Snake Proof Boots

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I left work early and threw my bag into Thomas’ car. We drove north. Further north than I’d ever gone in this state. Further than Dallas, which I haven’t actually visited, but switched planes in one time. We left Austin during the height of a peculiar heat wave. I wore summer clothes and purchased an iced coffee on the way out of town. By the time we stopped for gas a few hours later the temperature was already dropping. The next day would be literally freezing. A quick trip around town on Thanksgiving Day demonstrated that I should have worn warmer boots and that liquor stores in Wichita Falls are not open on holidays. Despite these hardships, we managed to procure dubious supermarket wine and to pick wild persimmons before dinnertime.