Made a trip to town today. It’s a small Texas town.
It’s not like going on any long journey or anything like it. We live in the country about two miles out and occasionally I go on errands to the bank or our little grocery store.
Our little Texas town is still dry, that is they do not sell beer or liquor in town. The point is, I don’t go into town to go on beer runs or anything like that. It’s usually just business of some sort.
Our little post office is one of the busiest spots in town and I know everyone there and that usually takes a while. You have to visit with folks some and it takes a little time. That visiting includes the customers, the postal workers, and the fellow that cleans the post office.
Then I usually head over to the bank which is right next to the hardware store. As I parked and got out of my pickup, I said hello to a friend’s dog who was in the back of his pickup. I have known that dog since it was a pup and we always exchange greetings. He sniffed me up and smelled my dog on me and licked me some. I spoke back to him, patted him some, and headed on into the bank.
The secretary of the bank and I have been friends for many years and I visit with her for a while as I walk in the door. She taught me how to make tortillas years ago. A few days before, I had delivered a Christmas tin of goodies Ramona had baked and she said to tell Ramona they were delicious and that she and her husband enjoyed them.
Two old friends were in the bank and I had to visit with them for a while. The chairman of the bank came out of his office to wish me a Merry Christmas. We are longtime friends and attended high school and played football together. We visited some there in the lobby and I showed him a photo of an old cousin they have in their 100th anniversary bank calendar. The picture was taken in 1925 in an old store in town.
A customer ahead of me in line finished her business and we visited some. She said we should stop by and visit her at her ranch sometime. She said she was mostly always there. She was probably born there. Her name is Lucy and I also know she has never used a computer and will never need to do so. She can still ride a horse bettern most men.
A stranger came up and introduced himself. I didn’t hear his name at first, but he said we were neighbors. I thought he was talking about neighbors along the Spring Creek. He talked some more and I realized he was talking about my former hometown. I called his name. He was a several years older than me and I had not seen him in 50 years, but immediately recognized him.
Our houses backed up to each other across the ally. His mother was my 7th grade teacher. She taught Texas History.
It was there, in her classroom that I became interested in all things Texas.
Funny isn’t it, what you see, who you talk to, and what you can remember on a simple trip to a small town out here in Real Texas.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
That made me homesick for my small texas town where everbody knows your name….
What is the NAME of this little town? It sounds a lot like it could be CISCO, my little home town…site of the famous Santa Clause bank robbery.
The name of the town is Mertzon…NOT Mertson, or Murchison, BUT MERTZON. The county seat of Irion County, Texas. Probably has a population now of around 400 are so. My brother, Tim and I were raised there. I know things about Mertzon and the folks that walked in and of there over a long, long period of time. Great folks, wonderful people, I too, know all the folks in TOWN. Tim and I were able to see all of our old friends on the occasion of the passing of our mother. As we visited with them it somehow seemed that time had just stopped and gone back to a absolutely incredible time and we were all young again and had not spent many, many, many, years apart.
That to me is one of the things about Real Texas People. They remember the good times and they dont forget the things we shared. Things happen to us as we journey through this life, and Real Texas People are always there for each other!
I salute you, “MERTZON”, in the Great State of Texas
Dale Lee Sellman
David,
The next time u see Steve Wayne tell him hello for me…..
Did my first shift in the oil patch working for a guy who lived in Mertzon—Dave Farrington. Did a workover on a well down near Eldorado. Glad I’m not still doing that as the wind chill around here has been near 10-degrees.
I stayed in the old Mertzon Hotel while working for Dave—it was an old box type, all wooden building on the west end of the town.
Warthog, I knew Dave Farrington also. I can tell you that his father, Dick Farrington, was quite a guy!!! He used to pretend he had work for me to do when really all he wanted was to have me around to visit with. He told me some great stories.
Dale
was that teacher mrs. w? i loved her…on the first day of texas history class, she had us draw the outline of the state. on the last day, she had us draw the outline of the state and gave us back our first ones to compare what we’d learned…it was a lot…one of my favorite classes and my favorite junior high school teacher. i am so glad to have had my beginnings in our little town.
What a memory…and you are correct! Mrs. Williams was that 7th grade teacher of Texas History and one of the childhood teachers you will always remember. Yes, those of us who grew up in the small Texas towns and small schools were the ‘lucky’ ones in this world.