Cat Spring, Texas

Winter is the best season in Texas. I was going to write “unless you’re…” , but I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t prefer a sunny and dry 55 degree day to a sweltering 95 degrees and humid day that sometimes stretches into the night. I do have one friend from Mexico who loves hot weather, so I guess everyone has their favorite. But I am loving this weather after we had a winter ‘heat wave’ for the past two weeks. It hasn’t felt like winter for most of the season so far.

Today I had to run a few errands all over the county, from Sealy to Bellville and back, and I enjoyed the drive very much. The blue skies with wispy white clouds and mostly barren trees provided a nice background to the wide open spaces. Austin county is relatively hilly in the northern areas compared to nearby Houston. The first time we drove out here looking for a house to buy, I was in awe of the beautiful rolling wooded terrain. We hit some snags trying to buy the house, but I was determined and God came through for us.

Most of the roads around the country are two lane highways, meaning one lane in each direction. So if they are doing any kind of work, it means sitting in a line waiting for your turn. I ran into that situation twice yesterday. Progress! It’s a good thing. It means they are maintaining the roads. On the main highway through Sealy they were putting in a stop light. Not sure what they were doing on 949, re-striping or something.

My first stop was the Cat Spring Post Office. I don’t go there often, but I actually needed a book of stamps to mail a physical letter. My miscellaneous stamps were used up for Christmas cards. I bought a book of Christmas stamps since I probably won’t need stamps again until next Christmas. Going to the post office always makes me smile. The building is just so quaint!

After that I took a right and went down the back road, FM 2187 to Sealy to go to Walmart. I was happy to see that there were not a lot of new houses being built there yet. As I neared FM 1094 I could see flashing emergency lights ahead at the RR tracks. I made a right turn and took Woody Lane, a neighborhood outside of town with homes on acreage. I was also happy to note that there were no new houses there. I know people need homes, but it’s hard to let go of the open spaces that I love. New homes are being built in Sealy, but they are mostly in planned neighborhoods close to town.

My Walmart transaction was quick, friendly and easy as usual. They know me well there. I got back in the car and headed to Highway 36 for a trip to Brenham. 36 is actually a divided highway, two lanes each side, for the 10 mile stretch between Sealy and Bellville, with a 75 mph speed limit. Sadly this fast speed limit on a rolling road with blind spots frequently results in accidents, often deadly, as people treat it like a race track. It’s a very scenic drive, with few buildings and businesses along the way. Lots of big sky views.

In Brenham I ran into lunch hour traffic and a line at the UPS Store, but everyone was friendly and helpful. It was my first time returning an Amazon item and a lady showed me how to do it at the kiosk. There was a huge pile of packages being returned. Being noon, I was getting hungry, but I’m on a New Year’s diet, so I made myself wait to eat at home instead of grabbing fast food.

Back on the highway I turned at FM 159 and took the narrow two lane route across even bigger hills and more scenic landscapes of farms and ranches. Not much new development in that area. People hold on to their land. I had to pay attention to other drivers. There’s not much room for error on that road. Quite a few vehicles were coming at me and I don’t trust people not to cross the center line. But I still enjoyed the views. I passed through the community of Welcome. The road gets quite curvy in that area, be sure to slow down. Coming up to Industry is a good-sized hill. The road sometimes floods at the bottom of that hill where there’s a creek.

Then it was time to get back on FM 094 after passing through Industry and New Ulm. It was a nice drive for a Monday. Come see us!