Where everybody knows your name: Life out of the fast lane

Last week we went for our second annual spring break to Uncertain, Tx.  Lake Caddo is beautiful and charming and kind of spooky all at the same time.   I blame the Spanish Moss for the spooky but it is so amazing, who cares.

What I love about this place is that even though we have only been twice, the people there treated us like regulars.  We were just a little family who lives somewhere else and came to visit.   The guy at the mini-mart told me the whole town (all 50 of them) were talking about my orange Ram pickup because the color is so different.   My favorite little fishing and watering whole was maned or womaned by the same folks as last year and they all remembered our trip last year.   Every person we met vacationing there became instant friends.  Eveyone is your neighbor, buddy, pal.  There are no strangers.  They even learn your name.  Your actual name, first and last.

Uncertain/Karnack is by no way rich.  By Dallas standards the people are scraping by.  What makes it special is that they are happy.   They are happy to see you, happy to help you, and happy you vacationed in their backyard.   They don't make a fuss out of things.   Specialties of the house are chili cheese dogs at the lakeside kitchen/fishing dock at Johnson's Ranch. Karen, the absolute doll behind the counter and Chaz, our fishing guide for both trips last year and this, are the best.   There is a charming little authentic Mexican place not far from the lake called Aseret (Teresa, the owners wife's name backward) where the owner will come and chat with you and sometimes play you a song.  For the big dinner out, you go to River Bend and eat fresh fish.   They were closed Monday and Tuesday so we missed it this year but that is how we found Aseret and it was a win.

So, having been back a couple of days there are some things I have noted about my trips to both East Texas where my husband has land and Lake Caddo.   Small town life is way simpler and way less cluttered.   People in small towns are much friendlier.   For whatever reason, people in small towns seem happier.  Maybe it is because some of them use to live in big cities and they have come to appreciate the simple life.

All of this thinking has me really questioning my life and my desires and how they effect my happiness.   Is it possible that my wanting 'things' actually leads me to be unhappy?   Is it possible that my need to make things perfect has backfired in making everything a mess?   Is it possible that, for me anyway. a less complicated life is what I really need?

I go through stages thinking this way and then I get back in the grind and forget everything I feel when I get back from places where life moves just a little bit more Andy Griffith-like.   (I am pretty sure this drives my other half nuts because he never knows which me he is getting.)

It's funny because I have been so focused on working on recycled furniture lately and a friend of mine just sent me a message telling me how much she would love a little Towel Plaque for her house like the one I did in yesterday's blog.  Maybe I think  dream too big.  Maybe I need to scale it down, in life and in everything else.   I guess we all do that to some extent.   I know one thing for sure, we (my husband and I) have too many cars/truck for two people.  You know how they said when Harry was born Charles and Diana had an heir and a spare? We have a vehicle and a spare each.    Maybe I need to worry less about getting new floors for the house and more about enjoying the house in the country.   Maybe being happy really isn't about what you have but who you have. Maybe it is time to appreciate people more and things less.

I look around and can't believe it is the middle of March, already!   Time goes by so much faster when you get older.   I don't know what happens to the clock but it is just rushing, rushing, rushing. My favorite times are the times alone at my house with my family watching the dog and the kid play and reading a book while my husband does something crazy like chop wood because he can't sit still.

I don't know what this all means.  I don't know anything really.  I guess you can say I am as uncertain as the town in Texas.  Just the muddled ramblings of a woman back at the grind and wishing she were sitting on a boat dock, drinking a beer with a pole in her hand and a fish nibbling.




For Vacation photos check out my blog here