East Texas

Until Ben and I moved to Texas, I had lived in two places: Arizona and Utah. My home town in Arizona was dry and rather ugly. Trees were sparse, and green grass could only be found in a yard that was properly watered. There were open fields and hills covered in dirt, dried up grass, cactus, sage brush and some sort of other small, fat trees. There were, however, some moderately-sized mountains close by with some actual, tall pine trees that provided a little bit more greenery to the landscape. We also had lots of space where we lived, and freedom to run and play as we pleased. I liked it okay as a child, but as I grew older and had the chance to see other places in the world, I realized how much I looked forward to moving somewhere prettier.

In Provo and Springville Utah, we were in a valley. There was a river, a lake, and majestic mountains covered in aspens, maples, and pines. There was a beautiful canyon, camping, skiing (water and snow), hiking, etc. It was still a relatively dry place, where the grasses turned brown in the summer. The valley itself had little open space, as it was developed by businesses and homes galore. There were trees, of course, but no pines freely growing or tree-lined highways. It was beautiful to me, nevertheless, especially having come from my hometown in Arizona. I also loved the snow in the winter (though I hated how winter lasted until April!). There were plenty of things to do and see, and it was a wonderful place to live.

Up until our move to Texas, the only thing I knew about it was that it was big and that the part Ben grew up in (West Texas) was dry, flat, and...well, ugly! It was even worse than Chino Valley, Arizona! I had no idea that Texas could also offer green grasses, open country, and lots of trees, including pine trees. There are no majestic mountains like in Utah, but our first area (Tyler, TX) had green grass growing freely, tall pines and other trees clustered and scattered all throughout the city, trees lined the highways and county roads leading out of the main city, small lakes appeared out of nowhere, and open land was plentiful. The mountains in Utah are beautiful and there is no snow here, but the country of east Texas is also a thing of beauty I was pleasantly surprised to discover. We have moved again to a new area of Texas, and I will miss the pines, sporadic lakes, and open fields of green in the Tyler area. Here are a few pictures to illustrate, even to a small degree, the beauty of east Texas (keep in mind these were taken from the car as we drove from Tyler to New Braunfels, so it's only a small and imperfect sampling of the beauty we saw while living in Tyler. Also, it's still "winter" so there aren't leaves on the deciduous trees):

Our new area (New Braunfels, near San Antonio) lacks the pines and open country of east Texas, but it has two rivers, hills, plenty of other trees, a large lake nearby, and I think we'll really like it here!

And while none of the places I've lived has been "perfect", I have enjoyed being able to experience all of them. They all have something that I've enjoyed. How blessed we are to live in this great land full of variety and beauty! :)