Question From The Back Seat: "Dad, Are We Still In Texas?"

For the travelers amongst all of us, whoever you share life with, there are sure to be some memorable stories. No matter what happens, large or small, something in the course of your trip will make you look back and think a bit.

Now, I've chosen to be single, never been married, and by myself. That's a choice I've made, but that's also another blog post for another day. I also once was a kid, but I don't think I want to write about that a whole lot. At least, not right now. Not while this writer has another thought. What I'd like to share here is a thought, so just use your imagination. Picture, if you please, you as a child, with Dad in the driver's seat of the car, and Mom in the front passenger perch. Love taking trips? Well, you're about to have an experience where you've got a cross a state line......................, and you're in Texas. Let's say that your dad has decided to go from East Texas near Tyler all the way into New Mexico. Just imagine, and let it sink in. You're in the back seat doing whatever it is that kids do, unless, of course, you happen to appreciate the things you see on the road. Believe it or not, I was loving that when I was viewing things from that same back seat. But in this back seat, we find our child getting impatient at some point. Sooner or later, your parents will stop the car for gas and lunch and the inevitable nature call. And the scenery was just starting to get....

I said, use your imagination, dang it!!

Once the stops had been made, including, perhaps, all three at once, we make it back to the road. There'd be a radio playing one station until the reception gets spotty, so Dad would have to change the channel to one that is clear enough and worth listening to at the time. The highways away from the interstates have small towns that you slow down to take a look at. And who knows the kind of conversations that Mom and Dad are engaging in while you're in the back seat not understanding much of it? Actually, you might hear about what Mom did at the Garden Club meeting last week. You see signs on some old buildings. Or that gas station logo on a corner stop you'd wish Dad would stop at. Or, perhaps, you may remember the occasional landmark such as a replica of a fighter jet at the National Guard Armory. Or you would just see countless billboards telling about how far it is to the scales for truckers or that piece of pie at Joe's Cafe, some XX number of miles away. The eventual destination happens to be XXX miles away.

Other cars are out there on the road, along with the 18-wheelers and motorcycles. They contain peeps who have different places to go, even if it's not always vacation. They're out there. And that windshield that Gordon just cleaned up at the Conoco station suddenly gets decorated with the unwelcome droppings of birds flying high above, with the accompaniment of an unforgiving wind blowing everything around. Miles and miles of Texas we drive, as some singers have actually once said. We're on a trip to New Mexico, but there still are some miles to go. Inevitably, on an ordinary trip, you'd be hearing the question out of the back seat, "Dad, are we there yet?" Sound familiar? If you're one of those that doesn't spend time reading road signs, then that's the likely thing being asked. Case, of course, would not have asked that question all those moons ago, but again, that's another blog post for another day. My stars, "Dad, are we there yet?" Is that not irritating? Especially when said question gets asked sixteen times in three hours.

What if we just substituted the eternal question with something eternal in another context? Something to the tune of, "Dad, are we still in Texas?"

Really? You're asking Dad if we're still in Texas?? Again, for those who don't read mileage signs on a highway, that chalkboard-scratching crack just might be heard. Imagine the stories you'll tell thirty years from now when your child is an adult and ends up having offspring popping the same question.

"Dad, are we still in Texas?"

It'd be a matter of time before the car we're in actually makes it to the state line. And the same could actually become songwriting fodder for Jimmy Webb or Tom T. Hall, and I'll bet both of them would if they'd jump at it. Imagine actually reaching that state line.............before sunset. I'm not sure that would be possible, as we're still in Texas. Mom, could you distract me for a little bit? That's your child's question. Keep in mind that five minutes or more for any kid is an eternity. Distractions? Yes, please. Anything to get your mind from the length of time it takes to get from one end of the state to the other.

Well, we'd eventually get into that other state, to our destination, unloaded, unpacked, and into the hotel room for some much-needed sleep. Thought we'd never get there. During that excursion which started the previous morning, you'd wonder if you'd ever leave Texas. Note that this would have also held true to get from the Rio Grande Valley to Oklahoma. Or, perhaps, Lubbock all the way to Arkansas. Or even the Panhandle region on down to Louisiana and Cajun country. Anything's possible if you've got to go far, and Texas just happens to be that place. You have to sometimes let your imagination just ride in the car with you.

Didn't I say, many moons back, that this is a big state I live in?

Big just ain't a strong enough word.