Trees

I recall a conversation Jan and I had soon after we first met. She was raised in Roanoke, Virginia, a scenic Appalachian town surrounded by beautiful Blue Ridge mountains and thick pine forests. I was raised in Fort Worth, a city on the edge of the arid and dusty plains of west Texas. “The problem with Texas,” Jan said, “is that you don’t have any trees.”

“Oh, yes we do! Look way over there,” I replied, pointing to a lone red oak some distance away. “There’s one!” But when I eventually visited her home in Virginia, surrounded by trees everywhere, I understood what she meant. I thought of that conversation a few days ago as I drove along a tree covered backroad toward Hannah and Daniel’s new house in Winona, Texas, a few miles north of Tyler. We DO have forests in Texas, you just have to drive far enough east to find them.

We also have some pretty severe storms in Texas. The day before I drove our 26 foot U-Haul rental truck into Winona, filled with Hannah and Daniel’s life-long collection of belongings, a sudden summer squall knocked out power lines throughout northeast Texas, leaving us without electricity for several days. But despite the heat, we were able to stuff everything into the house and get settled.

Years ago, I recall passing through Tyler on the way to a missions conference. I thought, “If ever I retire, I think Tyler might be just the right place. It’s only an hour and a half to Fort Worth, where most of my family lives. And it’s far enough east to have an abundance of trees.” I guess living in the tropics most of my adult life caused me to be partial to lots of greenery.

So, in a corner of their new house, I have a bedroom. Smaller than the one in Marble Falls, but still adequate to hold all my belongings. Nathaniel’s room is across from mine, so I have frequent visits from my grandson. Also nearby is the guest/office room. Down the hallway is the open kitchen/living room area that leads to the master bedroom, where Rebekah, due in 3 weeks, will spend most of her newborn months with mommy and daddy. My bedroom will probably be her future bedroom.

For now, I can look out my window and see tall cottonwoods and live oaks. To the east and downhill, past several houses, is a pond. To the west, just beyond the school, are tracks of trees and farmland. Yesterday I visited my new oncologist to schedule a PET scan for later this month to see how far my cancer has progressed during the past year. Looks like my notion of ‘retiring’ in Tyler will likely come true!