Cows, skyscapes and whatnot
Nearly every part of Texas hosts the most amazing land and skyscapes. Schulenburg, is no different. The town lies near the incenter of a triangle formed by the cities of Houston, Austin and San Antonio.
But this isn’t about Schulenburg itself, but the pastures and roads around it.
On the road south for the winter to Texas, we took our time. As I explained in a prior post, work necessitates that we stay in a a single location for at least a week. We then move during the weekend. The purpose for visiting Schulenburg at all was twofold. Firstly, I have an ancestral connection I wanted to explore some. Secondly, a friend I had yet to meet had built a campground near there and I wanted to check it out.
Both managed to be worked into the week. We visited my friend and his wonderful family and I spent a week in an area of Texas never before experienced.
Ancestry, and the naming of places
I have an ancestral relationship with the place as my great-grandmother, Ludmilla “Lillie” Janka Barrow, was born in a nearby community of Bohemian Czech immigrants named Praha (Prague). I still have a minor mental fit over the naming of new world locations after old world places. It literally makes no sense whatsoever.
Think about it. Those original settlers, be they Czechs or Germans in Texas, or English in New England, left , or were thrown out of, those places. If they left it was because they either had no hope, and/or were treated like shit by everybody because of religion or whatnot. If thrown out, it was because they did something as a result of having no hope, and were consequently treated like shit and thrown on a boat.
So they come here, and name the new place after the old place that sucked. Makes no sense. But it seems like they got over that after the push west started happening. By the time they made it to Colorado. It was more like:
“Well, here’s where we are building the town. What’ll we call it?”
“There’s a dry gulch just over there.”
“Dry Gulch it is.”
Me? I come from a place I hate and get the opportunity to name a new place, it will be “Johnland” or “Pond” If there’s one there. It sure AF wouldn’t be “New Houston”
The Cows of Schulenburg
Enough of my odd ego. Walking the sunny roads had the benefit of company. Cows, cows and more cows. Red cows, black cows, brown cows, spotted cows. baby cows and bulls with ginormous horns. Cows have long been my favorite animal. These were all beef cows rather than the dairy variety.
If these were my ranches? They would all be pet cows. Sorry, I’m not full-on “Meat is Murder” yet, but my winds are driving me that way. On warm evenings you’ll be able to find me out on the back forty sharing a beyond burger with Elsie.
I put in enough foot-miles during this week that I saw thousands of cows and the occasional bull. Who usually gazed at me balefully. No baleful bulls allowed in my land of happy pet cows, who do joyfully give their milk for the creation of organic ice-cream. Yay. Fantasy over.
The Miles of Schulenburg
I put in over 50 road-miles that week in the area of my friend’s campground, not counting the nine I walked exploring the town and it’s museums. The roads in the countryside surrounding Schulenburg are mostly straight with gentle, rolling inclines that make them ideal for walking, cycling or jogging.
They are Texas Roads, which means the speed limit is whatever you want, pretty much, but you can hear a vehicle coming from a long way away, so what light local farm and ranch traffic there is doesn’t represent a great hazard to walkers, cyclers, and joggers who are paying attention.
My week here reacquainting myself with Texas skies, pastures and cows was extremely rewarding for a week on a whim.
More on Schulenburg in days to come!
