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The Texas Side Of Things

published: June 12th 2009
by: Jim Banner

Well I’m still on my happy kick and once again I’ll remind you that I’m not going to write about anything bad, especially now that summer is here.  Summer is supposed to be a fun time of the year when families enjoy outdoor activities like camping, fishing or maybe just catching a few days of rays at the coast.  My problem is I don’t like to do any of those things so this week Myles, my middle daughter and I are heading to the mountains…just the two of us.
    I haven’t taken a vacation in about five years and with all of the activities going   on with the children it’s difficult to get all three of them together at one time.  So I try to at least secure one of them at a time and do something fun.  For instance in July I’m taking Matt, my son to a Rangers baseball game against the Boston Red Sox’s and maybe enjoy a  little coastal fishing. Also in July, I’m taking Augusta, my oldest daughter her on a trip to Lubbock.  That’s right Lubbock…she is transferring to Texas Tech this summer and I will be moving her to Lubbock so she can begin summer classes.  My daughter the Red Raider… I know I’m going to catch hell from all of my Tech buddies and trust me I deserve it.  You can’t imagine all the harassment I’ve dished out through the years even though they’ve won the last the four or five A&M/Tech football games.
    Back to my trip with Myles… I especially enjoy the mountains in the northwest. The awesome beauty and ruggedness of this territory just amazes me each time I’m fortunate enough to go.   So we are flying into Billings, Montana and driving south to Cody, Wyoming and staying there a couple of nights before we relocate to one of my favorite little towns… Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  I’ve been to Yellowstone National Park two different times but I’m still excited to be going back because I never know what I might see.  Possibly, we might catch a glimpse of a baby moose, a bear or some other type of critter not found in Texas.  I never get tired of the majestic water falls located in Yellowstone as the millions of gallons of water produced by the melting snow flow down the rivers and over the falls.  Green meadows with flowers, trees and more trees, natural lakes of all sizes…I don’t think there is a prettier place in the world other than Castell, Texas in the Spring.
    Myles is really excited about our little get away, in fact she has been packed and ready for three days now but she’s got to know that Daddy is going to play some kind of joke on her somewhere.  For instance last week, I asked her if she had seen the story in the Sunday newspaper about the 16 year old girl that was recently mauled by a bear near Yellowstone?  Al-though she didn’t seem to take me very serious, she did question me later about the validity story.
    I know it’s hard for most in agriculture to take some time off during the    summer because of the necessary work needed to be completed during  warm weather but I hope you might be able to squeeze in at least a few days to spend some R&R and have some fun.  Just a reminder…we will not be producing another newspaper until July 10th so we can get a few things accomplished in our office and rest up.  Michael, Cleta, Daren, Loren and I are getting a little bit older and we don’t seem to heal up as quickly as we use to when we were younger and dumber.  Have a great 4th of July and we’ll be talking to you next month.

UNTIL NEXT TIME,
THINK TEXAS!!!