Belizean Dreams

This picture was taken of the sun coming up over the western Carribean Ocean early in the morning off the balcony of our house in Placencia. Tonight as I watch the Rangers try to make it to the world series, I wish I was back there. Every day was fresh and exciting and donn't worry I am not sad... it's just that when I was there, I was surrounded by family and friends and a crisis was running out of beer and having to walk a quarter mile to the store to grab another case of Belikin. Here, there are more things to worry about.

If I happen to dissappear one day and you can't find me, these pictures are of a place where you might want to look...

Laters,

jth

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Hangin' with the boys...

Ignore the video, just listen to the music and bask in Top Gun volleyball scene glory. Because what did I do this weekend? Hangin with the boys. The ladies were out of town so it was full on awesomness. It was myself, Chris, Caven, Ferrari and Reid. There were drinks jokes and Reid actually spelled his full name on the fence with his urine. I swear he is the pee ninja. Sure he is a marine who did several tours in Iraq,,, he can snipe your ass from 300 yards with open sights and a hangover. But his greatest gift bestowed upon him by the USMC is the ability to create caligraphy with his leftover juices. USA! USA! USA!

We ordered pizza, had some drinks, watched multiple episodes of Tosh.O and told stories. Our bodies were warmed by brotherhood, laughs and pinion pine burning white hot in the iron chiminea. Good times. If you are jealous, don't feel bad, you should be....

Laters,

jth

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Nothing But You

Jeg har ingenting
Men jeg har alt
Nar jeg har deg.

This is what I am listeneing to right now. The lyrics are Norwegian and mean: "I have nothing, but I have everything when I have you. Good song and hopefully an ad doesn't pop up before the song starts but if it does, oh well.

I went wandering recently with my dad. We took a road trip out to where I spent my early childhood in far western Oklahoma to see what we could see. It is hard to describe the land to someone who has been up I-35 through OK as this area is much closer to Colorado as it is to Dallas. It doesn't look like what one would think. It is beautifully desolate; the air is soft, sweet and wild. The breaks separate river valleys where the ghosts of native american warriors from intertribal battles and Cavalry massacres wander at night, surveying their lost kingdoms. It feels enchanted to those who know enough to quiet themselves, lonely to outsiders, and like home to lost country boy like me.

We took off on friday as my dad had to work and rolled out of Dallas around 6pm. I will start by saying that it was a truly great road trip as the radio wasn't on once as we just told stories the whole time. We followed blue highways up through northwest TX until we rocketed across the Red River around 10:30. As we rolled down 2 lane country roads we came to a bridge that must have been almost a mile long around midnight. No traffic allowed for us to stop the truck in the middle of the bridge and hang for awhile. The closer we got to Shattuck, the more deer we saw and since he hit one with his truck on this same highway when I was about 6 yrs old, we took caution. Then we were driving a 1 ton, 4 door Chevy dually with a 454 in it. The deer did its damage on that truck so we weren't looking for a repeat performance 20 yrs later in his Chevy half ton. We got a stinky room in the only motel in Shattuck (population 1,207) around 2 am and called it a night. The morning brought bright sun and blue skies that can only be seen hundreds of miles away from any city or interstate for that matter.

We drove around and saw the farmhouse in which we lived, the land where we kept our livestock, Flat Top - the cross crowned diminutive mesa that overlooks the the town from the north. To me the land was beautiful, I could see a long way - from our old house the grain silo in Darrouzett, TX is visible over 20 miles away - the air is very clear as the elevation there is almost half a mile up. We tried to eat at Ed's cafe but it was closed. I got to see my old elementary school with the odd star shaped kindergarted building. We visited a few of my dad's old friends, one a famous knife maker who gifted his own knife to my dad. I listened quietly as they talked about Vietnam the way that retired soldiers do; i enjoyed it. After that it was time to head back south through the Black Kettle National Grasslands through Lawton where we HAD to stop at a couple pawn shops... its a thing.All in all it was a great trip and good bonding time. Now it is especially great since dad is leaving at the end of the month to go work in Abu Dhabi for a couple of years. Oh he'll be back for vacation and stuff and I'll go visit but mostly I am very excited for the adventure he is about to have.. and a little jealous. Mom and Sam are in France right now and I get picture texts from them. Today they are in Dijon so I think they are going to get me some mustard.

So the title of this particular entry is Nothing But You. Of course it is the name of the song I am listening to, but how do I tie it all together in my way. I guess the simple lyrics of the song help me realize that the only thing that we really have are worth anything are family, friends and the experiences we share that turn into memories. And to quote my main man C.W. McCall: "And as I saw the morning star come up over the mountains, I realized that life is just a collection of memories. And memories are like starlight: the go on forever." CW's cowboy poem is just below-

I haven't forgotten about my promise to do my Belize blogs, I will. I feel that since i was there for so long that the teling of the story will be quite an undertaking so I have been putting it off... I know, slacker. I will get it done. Phi phi.
PS, Celia was on tv.. she's hot.

Laters,

jth