FROM MY FRONT PORCH
Sam Houston is the publisher of the Hood County News. He is also an actor, author, playwright, performer and entertainment producer/promoter.
This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel on newspaper business to Bay City. I left Friday, made the long drive south, and drove back on Saturday. While I have been to Galveston and Houston, I had never been to the area southwest of Houston around Bay City. I did not know what to expect but was surprised to see how agricultural the landscape appeared. There were huge fields of cotton and corn, and I came to learn that at a point in time, there was a significant amount of rice grown in that area.
All the growing fields made my heart smile. Being a former rancher and being the descendant of a long line of farmers, it always makes me feel good to see a big healthy field. I know and appreciate the hard work that goes into creating a crop, as well as the perils a farmer must overcome such as drought, disease and infestation. It takes a lot of effort and just a little luck to make it in the farming business. I was proud for the farmers who owned the fields I saw because they sure had a “leg up” on having a good year. I hope the balance of the summer is kind to them, right up to harvest time.
The bonus for being in farm country is I stopped at a terrific roadside vegetable stand. I circled the farmstand like a small child on Christmas morning, trying to figure out which present to open first. The farmer’s produce looked too good to pass up. I wished I had a big cooler, or a van so I could have purchased even more and maybe even bring some to friends and coworkers. I ended up buying four dozen roasting ears, okra, tomatoes, and some peas. I was so excited to have farm fresh vegetables that I ignored the price and just kept loading the car.
When I got home, I found Granbury to be an inferno of 107 degrees! I was tired and weary from my travels and once I unloaded my car, I took one of those vine-ripened tomatoes and made a BLT sandwich for my dinner. I guess everyone has a favorite sandwich, but when it is summertime and the weather is hot, there is nothing that satisfies like a BLT made with extra thick bacon, (about 5 pieces worth), and a couple of slabs of just-picked tomatoes. The flavor was heavenly and when consumed with a big glass of peach iced tea, almost culinary perfection. How could a person not enjoy the flavor of a fresh, just-picked sun ripened tomato?
The next morning, I gathered up all the corn I bought and brought it out on my deck to be shucked. I have shucked many an ear of corn in my life, starting at about age 5 when my grandfather showed me how. Something about sitting outside in the heat, grabbing and pulling, removing the fine corn silks that would stick to the cob, and feeling the sticky “milk” from the corn on my hands, brought back great memories. I bet a lot of readers have either shucked corn or hulled peas, and they will know exactly what I am talking about.
The best part of the whole weekend was my sweet wife decided to utilize what I brought home and make an old-fashioned Sunday supper. She baked a roast, fried okra, prepared corn, sliced tomatoes, and cooked the peas. It filled the house with a wonderful mix of smells that made my stomach tingle in anticipation of when it would be served. Nothing beats a Sunday supper made with fresh vegetables from the farm! Everything was cooked to perfection and was so incredibly satisfying. I wished there had been a bunch of friends there to enjoy it with me. There were plenty of leftovers, which means I got to enjoy it all over again the next night.
Sunday suppers are always special if you are eating with those you love and even better if you have farm-fresh produce to consume. We all wish for things to be better in our life or see changes from our current circumstances. Most of the time, we want “more “and we want “different.” As I get older, I don’t care about more and different. I realize the best things in life truly are the simple things right before us. Family, good food, and a safe home; that is about as good as it gets.
Thought for the day: At the conclusion of a good Sunday supper, I can sit back and say to myself, “If Heaven is nothing more than this, it will be good enough for me.”
Until next time.
sam@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 260
