My Affliction...

If I'm afflicted with any kind of mental disorder it's this: I remember the most random places at the most random times. I can be at work shelving a book or doing work on the computer, or at home opening the door, or walking to my car, it doesn't matter, at least three or four times a day particular places race to my mind with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. Here's a list of a few that have occured in the past couple of weeks:

1. A gas station/restaurant across from Cayuga High School in Cayuga, TX. Cayuga is located somewhere between Palestine and Corsicana in Anderson County, not to far from the Henderson, Navarro, and Freestone county lines. (It sure makes one sound country when they speak of counties, doesn't it.) There's no more than a few hundred people who live there, but they have a school. I've been there once. Me and a friend and my dad ate an amazing hamburger at this little gas station across from the school before we went to see Brownsboro play them in basketball. Nothing eventful about that, we were going to games every week. But for some reason that place has come to my memory lately.

2. A mechanic's family house outside of Wichita Falls, TX. Many years ago my friend Brent lived in Oklahoma City and my sister had some crazy friend who lived in Wichita Falls. The plan was to drop her off in Wichita Falls and head to Oklahoma from there. My truck broke down outside of W.F. I had to call a tow truck who took my car to his garage and told me it would be days before they'd have the parts to fix it. So I called Brent, who drove down from Oklahoma city to come get me. It was in the evening, and the tow-truck driver, not wanting me to have to wait outside of his garage, invited me to his how for dinner with his family. Being 19, I didn't take danger into the equation. But he was a nice man with a nice family in a very modest part of town. That was ten years ago and it came to my mind a few days ago when I was taking the trash out.

3. First Baptist Church, Mixon, TX. A girl I liked in high school, who was a city girl (from Tyler) was in the youth group of one of my teachers. The teacher, knowing I liked this girl, invited me to one of their youth group's puppet shows. It was in Mixon, TX. Population next to nothing. It was a Sunday night and I was scared driving there because it was in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road in the forest. I was helping a customer the other day and thought of that place.

4. The porch of some one-legged old guys porch miles out in the country. This is a weird one. When I was a kid my dad used to take me out for long country rides on Sunday afternoons. One day we were off the beaten path and saw a one-legged guy sitting on his porch, so dad decided we'd go and say high to him. So we hung out and visited for a while. Why is this weird? I was three. My dad still can't believe I remember it, but I do, and I did earlier today as I was cooking peanut butter pie.