November 7th
TEXAS. Yep, it takes two days to drive clear across Texas and they’re proud of it. Even the road signs will tell you that:
DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS
$100 FINE FOR LITTERING
In West Texas I whiz by cows, corn, cotton and John Deere tractors. Glancing from the car, crops look like they are squeezed out of the soil. The air is filled with the smell of farms and men are dressed in boots and denim overalls.
I raced the clock to arrive in Abilene before dark to be met by my host Bev and news of the Fort Hood slayings. It was a fly by stop with just enough time for food, conversation and bed and then up again at 3:30 a.m. as I continue east.
By dawn there is a different landscape …..TREES. Against the still, flat drape of land there are tall pines and oaks and something else with drying leaves. Eastern Texas in now lined with trees that make my heart sing as I make my way across into Louisiana and now Vicksburg.
MISSISSIPPI Reverend Chan and Vernon greet me at the door of their 170-year-old house next to the 170-year-old church on a street lined with brick. The massive wooden doors and windows are so tall I have to put my head all the way back to see the top, and the spiral stair case speaks out as I ascend to my room decorated in flowered wall paper, lace curtains and a bed that can’t wait to be experienced.
I breathe deep into the welcome of tacos and conversation and a tour of the church where we will do a workshop on pilgrimages. Now wouldn’t you say this was a timely topic that I just walked into?
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