Out in Luckenbach Texas, ain't nobody feelin' no pain...
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| Luckenbach Texas |
We've been so busy keepin' up with the Jones, four car garage and we're still building on...
Pam and I have gotten a lot of sympathetic looks and well intentioned comments from people when they learn we are living in a fifth-wheel camper. Generally, we are asked how we can live in such a small space (about 320 sq. ft.) and how we can do without all of the furniture and "stuff" we had in our house. After four months of living this way in Knoxville and a month in Texas, I can honestly say that it's not a problem. While there are a few tools that I could use on the farm that are in storage, we seem to be making it just fine without everything else. It begs the question of why do we really need all of the things we accumulate. I'm not going to get preachy about materialism, capitalism or any other "ism" (Most isms are a bad thing according to Ferris Bueller) but at some level, less is better. This is not to say that I am not looking forward to having a house again but a simpler life does have its advantages.Maybe its time we get back to the basics of love...
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| The Guadalupe River |
While this story is not about our farm, it needs to be shared. On Saturday, Pam, Nicole, Holly, Ava and Cora (yes, I'm vastly outnumbered by women) drove to the hill country near San Antonio to work on some property we own near Comfort, TX. Comfort is a small town known for its antique shops. Our property is on the Guadalupe River and we have used it mostly for camping. The river is lined with cypress trees and is a lot of fun to tube in the summer. We had some cleanup work to do and some items to bring back to Caldwell.
We borrowed a trailer from Pam's Dad to carry some items back to Caldwell, The trailer was about thirty years old and the four tires didn't look great but appeared to have at least four hundred miles left in them (you can probably see where this is going). We arrived late Saturday morning and spent the day doing the work on the cabin and land.
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| The working crew (Nicole, Ava, Cora, Holly & Pam) |
Sunday morning, we loaded the trailer and headed in the direction of Caldwell with a planned stop in Luckenbach. Most of you would be familiar with the Waylon Jennings song "Let's Go to Luckenbach Texas". Luckenbach is what's left of a small town and is really just a conglomeration of rustic buildings used for outdoor concerts. They have a stage, a dancehall and a couple of beer and barbeque vendors all under a canopy of live oak trees. We listened to Walt Wilkins (a Texas singer) for a couple of hours and then headed for home.
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| Walt Wilkins performing on the Luckenbach stage |
As we hit the outskirts of Austin, a biker pulled up next to me and yelled that one of my tires was burning. I pulled over immediately and checked all of the tires but could not see or smell anything. For some reason, I decided to run my hand on the inside of each tire and it became apparent that one of the tires was rubbing on the inside fender well. The tire wasn't burning but it was being ground down by the fender well wall. A quick inspection verified that a larger than specified tire was causing the problem. I called Pam's Dad and he admitted that he had some problems with that tire rubbing but thought we could make it home. I wasn't so sure but pulled out again to try. In less than a half mile, the tire blew and we were running on the rim. I managed to pull into a small shopping center and got out to inspect the damage. The tire was shredded, we didn't have another spare, it was after six PM on Sunday and we were ninety miles from home. I was about to call AAA (not sure they could have done much to help) when a grey Suburban pulled into the parking lot and turned in my direction. Pulling up to me, the driver introduced himself as Danny Gonzales and asked if he could help me. I will admit to being a bit leery as in addition to my circumstances, I had no idea how he was able to see that we had trouble from his angle of approach. I told him what had happened and he got out to look at the tire. I noticed he had his wife and several children with him so felt a little better about this Samaritan. After I told him we had already used the spare, he said, "Well, let's get this tire off and go get you a new one. There is a WalMart about a half mile down this road. We made short work of removing the old tire and threw it in the back of his car and left for WalMart. On the way, I met his wife and four children. I apologized for the trouble I was causing them but they said they were just on their way to McDonalds for some ice cream. Danny said there were five McDonalds within a couple of miles of their home and that for some reason he had headed for the one that was the farthest away. His wife (as they often do) questioned where he was going and when he realized he was going the wrong way, he turned onto the street by the shopping center where he saw us.
We got to WalMart and while they were happy to sell me a tire (one that actually fit the trailer), their service department was closed and they couldn't mount the new tire. Danny said, "No problem, we can go to my house and I can remove the old tire and mount the new one". At this point, I decided a higher power was in control of these events and after apologizing again for the trouble I was making, went with Danny and his family to their home. He got his tools (a 3.5 lb hammer and a couple of tire tools) and we got started trying to remove the old tire. While it was essentially shredded on the tread the walls were intact. The tire was so old it had bonded with the rim and while we (mostly Danny) beat on it for over an hour, we couldn't get it loose. I can't say this with enough conviction but I don't know anyone who would have worked so hard for so long to remove that tire, especially for a complete stranger. His only comment to me was, "We have to get it off for you to make it home." Finally, with both of us nearing exhaustion, I asked if we could cut the tire off. He agreed it was worth a try so we cut the side to the point where the steel cable was all that was left holding the tire to the rim. We had to use a pair of wire cutters to cut each one of the wire cords but finally had the old tire off. Danny mounted the new tire and pulled out an air compressor to fill it with air. A little after nine PM we had the tire in the car and were headed back to Pam and the girls. Danny helped mount the wheel back on the trailer and after thanking him, I asked what I owed him. He looked embarrassed at the question and said, "Nothing. I'm glad I was able to help." I said, "This went way beyond help and while I can understand your motivation to help someone, I need to do something for you." He said, "God has greatly blessed me and I want to share that with others", as he got back in his car and left.
As if all of this was amazing enough, at one point I was talking to his twelve year old daughter apologizing for ruining their ice cream run. She said, "Don't worry about that. Dad does stuff like this all the time. Just two weeks ago, he helped another guy who had a flat tire." No complaints from Danny, his wife or any of the four children from losing over three hours on a Sunday evening to the problems of a complete stranger. This event has given me pause to rethink a lot of ideas I have about people. We made it home a little before midnight, tired but safe thanks to Danny Gonzales.
My next post will return to the farm activities (brush burning, barn building, farm dogs & cats, etc.).
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| Sunset view from the fifth wheel |
