7 Bar Ranch

We spent Labor Day weekend visiting Nana and Granddaddy in Houston. On Saturday we went up to the property to look around. My mom's family used to own a large portion of land in Austin County and it is so awesome to go up there. Mom remembers lots of cool things from her childhood and talks about them when we visit. She is able to look at the place where two barb wire fences meet and know who owned that property in the 1950s and who owns it now. There are stories of maiden aunts who were completely self-sufficient (they pulled the plows themselves when they had to), and of her asking for her uncle to buy her a certain piece of land when a sloping hill and blue tank. The land is split up these days among different families and rich cattle ranchers but my family still owns a decent piece of it. A far cry from when my German ancestors owned most of the county. What an idyllic place to visit these days. It is a place that still remembers how to slow down. My parents are going to build their retirement home up there on property that has been in our family at least one hundred years if not more and call it 7 Bar Ranch. Their land is the highest point in the county and you can see for miles and miles in all directions. All you can see are green pastures and cattle and rolling hills and trees and tanks people have put in to water their animals. A few houses and bed and breakfasts dot the landscape but that is about all you can see. I love it! It is SO quiet and to get there you have to go down a dirt road and across a one lane bridge. Captured a few shots that are particularly meaningful to me and hope you will enjoy them as well.