Ranch Entry Feature
It’s a little warmer again here at the ranch this morning, it smells and feels a little like fall again with the aroma of wet leaves and rust, maybe from all the corrugated tin left rusting, discarded and scattered around the grounds of these old East Texas farms and ranches. Back when I moved out here there was the remains of an old smoker shack left by some distant past land resider. It was all that was left, but nevertheless a mark left by him, and it showed he had once labored hard here. It was in an area where I had planned to put my ranch house and was sure to be removed during construction. Not knowing exactly why, I chose a place for the house just off to the right of the rusty remains. Not knowing why, that is, other than a good friend and I thought it was a good place to capture the southern breezes which I hoped would make the homemade wind chimes that I had put together that spring sing from the porch when the ranch house was completed. (For instructions on how to build your own wind chimes, Click Here!)
It was there that I began assembling the various parts that would become my ranch house, a place for me, the new land resider. When the work was finished, I was asked as they cleared away the construction debris, if I wanted them to haul off the remains of the old shack. I don’t know to this day why I told them no, but I did. I guess I’ve always had a respect for and been a lover of the past … times past, and things made for a purpose in times past. So, there it sat, the remains of that old smoke shack, pieces of corrugated tin, with smoke hole and all, in my FRONT YARD!!! It was the first thing you could see as you drove up the long shaded drive to the ranch house. Yes, I was asked about it, and gave a non-answer answer, smiling inside as if at a private joke.
For months as I sat on the porch looking out at my beautiful meadow with its carpet of colorful spring flowers, there was something in my vision, just off to the left, it was like … like … a grain of sand in my eye or an errant eye lash, working on my mind. I noticed that Leo (boss cat), and at that time Lucky (our porch guard, and a very loyal dog friend) would sit and look out, not avoiding, but looking straight at, the old smoker remains as if they knew.
Today, that old smoker is an entry feature — I’ve chosen to honor, not avoid, it’s presence. Several years ago I painted a Texas flag on it’s rusty corrugated side that you could see when driving in the drive. Last year I made a rock lined cactus garden at it’s feet, and now in the spring there are beautiful yellow cactus flowers there.
Now, if you ever visit, don’t ask, or you too will get a non-answer answer … and a secret smile.
