As the sights in the Texas Hill Country have grown familiar to me through my lifetime, so have the paths that have taken me to those places. Maybe it is foolish to expect a bond with the land to be in place without an affection for the means of exposure to the land. The trails I have traveled over years past carry much credit for what beauty my eyes have caught beyond the pavement. Surely there are many well-traveled ranch roads and farm roads interwoven throughout the hills that have received my eyesí fond applause, but a few sequences of these roads in particular hold a special place in my heart and mind. I will take you through one of those chains of blacktops now.

We begin passing through the city limits of Austin on highway 290 West.Only 30 minutes out, the signs make clear where we are heading.

Dripping Springs, Texas, proudly presents itself as the ìGateway to the Hill Countryî, and the surrounding sights provide a very convincing testimony. Quickly, the fields between hills begin to have affect on you. Dusk out here can be deceiving. That is, there is something surreal about this land when itís laced with long shadows.

I often drive by this way and look intently upon the country Iím dividing with my clumsy vehicle. I cannot lay my eyes upon the land long enough; I have to watch the road. But maybe thatís not so taxing, because it deserves some devout attention itself. Let me remember where itís taking me.

Continuing west from Dripping Springs, there is a stretch in particular of intoxicating beauty. I look forward to this part each time: a couple long fields on either side of the road running into the feet of hills set way back; perfect communities of cows placed very logically; a solitary horse valiantly standing post, with thinning rays of sun still strong enough to gleam powerfully off his back.

I cherish these scenes! I would move out here, and live inside it all. But there is a capacity for loneliness too great, and it burdens me. There is a peculiar tension at work in these parts. I am enamoured, true. But I am drawn in and then left alone. Iíll have it in healthy doses, though, and a drive is a good dose.