So great to be back with friends

Wow, thanks to all my friends in Iowa City, my 50th birthday might have been my best birthday yet.

Even though I've been away almost three years, it is gratifying to know the nest of friendships there still holds strong. Sure, I have a few soft places to fall in Texas, but nothing can replace my dear friends in Iowa City.

Too bad the visit had to be so short. Conversations too rushed. Hello's too quick. But thanks to all of you who came to Friday's bagels at the UIF to say hi; to those who hosted parties and opened their arms to Monte, to those who greeted me on the street as if I'd never left.

Back in Houston this morning, before I fly off to Corpus Christi for the state historical commission's annual conference. I'm speaking about web marketing on Friday afternoon, then head back home on Tuesday.

Heading for Iowa City!

My 50th birthday present from my folks is a trip to Iowa City! I'm heading there on Thursday (the actual big day!), will run a 5K on Sunday, and head back for Houston on Monday. It will be a quick trip, but hopefully filled with reunions with many, many good friends!

The Window Trail in Big Bend National Park

A great hike with a terrific payoff at the end of the trail.

New York City!

I got a call Monday morning that changed my week, my marketing plan, and my outlook on what we might accomplish with the Trail. Our program was offered the chance to partner with two West Texas communities on a ridiculously discounted advertising opportunity--THIS video billboard, the CBS Super Screen, in Times Square!

So we're frantically gathering photos for our 15 second spot, which will be seen twice an hour for 92 days this summer. We're building a new common website to post on the spot to ultimately drive traffic to http://www.texasmountaintrail.com/ for information about the region.

I spent a long time Tuesday afternoon on the phone with a Senior Analyst with Florida's Department of Agriculture (a previous user of the same billboard) who kindly ran our numbers through their statistical formula to estimate our return in the number of people who will actually SEE our spot. Given that 1.5 million people walk by the billboard every day, we estimate 6.9 will stand there and watch our images of Big Bend and Fort Davis and hopefully get it in their heads that they'd like to leave the city on their next vacation and head for the Texas Mountains.

We're going to combine this effort with my already planned contact with media in NYC, again trying to get coverage and raise awareness of the region.

I sure do like thinking big.

When gas was cheaper than long distance

When my dad was transferred from the Michigan office to the home office of State Farm Insurance in 1967, there were some months of homesickness. The cornfields of Illinois couldn't compare (yet) with the beauty of Michigan's forests, and I know my parents missed their families and friends. Luckily one of the perks of living in Bloomington and working for State Farm (in addition to State Farm Park, State Farm daycamp, State Farm Christmas parties, and roses on employee birthdays) was access to the free WATS line in the home office building downtown.

On weekends, we'd pack ourselves into the car for the ride downtown, get into an ancient elevator and ride to an upper floor of the tallest building in the city, and wait for the family scheduled before us to finish their alloted 20 minutes on the line. The hallway was short-ceilinged and dark, not unlike the office space in Being John Malkovich, and we'd dutifully wait there until our twenty minutes began. It wasn't a comfortable situation really--you always felt that clock ticking--but we were grateful to have the free call. I wonder how many families relied on their 20 minutes as their sole connection to "back home."

Hard to believe things have changed so much. M is in Germany this week, and we've been talking on our computers every day. Skype makes it possible to have audio and video conversations online, so I've been able to put Daisy up to the phone so he could have a peek at her, and show him strawberry muffins right after I pulled them out of the oven. Armed with a cell phone instruction manual which I read to him over skype, he got bluetooth working so he could download photos he took this afternoon on his cell phone to his computer to email to me. So, the photo you see here is near Tutzing (German Alps in the background), not Van Horn!

Slowing down enough to see

When you first enter Big Bend National Park, your momentum feels a disconcerting thud. Getting here is a long anticipated moment, and you're eager to make your way to the heart of the park. But then you notice the sign, "Speed limit 45 mph." And just a few minutes ago, you were traveling down the interstate at 80.

At first it is highly uncomfortable, this slowness. And then you begin to realize it is exactly what you need.

You begin to notice more. You see the orange blossoms on the spiny ocotillo, the brassy green color of the greasewood, javelina rooting in the distance. The pace of the city is far behind you.

But get on your bike and your vision seems to grow exponentially. You spot the blossoming cacti, the lizards scattering across the road, a tiny rodent running for his hole. We move too quickly, really we do. Even a slow-paced life in Van Horn benefits from a few days at an even slower pace.

Just back from Big Bend

Just back from a wonderful hiking, biking, camping, hot springing, wildlife viewing trip in Big Bend with Kathleen. I will post more photos and write about the trip in the coming days.

My computer was in the shop (culprit: cat hair!), but now it is back and I need to post a few catch-up blog entries about ranch-sitting, springtime, and in general, just looking forward.