"America the Beatuiful"

I've lots of fun Mississippi stuff from yesterday to share, but I've also a kitchen to clean, and squash to freeze, jalapenos to pickle, corn to fertilize (fish emulsion), and an energetic dog to take to the pasture (before it rains????). So for now I'll copy/paste a short bit from NRO's The Corner by Michael Walsh.

West of the truck stop at Fort Stockton, Texas, and all the way to El Paso, there is almost nothing but mashed-potato hills, scrub brush and the open road. The speed limit is pretty much whatever you want it to be, and Texas Rangers are few and far between. For a few hours, you can imagine what the first settlers felt upon encountering the vast, majestic emptiness that is west Texas and all from the safety of your steering wheel.

You feel free.

He goes on to say, "You haven’t seen the country until you’ve driven across it." 

Indeed. Read the rest here.