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First things being first...
 April 15 -
Ok...first,a few oversights from the last RoadNotes...first, never,
ever drink Landshark Lager...a friend and I were repeatedly offered
free ones and when we finally caved under the pressure, it bit us in
the butt...it's a nasty, Corona-like swill that even when free makes
you feel cheap...in fact if you do an internet seach under "world's
worst beers - LandShark" ...it comes up everywhere. Consider yourself
warned!
Secondly, my RAT is apparently gone? I'm pretty sure he didn't die, but
rather jumped ship...guess the road was too tough for that tailless
little...geez, what have I become, now I'm ridiculing rats for crying
out loud...anyhow, oddly enough he went missing after I returned to
Catalina State park in Tuicson, Az, same park I picked him up
in...maybe he just wanted to see america for awhile like me...kindred
spirits you might say...kinda sorry I took that tail now..
April 23rd - I'm the first to admit that I'm no joiner...no clubs, no
military, no charities, no secret handshakes...which is why it is so
out of character that here in Denton, Tx, I enthusiastically joind the
Unicorn Club.
It seemed like the right thing to do as I truly felt I could live up to
all that they would ask of me... which is basically nothing. There is a
membership form to be filled out, but there are no meetings, no dues,
and definitely no funny hats, in fact I've not even met any members nor
do I expect to.
So what might you ask was it that drew me to such an undemanding and
seemingly an organization without focus? Well...it was the only way you
can get a drink in this county which borders an otherwise dry
county..none of the bartenders understood it and only offered that
"other" employees had been fired for not signing up customers, er
members.
So...if any of you fellow members would like to properly welcome me to
the club, then I guess the Texan way to do it would be to buy the first
round.
 May 1st - Geez, who ever thought I would
long for the days of my nemisis rat...all he/she did was chew threw my
electrical wire and crap a bit around the place...
That is of course, unlike the army of ticks who are intent on not only
making the dogs' life misearble, but mine as well....pulled five off of
my head this evening and at least ten off the dogs.
Willow seems to be bearing the brunt of these critters...not sure why,
but she has big shoulders and is a great patient...and while it can't
feel good to have me remove them, with each an every incident it
reminds me of The
Lion and Androcles.
May 3rd - I'm here in Austin (told you I couldn't get out )and I have
an important message to the rest of America's mentally ill, drunks,
slackers, and otherwise homeless, LEARN from Austin's down trodden...
Not only do they have THE most creative ways I've heard to ask you for
"beer money", (They also have creative ways to tell you to piss off
when you tell them to piss off) , but more than a fair number of them
have taken on a truly useful public service...that of locating open
parking spaces...
Now some may scoff at this but the way to make it in this world is to
find a simple solution to a big problem and these gents have done it.
(sorry ladies, didn't see a one of you)...
So as you travel through downtown Austin ready to pull your hair out
over the big city traffic and lack of parking, just look for the
friendly, but filthy face and waving towel of one the city's
homeless...they will add years to your life by eliminating the stress
of finding you that parking space you really need, and you will shorten
their's by offering them a small donation toward yet another beer they
really don't need.
I won't go as far as to call it a win-win situation, but it certainly
is symbiotic.
Oh, and to all RoadNotes readers, if you don't mind, take a lesson from
a fellow reader (and someone who I consider a friend) if you plan on
attending a show, I would love if you would stop by to say hello and
what better way to say love than by bringing with you a fine example of
the local cuisine.
Kelly did that at that the Houston show and served up one of the finest
catfish sandwhiches I have ever had the pleasure of...thanks again
Kelly.
Since I started capturing the "Vanishing West" it has
been a constant battle as to whether I should offer the stories behind
the photos...many have said yes, some have had said absolutely not...
I have always planned to do so, but thought that I might wait till I
had a broader library of images,...that said, I recently had the
opportunity to spend a few hours shooting a horse and its owner and
along the way learned a lot about both of them.
In short, it was a story that made me rethink how now might be the time
to start writing the stories behind the images....not so much because
it was so unique, but because it wasn't...in fact it's universal...
I say that because I've met so many women (sorry guys, they're just
deeper than you) who came West because it called them... and now it is
their calling...that's rare in life, even if this story isn't...anyway,
this is what one of those stories behind the picture would look like,
you decide...
The tale behind this picture is not an unimportant one. Which means it
is important, because it’s a lesson about the West...it’s allure, it’s
spirit, it’s draw. And no, not just because it involves a horse, they
are many. And certainly not just because it involves a girl...those
stories are also plentiful in the West too.
