Yesterday I got a message from my brother; my nephew turns 40 today. It brought back a flood of memories.I guess I'm getting old when the birthday of a nephew triggers nostalgia.
I was just about my nephew's age the year I went to Texas and spent six weeks with my brother and his wife and took a class at UT-Austin. My own aunt thought I was crazy because I drove out there from Nevada all by myself. She thought it was reckless and a bit unsafe to be traveling all that way alone. But my theory was if I waited for anyone to go with me I would be waiting for years to do things. I had waited long enough.
It took me almost a week to get to Austin. I spent a night with some friends who had moved to Las Vegas. From there I went to the Grand Canyon. Since I was driving I figured I needed to take in a few sights along the way. This was probably the only time in my life I would do something like this, and I was right. My only regret was I did not spend enough time at the Grand Canyon. I can remember rounding the bend in the road and my first sight of it. The road leading up to the Canyon was nothing remarkable. I was getting a bit discouraged and thought I might be in for a big disappointment. I was wrong. As I rounded that last bend there was a feeling in my stomach like someone had hit me there. The sight was so magnificent. I spent the day and watched the sun go down from the rim of the Canyon. I had made plans to be in Phoenix that night and it was well past midnight when I got there. I had spent so much time in the Canyon, burning up over half a dozen rolls of film that I really didn't get much of a chance to see the Painted Desert.
The 4th of July was spent in Phoenix. There were a couple of days there. That was where I got my love of botanical gardens. It was one of the few attractions in the city open that day. All day I took photos in the garden in Phoenix. It was so hot the camera in my hands actually got too hot to hold and I had to go inside one of the buildings. It was that weekend I went to the Mormon Temple in the Phoenix area. The one thing that made a great impression on me was the trees in the garden of the Temple and the huge grapefruit growing on them. I was tempted to take one, but didn't give in. I'm sure not every one resists that temptation.
But it wasn't until the next day that I got to see the true magnificence of the Sonora Desert. For the first time in my life I saw saguaro cactus growing in the wild. I took a turn off the road and went through the desert museum there. I was so enthralled with the cactus and how truly majestic they are I nearly ran off the road and came close to puncturing my tires with the cactus needles. It was just outside of Deming, New Mexico that I came in contact with my first Midwestern storm. I had been told rainstorms were different there, but did not truly appreciate the fury of them until that night. I had been in bad rain storm in northern California, but I had never been in something like this. Instead of drops it was sheets. Lightning was coming down just feet from the car. I pulled off and sat out the storm in a Pizza Hut. A lot of us were doing the same thing.
Finally I got to El Paso. About 6:30 AM I started off from there headed for Austin. It took me all day and I still wasn't all the way across Texas. But the trip was worth it. It was the first time my brother and I had time to get to know each other. With our age differences and the fact we were raised in different families, we really didn't know much about the other. We spent hours that summer talking. And I remember his wife most fondly. It was from Jean I learn a lot of thing about family life, relationships and living I had never learned from my own mother. I came to think of her as a special friend and mother figure.
My nephew was around that summer, but I didn't see much of him. He was out doing what teen aged boys do during summers. I hate to tell you, Nephew, life isn't over at 40. Heck, it's just beginning. I remember it as though it was yesterday, but it also seems so far away at the same time. But more than 20 years after that summer we are still all making our way through life. Lots has happened to all of us, but the adventure only continues.
Happy birthday, Kid. See what remembering your birthday did?
I was just about my nephew's age the year I went to Texas and spent six weeks with my brother and his wife and took a class at UT-Austin. My own aunt thought I was crazy because I drove out there from Nevada all by myself. She thought it was reckless and a bit unsafe to be traveling all that way alone. But my theory was if I waited for anyone to go with me I would be waiting for years to do things. I had waited long enough.
It took me almost a week to get to Austin. I spent a night with some friends who had moved to Las Vegas. From there I went to the Grand Canyon. Since I was driving I figured I needed to take in a few sights along the way. This was probably the only time in my life I would do something like this, and I was right. My only regret was I did not spend enough time at the Grand Canyon. I can remember rounding the bend in the road and my first sight of it. The road leading up to the Canyon was nothing remarkable. I was getting a bit discouraged and thought I might be in for a big disappointment. I was wrong. As I rounded that last bend there was a feeling in my stomach like someone had hit me there. The sight was so magnificent. I spent the day and watched the sun go down from the rim of the Canyon. I had made plans to be in Phoenix that night and it was well past midnight when I got there. I had spent so much time in the Canyon, burning up over half a dozen rolls of film that I really didn't get much of a chance to see the Painted Desert.
The 4th of July was spent in Phoenix. There were a couple of days there. That was where I got my love of botanical gardens. It was one of the few attractions in the city open that day. All day I took photos in the garden in Phoenix. It was so hot the camera in my hands actually got too hot to hold and I had to go inside one of the buildings. It was that weekend I went to the Mormon Temple in the Phoenix area. The one thing that made a great impression on me was the trees in the garden of the Temple and the huge grapefruit growing on them. I was tempted to take one, but didn't give in. I'm sure not every one resists that temptation.
But it wasn't until the next day that I got to see the true magnificence of the Sonora Desert. For the first time in my life I saw saguaro cactus growing in the wild. I took a turn off the road and went through the desert museum there. I was so enthralled with the cactus and how truly majestic they are I nearly ran off the road and came close to puncturing my tires with the cactus needles. It was just outside of Deming, New Mexico that I came in contact with my first Midwestern storm. I had been told rainstorms were different there, but did not truly appreciate the fury of them until that night. I had been in bad rain storm in northern California, but I had never been in something like this. Instead of drops it was sheets. Lightning was coming down just feet from the car. I pulled off and sat out the storm in a Pizza Hut. A lot of us were doing the same thing.
Finally I got to El Paso. About 6:30 AM I started off from there headed for Austin. It took me all day and I still wasn't all the way across Texas. But the trip was worth it. It was the first time my brother and I had time to get to know each other. With our age differences and the fact we were raised in different families, we really didn't know much about the other. We spent hours that summer talking. And I remember his wife most fondly. It was from Jean I learn a lot of thing about family life, relationships and living I had never learned from my own mother. I came to think of her as a special friend and mother figure.
My nephew was around that summer, but I didn't see much of him. He was out doing what teen aged boys do during summers. I hate to tell you, Nephew, life isn't over at 40. Heck, it's just beginning. I remember it as though it was yesterday, but it also seems so far away at the same time. But more than 20 years after that summer we are still all making our way through life. Lots has happened to all of us, but the adventure only continues.
Happy birthday, Kid. See what remembering your birthday did?
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