Sometimes life takes you in so many different directions that it makes you wonder how you got to where you are. Today,  as I write this,  I am 35 years old with a son, a dog, and a desire to see the world. Pretty sure that my desire stems from being stuck in "the middle of nowhere" for the first 18 years of my life.

 In this case,  the middle of nowhere happens to be Megargel, TX. Population of 204 if you believe the sign.  When I say I grew up and more cows than people, it's mostly true. Last November Tony and our friend Cece got to visit the little village that raised me, as well as meet the important people that helped turn me into who I am today. 

We headed out from Archer City, where my mother now resides, into Megargel on the same windy road I've ridden on thousands of times before. It was as though this path had been frozen in time. My rocks, the cows, trailers that the hunters used, every part of the landscape all unchanged.

After about 20 minutes of driving through what seemed like nothing,  an astonished Cece piped up, "Where are the houses? I haven't seen one on this road.". To which Tony said, "This isn't the country.  This is a desert."

We finally got into the little town that admittedly could use some repairs, where everything was all too familiar.  You could see the cows in the backyards, various tractor equipment scattered around my cousin Donnella's front yard, and about 8 trucks surrounding a small one- bedroom house that my daddy now lives in.

My daddy isn't as young as he used to be. Definitely part of the older generation in the town now.  When Tony, Cece, and I walked in we saw daddy and Donnella sitting around his tiny table just talking away to a neighbor.  The first thing he said was "Amber Jicole", then got up to hug me before sitting back down. Uncle Charles showed up a few minutes later, on his golf cart of course, with his new dog in tow to ask if we wanted to play washers.

Daddy's pretty good at explaining how to play the game: You  have 2 boards . Some play with one hole but my family plays with 3. In the case of my mother’s boards that she custom makes and sometimes sells, you even have a standing cup holder and a tac scoreboard (just to make it slightly easier. They are spaced 10 ft apart.
 The object is to reach 21 before the opposing team. The top hole is worth 3 points, middle 2, and bottom 1. If you end up with all 3 washers landing (and staying) on the board you can also get 1 point. First to 21 wins, but if you go over, you start back at 11.

 

The weather that day was extremely cold and drizzly which was made worse by the slight wind.  Didn't stop any of the outside games though. Cece and Tony both learned how to play washers for the first time ever.  Daddy and uncle Charles split up so the new players wouldn't be at a disadvantage.

Eventually Dad built a fire and I offered to show Cece the kids that were in Donnella’s back yard. I could tell by look she was giving me that Cece was confused.  I forget that some people don't know that baby goats are called kids.

At one point Cece ordered food for pick up from the gas station like I've done countless times in my life. One of the only things that  seemed to have changed is that now it's my cousins daughter answering the phone. See, there aren't any restaurants in Megargel, or fast food joints, or even a grocery store. It's always just been a combination gas station/liquor store….. and of course a feed store cause ya know,  livestock. 

Once the rain finally got to be too much for us, we all headed inside and spent another 30 minutes talking away until Uncle Charles came back with his truck and asked if we wanted to help him feed the cows. Cece’s face matched my sons expression whenever he gets to pet, feed, or otherwise terrorize the cows.

 Our trip was brief. Although I didn't get to see my sisters this go around I did get to see my Aunt Retha for the first time in years. Her house still feels the same as it did and I got flashbacks of getting haircuts in her kitchen.

We talked about her kids and her grandkids before I gave her a hug. Then the three of us were on our way, or at least we thought we were on our way til we had to make several stops back so I could for my phone which,  as it turns out, I hadn't actually lost. My Aunt didn't mind though,  she's family and always always will be. Same goes for my Uncle Charles and my daddy (the one that lives in Megargel), none of them are related to me by blood but they all have had such important roles in my life.

Sometimes, I feel life moves so fast, with so many things I haven’t tried, or places I haven’t gone. It sends shocks through me just thinking how close my child is to being a teenager. He’s finally starting to take an interest in traveling again and more than anything that excites me but it also makes me feel as though he needs roots as much as I do. Coming home after so many years to the town that’s so set on it’s ways it refuses to change  was exactly what both of us needed to remind of the differences