Thursday, March 11, 2010

Canadian, Texas

I had a tough time coming into Canadian, Texas. I camped out about six miles north of Wheeler on Hwy 83, and not knowing what I would be up against the next day, I decided to make it to Canadian.
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In the morning, the winds were between 30 and 40 mph, coming diagonally into me. I walked like that for hours, almost leaning into the wind. I'm just glad it wasn't stronger. The night before, a tornado had hit just 30 or so miles east of my position, over the border into Oklahoma.
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Getting closer to Canadian, people started honking and waving at me. Very nice welcome. One woman even stopped and introduced herself. After talking with the editor over the phone, I learned that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce would be offering me a night or two in a hotel and food accommodations. After 28 miles of walking into the wind, I was only too happy to accept.
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I'm trying something new with some audio clips. There's an issue putting the words and audio on the same page (I'm no HTML expert, but I know it's not working.), so I'm separating my commentary from this new thing I'm trying. Enjoy!
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Until next time...

6 comments:

Unknown said...

That was a great Comanche quote from the Lufkin piece. I wonder what other written record the Comanches left behind... I've only read about their lives from the Cowboy/Texas perspective -- mainly, through Larry McMurtry, our resident Cowboy historian.

Gaylon White said...

I too sought out the top of Texas one Summer--I did find some type of marker right off the cliche road and as I stood at the top of Texas I felt a kind of disappointment--No momument--no frills--nothing but blowing hot wind--I also climbed over the fence and stood on the North east corner of Texas---One day I want to stand on the extreme Northwest corner--someone asked why ? I replied--why does mankind have to do the things we do--just because it is there to do--just like the time in Utah-Arizona-New Mexico-Colorado--I got on my hands and knees and straddled 4 states at one time--why--just because I wanted too and was there for me too

Gaylon White said...

I have met with Mr. McMurtry several times and had been presenting him with an idea about doing a flip side of the Lonesome Dove story and do it from Quanah Parker and his people--Last time I was over at his Archer City Book store he told me as soon as I walked in that he had finished 13 episodes on Quanah Parker--But he told me for now it was on the shelf for a reason--I hope someday he picks it back up and makes a huge award winning story like Lonesome dove with it--Maybe we will see it

Smatt said...

Charlie - I was reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee when I came across the quote. The book is filled with the dying thoughts of a great many tribes. The catchphrase quote of the book, written on the back and in the description is this: "They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it."

Gaylon - I agree that people are sometimes dumbfounded by the seemingly insignificant actions of others. I have two things to say in response to that: 1) In general, it's easy to find things that other people do that I would never do, and vice versa. I don't collect cars, I'm not interested in traveling to Siberia, don't care about summitting Mount Everest, and I'll never learn Swedish. Likewise, many people will never hike the Appalachian Trail, ride bikes across West Africa, learn over 200 board games, or hike the perimeter of Texas. Our actions are not meant to be compared to one another because life is not a standardized test. Live to live, and tip your hat when someone else does something you would never consider doing because that makes this world that much richer.

2) I saw the movie MAN ON WIRE about the Frenchman (Philippe Petit) who tightrope walks between the World Trade Center towers many years ago. When he was escorted away by police, people asked him why he did it. His response to the 'why' is perfect, and paraphrasing it here would do it injustice. Let's just say he didn't have an answer. The movie is worth watching in general, but that five to ten second clip made the movie memorable to me.

Gaylon White said...

Well put Matt--I find what you are doing is very interesting and exciting--A lot of my friends dont understand why I chase storms--I like the idea of treading across so much of our states history-seeing interesting people and looking into their lives--I love small town America-well really small town Texas--The adventure of eating in little Mom and Pop cafes and seeing beautiful sunrises and sunsets-- seeing all kinds of wild life-
I tip my hat to you-
Watch out for the rattlers --they will be out soon--Also Texas will soon be presenting its beauty with all types of wildflowers--Would love to have you as a friend on Facebook--Gaylon White--Let us know what you see in the top most northwest corner --It is probably the highest in elevation of the whole state--Have a great trip

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for taking care of Bud! We are happy to have him back home (can't speak for the cats though, haha). We wish you a safe journey!