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October 28, 2020
The View From Dry Creek Hill
By Charles Prokop
www.DryCreekHill.com
I’m sure everyone felt our first real cold front blow in. It’s a misty, breezy 38-degree day as I write this, and the view over the valley reminds me of the Smoky Mountains in miniature.
I love October here in the Hill Country and the changes it brings. But October is also the month I miss other places I’ve been. I spent 10 years in Asheville, North Carolina, nestled between the Smokies and Blue Ridge. I miss my annual October drive down a favorite stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I would sneak away from the office on a crisp afternoon and cruise with the windows down, the sunroof open, and views of valleys and mountains looking like God had spilled his breakfast bowl of Trix.
But those turning leaves were the preamble to shoveling snow out of my uphill driveway. I don’t miss dawn snow-shoveling and I don’t miss walking up the hill carrying my groceries when our road iced over. There were times I lay in the snow in the dark as I struggled to get chains on my car. Asheville isn’t the North Pole and that didn’t happen often, but I had enough of those days to need regular injections of Jerry Jeff Walker and Gary P. Nunn singing What I Like About Texas.
The first time I ordered a barbeque sandwich in North Carolina I got quite a shock. I grew to like (well, sorta like, anyway) that vinegary, mustardy, pork barbeque, but it can’t replace good Texas smoked brisket. And I had to learn to order my hamburger “deluxe” if I wanted lettuce and tomato. I grew up a Texan who thought of lettuce and tomato as standard issue at Dairy Queen and Whataburger, not deluxe extras. A cheeseburger dressed with chili and slaw was another North Carolina shock, but it’s pretty good if you see it coming.
October gives me a little shot of nostalgia and some fond memories, but more than anything it brings contentment. I may miss things about where I’ve been but I’m happy they are where I was, not where I am. A day or two of Texas Hill Country cold reminds me that I‘m glad it will warm back up in a hurry.
I have to be careful listening to James Taylor singing Carolina In My Mind in October but I have a Texas music collection full of antidotes. Rest in peace, Jerry Jeff.
I love October here in the Hill Country and the changes it brings. But October is also the month I miss other places I’ve been. I spent 10 years in Asheville, North Carolina, nestled between the Smokies and Blue Ridge. I miss my annual October drive down a favorite stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I would sneak away from the office on a crisp afternoon and cruise with the windows down, the sunroof open, and views of valleys and mountains looking like God had spilled his breakfast bowl of Trix.
But those turning leaves were the preamble to shoveling snow out of my uphill driveway. I don’t miss dawn snow-shoveling and I don’t miss walking up the hill carrying my groceries when our road iced over. There were times I lay in the snow in the dark as I struggled to get chains on my car. Asheville isn’t the North Pole and that didn’t happen often, but I had enough of those days to need regular injections of Jerry Jeff Walker and Gary P. Nunn singing What I Like About Texas.
The first time I ordered a barbeque sandwich in North Carolina I got quite a shock. I grew to like (well, sorta like, anyway) that vinegary, mustardy, pork barbeque, but it can’t replace good Texas smoked brisket. And I had to learn to order my hamburger “deluxe” if I wanted lettuce and tomato. I grew up a Texan who thought of lettuce and tomato as standard issue at Dairy Queen and Whataburger, not deluxe extras. A cheeseburger dressed with chili and slaw was another North Carolina shock, but it’s pretty good if you see it coming.
October gives me a little shot of nostalgia and some fond memories, but more than anything it brings contentment. I may miss things about where I’ve been but I’m happy they are where I was, not where I am. A day or two of Texas Hill Country cold reminds me that I‘m glad it will warm back up in a hurry.
I have to be careful listening to James Taylor singing Carolina In My Mind in October but I have a Texas music collection full of antidotes. Rest in peace, Jerry Jeff.