Ride On

I got up while it was still dark to go for a ride with some church people. We met at the Open Range Cowboy Church, which has a good men's breakfast  -- must do something like that at the Missions -- then trailered off to Lake Whitney and saddled up.

A horse

It's a great place to ride and has more than enough space to open up and charge off, but we mostly walked and trotted through the unspoiled country.

Bad mischief

I finished off with a gallop. Big fun to be moving fast with the horse! I'm still excited and uplifted by that. We stopped for hamburgers afterwards, which was good too.

Stay on the horse,

LSP

All Hail Texas

There isn't much in Itasca, apart from an eerily impressive war memorial, and Karen's Authentic Mexican Food.

Karen's has expanded its operation and now includes seating, which it never used to have, but it still offers a fine bean and brisket burrito for around $3. You can have red sauce or green sauce on your bean and brisket, that's up to you. 

I opted for red and drove to Blanton, where I pulled up under a tree, put down the tailgate and ate that burrito. Up until a year or so ago there was an outdoor wooden chapel, open at the sides but tin roofed, to give cover to worshipers and mourners at the nearby cemetery. It had three flagpoles, too, and these would fly the Texan, Confederate and POW MIA flags.

The chapel has gone, sadly, though the flagpoles are still there, and it was tranquil sitting on the back of the truck, with $3 worth of tasty-as-you-like bean and brisket in a delicious tortilla. There was even a cool breeze. I thought back on the times I'd spent there over the last 8 years, mostly on horseback. 

It was a good moment in the Texan countryside and I thank God for that.

Some people scorn Texas. Those people are fools.

LSP