No, this story involves a girl and her horse, a combination which is
not in short supply either, but certainly not this girl and certainly
not this horse. To be honest, it’s a story about two girls, one of
which happens to be a horse...a horse that nobody wanted, and the
other, a girl, that no one would leave alone.
Some will take offense that I call her a girl, but I do and I will. Not
because she isn’t every bit a woman, with all of a woman’s gifts and
frailties, but because despite a life that should have worn down a girl
beyond her years, this woman continues to walk with a pure heart and a
youthful spirit...or, the spirit of a “girl”... one untouched by her
past.
Now this is not to say that she hasn’t been touched by that past, but
while some would cave in and most would shut down, she instead, broke
out...just like the horse with a youthful spirit that nobody wanted,
but wouldn’t be denied.
In her case, it meant moving west to Arizona, a place she had never
been...but somehow knew she belonged...it meant owning a
horse...something she had never done... but something she knew she
needed to...and it meant buying a wreck, only to buck and break her
back...yet continuing to ride.
In the case of the horse, it meant years of neglect...but the will to
endure, it meant buying time...while waiting to get bought, and it
meant being alive...but needing to go home.
Yep, the West is the place where one had always wondered about living,
and the other had always lived.
Well they both live there now and the why is no longer a wonder. So you
see, this picture really is about the West. It’s boldness and beauty
has always drawn the same, wall whether they be wanderers or wayfarers,
outlaws or outcasts, or in the case of the girls, merely dreamers, who
found each other, in the end it happened here.
Ahh yes, the West...a place that invades one's heart and takes over
one’s soul, challenges both, yet heals so much more....so, there you
have it, the first in a long list of images that will soon have
stories.
May 5th - Now Willow (my Chessie for newcomers )is
really confused...her theory on all round smooth objects (see the last
RoadNotes) being turtles just flew or scampered out the window when she
and the the delinquent (Diesel) cornered an Armadillo on our hike this
evening.
It sure looked like a tortoise, but boy did it move faster.
Wow, two firsts in one day...while
on our afternoon walk, the hounds sniffed out yet another turtle, only
when faced with both Willow, this tough old girl refused to back into
her shell..
Now I know some of you are saying, 'yeah, right how did he know it was
a girl' while the rest of you are no doubt impressed with my ability to
sex a terrapin.
Well in this case, neither is the case...it's just that we happened to
come along as she was filling a small hole with her eggs...I felt like
hugging her as she huffed and puffed and continued this obviously
difficult process, but I'm pretty sure that gets you the boot from any
state park, and in this state it probably graduates you from the Texas
park system to the Texas penal system.
The next 'first' occurred less than an hour later when I was driving
from the park (McKinney Falls) and an American
Kestrel swooped down up ahead of my car and landed upon a juvenile
rattler...they fought wldly as I drove toward them, but as I readied my
cell phone camera, the hawk had gotten the upper hand?....talon?...but
snakes don't even...never mind...the falcon became more concerned with
me and took flight into a nearby Walnut tree along with its dinner, as
I went to order mine in a FAR less valiant efffort at a nearby TGI
Fridays...
To serve and protect, to serve and protect...gotta remind myself to
remeremember that...
Geez...another encounter with the local P.D....this time in Houston
where the cops sit under freeway overpasses (6 cruisers) and as you
turn, they await you with open arms and wave you over, ever so
gracefully to accept your ticket for not wearing a seat belt!!
A local Houstontonian (is that a word) told me they do that when it's
raining (it wasn't but was about to) so they don't get
wet...uhhh...P.D...trust me I have other words for this P$##Y Department
Random thought...Ok, no more Starbursts....a few days ago one almost
took a crown off my rear molar and tonight as I sit in a Texas
RoadHouse, it feels like someone gave me a tetanus shot in my lower
jaw....but enough whining and more wine please.
I don't know what it was about booth
#173 at the Old Pecan Street festival
in Ausitin (my booth),.but every
"Keep Austin Weird" charcter in the
world seemed to choose it to make
their presence known.... if you don't believe me, let me introduce you
to "Leslie" a one-time Austin Mayoral candidate donning a cheerleader
outfit and all too proud in showing his thong to any and all who would
watch.
A very young black boy who passed by with his family was scolded by his
mom when he said 'That shit's nasty!', but I couldn't agree more.
Further Evidence We're a Nation in Decline -
I'm discontinueing this section. it's like shooting fish in a barrel
...I saw things on t-shirts worn by both men and women in Tulsa that
were simply amazing...no more evidence is needed, America has declined.
