Other Stories...

So on my way home today from my friends cabin I listened to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, notably the opening them from Fellowship, 'The Shire.' I always really liked that tune, but driving along made me miss the drives Jenn and I would take in Texas. There is something very relaxing about the area she lives in, just rolling hillocks and trees. Lakes skirting the road, a calm on everything, when you go outside it's so quiet, though there is an airport not too far away so you hear those quite a bit. Holding Jenn's hand while we drive reminds me of what I have and the potential for what I have yet to do.

Weather in Texas is intriguing, namely the incredible heat mixed in with lightning storms. Because I could very well count the number of times I've experienced lightning in Ventura on my fingers and toes it is something special when it comes up. Jenn notified me that storms were approaching thanks to an iphone app, so I went to her balcony and sat down trying to gain as clear a view of the horizon as possible. Over the apartments, beyond the trees and too far to see there was a flash of flickering gold light. I watched the flickers and flashes steadily approach, giddy to see a bolt, as Jenn grew more and more uncomfortable with the sprinkling of rain that had started to kick onto the covered space. Just like in Portland I heard a steady growl, and saw what appeared to be a mist approaching. Instead a wall of rain swept over everything filling the garden below shin deep in water in an instant. The thunder was drawing closer until finally a towering vine of electricity struck behind the apartment building in front of us. It was hundreds of feet high and almost as soon as it flashed there came a crackling boom of the thunder, so loud it felt like the end of the world. I was completely terrified, it was so loud and so close and seemed so menacing but I could hardly pull myself away from sitting out there, exposed to see more. Jenn went back inside quickly, to take a shower, and with a good cover I returned too and sat on the bed looking out the window as the cracks and booms echoed all around shaking the pictures on the walls and bric-a-brac on the shelves. I could have curled up and gone to sleep right there it was so nice.

I miss Texas now, it was familiar, yet very different. Certainly not like people expect, no cowboys walking with bow legs, Chuck Norris doesn't greet you at the terminal when you get off a plane. There aren't so many racists or republicans, then again when you're raised in a conservative stronghold county like Ventura I suppose it's tricky to perceive such differences. I miss the big skies, the rolling clouds that seem to tower into space, the clear night sky and fresh smelling air. I miss the shower, the bed and the reclining couch. I miss the new friends I made, and the places we'd congregate. I miss my girlfriend and holding her hand.