The Houston Pocket 2 - An ATV Ride

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love to take quad rides on the weekends. I love to find places I've never seen before. But, there are a few places that I like to go time and time again. These places just draw me for some reason. The Houston Pocket is one of those areas.

To understand what the Houston Pocket is please see my previous article: The Houston Pocket - An ATV Ride

Each time we go to the "pocket" I find more and more things to take pictures of. This place draws me. I love the Indian ruins on top of the mountain and the old cattle ranch below. Whenever I start to think that I've taken all the pictures I can of the same place, I find more things. There is so much beauty and history here and more to be found the closer you look.

There are the pretty obvious things such as the large tree standing right in what would have been the front yard...

...the huge mountains surrounding this little basin or "pocket". This area is so rugged that you would swear there were mountain lions or bobcats hiding behind every rock.

...the little one-room cabin that at one time housed a cattle rancher and possibly a whole family as well.

These are the most obvious things that people see at the Houston Pocket. These are great things and it's great to imagine who lived there and what brought them here. Most people would walk away from this place happy just to see the obvious things. Not me. I love the obvious things for what they are but I soon want to know more, more about the less obvious things, like the way that the chimney in one of the old buildings blends in so well with it's surroundings...

...or how the cabin looks so cool from a different angle. I can just imagine old cowboys unsaddling their horses here after a long and dusty day and laying the saddles on these stands.

It looks like someone cleaned house and brought the old bed springs outside. Maybe they needed a little "airing out". LOL.

...or I want to know more about the different people who have made this cabin a home. Who used the wood stove, or the old propane refrigerator, or who attempted a more modern sheet rocking job, and why is there a hole in that sheet rock? Oooooh! BB holes too, someone was a little courageous or stupid.

I wonder what kind of spices were kept in this little cabinet.

Or what kinds of medicines were kept in this one.

Now most people would be pretty content with the obvious beauty and maybe even the not so obvious beauty. Not me. I have to look even closer. I have to know. What, I don't know, I just have to know.

I see beauty in an old barbwire fence and even a more modern post. Not just the fence as a whole but the smaller pieces and parts of the fence. Who put these posts in the ground and why? How long did it take them and what tools did they use?

Still, I have to look closer. What is beyond that fence? A plain old field of dried up grass hiding rattle snakes and creepy, crawly things? Hardly! This is a "pocket" or "basin" where water runs off the surrounding areas and pools at the bottom. This has created great beauty that others might pass up. I see a series of events that created this beauty.

Now am I satisfied??? No way! I have to look closer still. Back at the cabin something against the wall is being blown by the wind. When it falls the sun reflects off of it, when the wind blows it upwards the light goes away, creating a sort of blinking effect. I have no idea why it is stuck to the side of the cabin but it is beautiful just the same.

I look down at my feet as I almost stumble into a hole and see things hidden under the porch. Someday this area might have to be investigated as well. I have to know more. What history lies under the porch? Maybe just modern man's trash, but maybe more.

As I investigate the porch my attention is again brought back to the bed springs that are being "aired out". Hmmm, I actually think they smell better now. Lets get a closer look.

When it's time to go, I stop and consider if I've found all the beauty that exists in this place. I look up and all around one last time and find ...

....that the cabin is also a "mouse house". Okay... done for the day but I will be back soon and I'm sure I won't have any problem finding more and more beauty here.