Having woods, a creek and dairy farms near a tiny town does sound like a rural life. It must've been an adjustment after living in the big city?
The property I grew up on had farm land all around it and a citrus grove nearby. Ever eaten an orange freshly picked from a tree? If you squeeze the peel over a flame, it creates a mini-explosion from the oil in the peel. A lot of the oil is lost in processing, so it doesn't work so well with a store-bought orange. And have you ever picked cotton? I did that a lot, which is another story.
It was the southern tip of Texas, so we were pretty much isolated from civilization. It was unique, in that Mexico and the beaches of South Padre Island were nearby, a lot of the roads were lined with tall palm trees, and citrus trees, cotton fields and vegetable crops dominated the countryside. But like a lot of things, it's changed a lot in the past 40 years .. development and "progress" has diminished the once special flavor of the area.
In 1960 my family's five acres found itself squarely on the centerline of plans for a new freeway. So in 1962, on the day Marilyn Monroe died, my family moved to a new home in town. It made life easier for my parents, with the reduced maintenance and so forth. My mother still lives there at 90, with my dad having died at 90 two years ago. After living in Houston for 38 years, my odds of living to be 90 aren't nearly as great as my parents' in their small town. But I don't know if I could move back to small-town life at this point ...
I remember the late '60s Riviera .. the rear half had the look of a large beetle. I knew a young couple who had two of them. But that particular compatibility wasn't enough to take them the distance .. they later divorced. I think the hubby found a sportier model, so to speak. <g>
Came thru Claudette without any problems .. just moderate wind, needed rain and a generally uncharacteristic summer day weatherwise .. it had a different feel to it that only a hurricane in the area could produce.
Justin
