Spring 2007--  A field of Wild Foxglove growing at Trails West.

The last three years since we purchased the land that became Trails West Retreat in 2004 have been filled with both joy and sadness.  We lost our daughter-in-law Monique in 2004, Rebecca's father-in-law Robert Malone in 2005, Del's father Walter Meischen in 2005, and shortly before these deaths, was the tragic drowning of our niece Stephanie.  Two months after acquiring the property, Del & I were involved in a near-death accident when an 18 wheeler traveling at about 45 miles per hour struck us broadside.  Last year, I had a serious blood infection that almost killed me, and I continue to suffer from chronic bronchitis and allergies in the spring. 

 But in that same length of time our grandsons Jacob, Jackson and Sam were born.  Jeffrey, whose wife had died in 2004, married again to a wonderful girl Jessica, and he gained a daughter, Jenna.  The wedding beside the bay at Rockport Texas was totally enchanting. We traveled to Germany and stayed with our exchange student Felix in 2005 and then his family came here to Texas this spring 2007 and got to enjoy these wonderful wildflowers at Trails West.

Life really is like a roller coaster.  It has its ups and downs, never a dull moment, so much to experience.  When one finds those precious few moments to take in the true beauty of nature, to find peace and quiet, to listen to the birds calling, to smell the flowers, to seek the truths of life, he can indeed reach out and touch the face of God.

There are times when you need to just sit and contemplate the beauty of nature.  Our little creek is a great place to do just that.  It is often crystal clear.  It is fairly shallow and you can see fish swimming around sometimes in schools of a dozen or more.  Today as I write I saw a fairly good size bass darting into a hole under a live oak tree. Although it is November, it is fairly warm right now.  I took my shoes off and put my feet in the creek.  Not for long, though.  Cold! brrr!  Fall is late this year and the trees just began to turn colors.

 I came across a description of a creek encountered by J Hampton Kuykendall, the apprentice to Col William Barret Travis of the Alamo.  He was a neighbor of my third great grandfather who had an original Spanish land grant in both Washington and Austin counties along Caney Creek.  Kuykendall wrote about how clear and pristine the creeks they encountered in 1821 were with natural fauna and fish swimming in them.  He said so much had changed ten years later after cattle were introduced.  They trampled the vegetation along the creek and muddied it up.  Apparently, there had not been any cattle on this piece of land for a very long time because natural ferns grow in places along the creek.

This is a picture of Betty just after the triple tiered deck on the front of Del's cabin was finished.  Note the tree swing down below.  In this picture, the bridge has not been built over the creek.