

Luckily, the Dell City gas station is also a NAPA so I’m able to find a spare bulb for my taillight inside and replace the old one right in the parking lot outside. You don’t realize how often a problem can be solved by a set of needle nose pliers or a socket wrench.  A simple tool box is one of life’s essentials.  With new lights on the outside and new music on the inside I point the jeep back towards the park and spend the next few days on the trails. 

    
      I follow a wash into a valley and over boulders to Devil’s Hall.  Again with the massive power of water. The hall itself is a narrow passage created by water eating its way through the soft rock layers. Each layer is visible making the canyon walls resemble miniature staircases. It’s an attractive place despite the name; made even more welcoming by the absence of people.  I haven’t seen one other person on this entire hike.  The solitude is relaxing. I lay back on a rock to sun myself and simply enjoy. 

 

Later I hike into Mcklintick Canyon all the way to Pratt Cabin.  Mr. Pratt called this canyon “the most beautiful spot in Texas” and it’s easy to see why. Even now, in mid March while most foliage is still dead or dormant and with the area slowly recovering from a major flood years ago it’s still gorgeous.  Peeking through the spaces between the trees are ridges climbing upward on both sides and the sky a perfect blue. In full bloom it must be just incredible. The thought solidifies itself as a deer bounds along the edge of the secluded clearing and into the forest beyond.  I admire the cabin and a few out buildings all made entirely of stone, even the roof.  I cup my hands around my face to peer in through the windows. It’s simple and secluded and seems like a wonderful place to settle down.  I do just that, in a chair on the front porch with a book.  We forget how pleasant it can be to sit in a pretty place and just be. It’s magic.  

I’m deeply entranced in my book when a flying, buzzing insect of some type slams full speed into the pages just inches from my face. The spell is broken and I look around the canyon glad that no ones around to witness how high I jumped. On the hike back my mind wanders. The trip is beginning to congeal, to become an actual thing with a tone and personality.  The further I go the more convinced I become that this trip was the EXACT right thing to do. I’ve hiked over 40 miles now and I’m feeling better physically, I already seem to have more energy.  It’s early to bed  and rising with the sun and I’m enjoying all of it. Soon I’ll cross my first state line and be finished with Texas for good.