The terrain of the west Texas highway seemed to mimic our mood. I say mood, singularly, for at times such as this, we seem one; 117 miles in, and we're still holding hands, barely breaking contact to change gears.
W learned of her mother's passing, just hours before we took off. Our short road trip was already planned, ironically but perhaps divinely, for meeting up was with extended family from W's mother's side.
Early miles were dominated by lanes of frantic speed, not unlike our frame of mind, rushing away from the ever present traffic, heading away from heartache. Eventually though, crowded lanes gave way to never ending green pastures of grazing cattle and we calmed down. Our hands parted ways for a while; she honked at the cows as I read aloud excerpts from Things That Matter.
But like the waves of grief can hit, out of nowhere we were surrounded by an angrier land. It was dry and rocky, scraggly at best. No grass was to be found. With each mile, the desert plains turned harsher, huge rock formations on each side giving way to gaps and notches. I was intimidated and mesmerized, all the while wondering how many lizards and snakes there must be...
It was a good place to dump some anger that comes with a death.
Miles of prairie desert emerged, pockets of rougher grazing for the cattle. Lots of cattle. Lots and lots of cattle. But too, there were horses and goats. We always spotted a mama and her baby. Again, divinely I suspect.
One odd cotton field was visible, and seemed as out of place as we felt arriving in this dusty, western town. Our sadness faded though, with each sunset as we explored the downtown, its rhythm as strikingly different from our big city life as the contrasting landscapes we had driven through.
Our hotel hosted a communal area with many patio heaters and fire pits. Even a heated pool. Each night, from our third floor, we watched the clusters of guests. They were tossing wood in the pits and in the larger fireplaces, laughter floating up with the smoke. Some of our weight drifted up too. We smiled and laughed, holding hands, fingers intertwined.
