Big empty

The weekend was spent in suburban Rule, Texas. The denizens refer to the area as the big empty. If you've ever been there it's not hard to see why. It is possible to see for several miles in any given direction, and the wind does blow a little bit. This is the southern plains and there is not much to see but wheat, oats and cotton; for miles in any direction. This is farm country and the people do definitely cling to their guns, religion and antipathy to others. This is America. The America that Woody Guthrie was writing about in "This Land is Your Land."

It is not a world for the faint of heart. If you live in the city it is almost impossible to imagine how wide open the country is. There are birds, snakes and coyotes, but trees are rather scarce. The saying when a blue norther is blowing is that, "there's nothing between here and the arctic circle but a barbed wire fence, and it has blown down."