A baker’s dozen of dogs sit in a loose circle, about 100 feet in circumference, in the dusty floor of an arena at the Gregg County fairgrounds. The dogs are tethered by leashes to their owners. Both the dogs and owners vary widely in size and shape. There are four German Shepherds, a poodle, one of those bug-eyed carpet dogs whose breed I can’t place, a few Labrador mixes.
And Rosie. That’s our rescue dog of unknown lineage. Rosie is a cinnamon-colored 14-pound dust mop, with a feathery tail and bounce to her gait. She draws admiring glances and frequent compliments when we walk along...
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In the 18 months I lived in Austin, while my BMC and family lived in Longview, I made the trip back Behind the Pine Curtain about 75 times by my reckoning. Lately I have traveled this route a couple of times a week hauling stuff back in the trailer. At 260 miles per roundtrip, that tallies to 39,000 miles. Sheesh. No wonder I’m tired.
Roughly 90 percent of those trips involved the shortest, simplest route, which is Highway 31 from Longview to Waco, then I-35 to Austin. The exceptions were on holidays when I figured the interstate could turn into a parking lot, or if I was pulling the trailer...
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This is my next-to-last evening living in Austin. Nearly everything is packed, most going into storage in East Texas until we buy a house. A few tasks remain tomorrow, such as a trip to Goodwill, and loading up the trailer and the SUV with what will stay with me — clothes, toiletries, the computer, a few books. So I am indulging myself with a few hours on the backyard deck, reading magazines and breathing in the scent of the wax-leaf ligustrums that dominate the foliage off the deck.
The smell of this hardy shrub — those in my neighbor’s yard reach the crest of the roof, providing a natural...
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My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I have begun house hunting in Longview. Sale of the barely lived-in Austin house is imminent. Packing is well underway. Wisely, I have kept boxes since moving away from Longview nearly two years ago. This will be their fourth use in 23 months. Nor will it be the last, since nearly everything I own is going into storage until we find a house. I’m shacking up with my wife, the BMC, in her small bohemian duplex on the south side.
This will be the 13th home I have participated in purchasing, but the first for my BMC. Before we met, she preferred to remain free...
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