Back To Texas
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
So last time I had us just finishing up our trip to New Mexico in 2024. I also hinted, rather unfairly, that I had many deep thoughts on the way back...
And some of them were dark.
Let me explain.
The next morning (this would be Tuesday, August 13), we were up bright and early. We returned the rental car and were soon through TSA at the airport. Shortly after that, we were in the plane waiting for take-off.
As I sat there, I found myself thinking about a couple of things. First, I confessed to myself that if we could, we would still be living in New Mexico. Oh, don’t get me wrong. Texas is great. But, I spent much of my youth in The Land Of Enchantment. On some level, when I think the word “home,” that is still what comes to mind.
Meaning, I guess, if we could move back to New Mexico (again, nothing against Texas), we would do so. But...insert weary sigh here...that’s not happening. So long as the kids and g’kids are here, we will be too. So, I further guess, we’ll just have to continue searching for fun things to do here in Texas, and to find easier ways to get at them. The motto of my little travel-blog is, after all, “Stomp Ennui Like A Bug.”
About the photos: Just some random shots from around New Mexico today. First, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe. Very beautiful church. Second, a storage yard in downtown Santa Fe. (A street scene that you’d see nowhere but here.) And, finally, Martha and friends while we were window shopping in Santa Fe in 2019.
Besides...
The other thing that bothered me as I sat there...in the plane, on the tarmac... was my friend “Fred.” You’ll recall I wrote about him...and his death...a while back. I recalled, as we sat there, waiting for departure, that the last time I was in this very same place, sitting in a plane at this very same airport...I was exchanging text messages with Fred. I was amusing him with funny stories of our adventures while traveling to Kansas in the midst of storms. I was trying to distract him (and me) from the reality of his illness.
And...a few days later...he was dead.
That was sobering.
A few minutes later, the flight attendants came by to make certain that our belts were fastened and our worldly goods tucked away in the overhead compartments. Then we listened to a lecture from the flight attendants about what to do in The Unlikely Event Of Water Landing...unlikely, indeed, given that we were flying across the Southwestern desert to the Central Plains. But, who can say? Maybe there’d be a magical flood and from hence forward, we’ll visit Martha’s sister Judy in Winfield and our son’s in-laws in Midland via paddlewheel steamboat.
Then we heard the jet engines rev up. We taxied out onto the field, past other commercial jets and the military helicopters and other aircraft from the base. There was that push of acceleration. The nose of the plane lifted. And we were airborne.
Back home...I thought.
And it struck me, then, that “Stomp Ennui” is a joke I make. But, also...also...it is a very real directive. It is something that Martha and I really need to do. Maybe it is something we should all try to do, if we can, at least to the best of our ability and within the reasonable limits of our resources...
Because, you see, in the long run...eventually...seizing the day isn’t an option any more. Eventually, it slithers between your fingers and away.
And as my poor friend demonstrated, it can happen with stunning rapidity.
So it was, I promised myself, there on the plane...from henceforth, we will do our best to avoid ennui...whether through travel, or discovery, or merely the small wonders found at home and savored there.
Because...and here is the grim reality... being “world-weary” is a dangerous luxury.
And one we cannot, genuinely, afford.
Stay tuned. More to come.
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Copyright©2025 Michael Jay Tucker
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