November 16 - ”An attack?”

We are back on the road again.  This time we are headed to the funeral of my cousin’s wife.  Does that make her a cousin-in-law?  I have never understood all those family relationship things.

Anyway, the funeral had to precedence over the event in the park at Jamaica Beach for us, at least.  Family is family.  For those of you still on the Island, however, remember the fundraiser for Officer Kristen, the Jamaica Beach police officer injured in a high speed chase with a suspect.  The event is at the park in Jamaica Beach.  Seasider Lauren has taken over much of the planning and execution of the event, so you can count on it being another great one.  The Volunteer Fire Department is providing brisket, and Lauren told me last night that it tastes amazing.  There will be a silent and a live auction of several goodies, and Seaside’s own Salty Sounds will be providing the music.  Proceeds will all go to Officer Kristin and her family to help with expenses asa she recovers from injuries incurred in the crash.

So where are we?  I guess that’s the question.  I’m not completely sure right now.  Well, I know it’s a Rodeway Inn.  I know there is major construction going on of the road right in front of us.  Just not sure what town we are in.  Yesterday we made our way through the town of Independence, Texas, though.  Nice scenic drive to get there.  We saw a buck and a doe just strolling down some farmer’s long driveway, without a care in the world.  They did speed up their gait a bit when Chris slowed down so we could gawk at them more effectively.  The buck had a pretty good rack on him.  Oh, and we also saw two big ol’ Brahma bulls butting heads with each other for no apparent reason.  One was much smear than the other, so maybe it was a training session for a possible career in the NFL.

Once we arrived in Independence we went right to the Baptist history museum.  No one was home.  A nice little sign on the door assured us they would be back soon.  Rather than just wait around (which, by the way would have been fruitless.  We checked back several times and the curator never made it back).  Apparently “Soon” has a different meaning in Independence, Texas.  We did see the ruins of the girls’ part of the original Baylor University.  Can’t have girls and boys in the same buildings, of course.  And we saw what was affectionately called The Adobe House.  Problem was, they discovered on closer examination that it was not made from adobe at all.  Too late.  The name stuck.  There were several other old buildings in the ton as well as the site of the old town square.  We didn’t visit the general store, but the Adobe House curator assured us that they had everything we could possibly need for living in Independence.

We also stopped in a place called Calvert to look at an antiques store.  Actually it was mostly crafts instead.  They even had a homemade sled - rather ruggedly homemade - that caught Chris’ eye.  Problem with that store?  They were way too proud of their merchandise.  Much, much too expensive.

Oh, and another highlight was the train.  We were stopped by a fairly long train out in the middle of nowhere.  Guess what said train was hauling?  Military gear.  As in trucks and humvees and ... tanks. Yep.  Real tanks.  A few of the tanks were even marked its a big Red Cross.  Can’t say I’ve ever seen a Red Cross tank before.  It felt like we were in a scene of Red Dawn or something.  Did Texas decide to secede and attack the U.S. and we missed the announcement?

And that brought us to the hotel we are staying in.  It is definitely the low end of the spectrum.  It is old and run down.  About the only hope for it was if the room was clean.  And I really have to give them that.  At least it was clean.  Now to see what their continental breakfast is like, since the room it is in is not much bigger than a bathroom.  At least I can get a cup of coffee, right?

1 Peter 3:13 says, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?”

Father, please be with Joe and Anna and Peter today as they walk through their own valley of the shadow of death.  Amen.