End of story.
In it's place, I shall now begin a "Found Turtle/Tortoise Counter:
00011
May 1st- Ok, here's my trailer woe of the month (Geez, I hope it's the
only one of the month) ....as I was driving just south of Waco, Tx some
big rig kicked up some hunk of metal which of course came toward me
like I was hauling a 40ft magnet and it crashed under my house and
knocked out the rear landing gear...if I can only find a way to
maneuver this Cyclone in the path of a tornado on my trip through the
the midwest then I will truly know that a power greater than I is
watching over me.
Things I've Learned:
I've seen people hug and kiss each one another other, who couldn't care
less about each other...but I've never seen two people hold hands who
didn't care a great deal for one another. 
You can't find an English radio station in El Paso, Tx and you can't
find a better radio station in the world than The Range out of
Dallas...SWEET!
When the world as we know it comes to an end (the world as I like it
already did), the only thing living will be cockroaches (which we
already knew) and Hare Krishna members (which I never would have
believed)...thank you Houston Ifest for the Best of Show award and the
opportunity to have them chant in front of my booth endlessly!
As I said, I did get a "Best of Show award at Houston's Ifest which
came with a nice check, but I think this year's "Out of Africa" theme
may not have served me as well as next year's "Welcome to Ireland"
festival might...just a hunch..
I'm not sure what the age is where a guy sees a vine in a forest and no
longer wants to swing on it, but I'm not there yet.
I can shower, dry and dress in a flooded Texas state park bathroom and
not get anything but the bottoms of my boots wet...not that you needed
to know, but I was proud.
It may be soon to tell, but the medical guidance that it is important
to get the tick's head out when you remove them may be exaggerated,
especially if it's in a place that doesn't show.
 Ok, another first ...while on our evening
walk today, the dogs flushed a rabbit out of the tall grass and sent it
racing for the trees. As it neared the tree-line, a very young Bobcat
sprang from the brush and was in mid-air, ready to pounce when he
suddenly noticed Jim and his crew...He quickly spun around and he raced
for the trees as well. I felt bad for the cat for just a moment, until
I reflected upon how many times people have spoiled my meals.
 April 8 - Before my father died I was
lucky to spend a great deal of time with him as he weakend, so in the
end there were no regrets but one. So when I arrived in his adopted
home state of Oklahoma, I told him outloud that if he was listening,
that we would finally have a beer together later on that night and if
he was listening, I'd appreciate him sending me a sign of some sort or
another that he would be joining me.
Well as I began to work and listen to a great classic country radio
staion almost immediately, the dogs water bottle bubbled in a strange
way I'd never heard before. I took note but told him if that's the best
he could do, maybe he'd already started imbibing without me.
Knowing full well what a gentleman he was, I knew that wasn't the case,
so I went back to work when after just a few short moments more, the
radio DJ came on and announced that that Country Music legend Eddy
Arnold had died...given that this was my dad's favorite singer of all
time and that he played the man's records endlessly, I figured this was
much more his style...and later on that night, we had our beer.
Okay, I stand corrected, it wasn't the Starbursts that killed my
tooth...seems the nerve in my tooth has passed on as well. At least
that's what the Lawton, Ok dentist who the RV park owner put me in
touch with told me.
Not quite sure what his skills are as a Dentist, but I appreciate his
taste in art as he let me pay my bill with a couple of framed prints.
Although he did say "what he did wasn't worth two"...hmmm...may be it
is best that I'm getting it fixed elsewhere. .
It took some doing, but I finally managed to make my way around Fort
Sil and locate Geronimo's grave... I was intent on finding it, but the
whole process incensed me...in my mind there should be bold signs,
bells, whisltes and the "rocket's red glare" pointing the way and
honoring the many, but it's not until you are right on top of the
Apache cemetary that there is a sign pointing the way...shameful...
It's a peaceful, beautiful place, but it's not Arizona where he wanted
to rest, so I shall leave you with this quote by Geronimo himself. "It
is my land, my home, my father's land, to which I now ask to be allowed
to return. I want to spend my last days there, and be buried among
those mountains. If this could be I might die in peace, feeling that my
people, placed in their native homes, would increase in numbers, rather
than diminish as at present, and that our name would not become
extinct." 
Until next time....be well and as always, please excuse
any typos (and you know who you are) and most importantly, "Save a
Horse, Ride a Mustang."
Jim
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