Back to the salt mines

So, I actually was on vacation for the past week here in Texas. It was a wonderful time, and very much enjoyed. In a matter of minutes, I will be starting the journey back to Detroit. It is shocking how much my stomach knotted up once that really settled on me. The fair weather and warm company of Texas will be left behind, and I shall return to Detroit. I really do not want to go.  Once I get back, I am going to have to jump back into slaving away with both feet, and I really have no desire to. I guess that good news is that most of what I have to do has more to do with getting my documentation together so that I may complete residency than anything else. I also have to do mundane things like figure out where my wife and I are going to settle down, and try to get a job. You know; little stuff.

I do so Love Texas. I had spoken with my father about perhaps going somewhere else, like northern Virginia, where I was born, and the seasons are nice, the trees are beautiful, and you can carry openly. Sadly, I would not fit in there any longer. I have adopted Texas as Texas has adopted me. I don't fit into Michigan, either, which I suspect is part of my apprehension of returning. I belong in this hideously hot anvil of the sun. I belong in it's remote openness, and lonely deserts. It's eastern woods of Tyler, warm beaches of south Padre Island. I belong where the government is still the tail that does not wag the dog. Where the capital city proudly proclaims it's determination to keep itself weird. It's not even the prettiest state. Yes, the fields of blue bonnets, the hill country and sunsets are gorgeous, but having stood facing the Sierra Nevada, I must relinquish that particular title to Nevada. But beauty is not the final arbiter of what is loved. I love Texas. This is where I want to live. This is where I want my children to be born and raised. And when I die, I want my bones to rest forever in the loving embrace of Texas.  Sorry, that was a tad morbid. 

Texas, I shall return. Until then, though, I must sweat and suffer in the north with the damn yankees. I bear them no ill will, but Texas is my home, and I look forward to the day that I shall come hurtling back.

Respectfully Submitted,
- doc Russia