I spent Chapter 1 in New England. I'm spending Chapter 2 in Texas. Talk about culture shock. For the better, mostly. Since I've been here, I can count on one hand how many times someone hasn't held a door open for me. The cost of living is low, so people can afford to eat out a lot. Accordingly, there are tons of good restaurants. And gyms. Even the bad restaurants do well catching the overflow from the good ones. I had seen exactly one Lamborghini in my first 45 years in New England. At my first car show here, I counted 18. You don't see many hoopties here. Oh yeah, that's a jalopy. Caliche is a word I never thought I'd use in polite company. That's a hard-packed gravel road, complete with tire ruts and puddles. The mud turns to concrete if you don't wash it off quick enough. So unless you have a hoopty, you might want to keep off the caliches. And I haven't regretted giving my snow shovel to a friend before I left.

But what I wouldn't give to have a summer/fall house back home. I didn't know it back then, but driving with the top down on a winding back road, wearing jeans and a hoodie in October with that dry, crisp air slapping at my cheeks, watching the bright orange and yellow leaves fly by and smelling logs burning in a wood stove... That's the closest I've been to heaven. I'd appreciate it more next time around.

But here I am, making the best of a pretty good situation, hoping people will think my wares are worth plunking down some of their hard-earned cash for what I've created. It's the ultimate compliment, really.

So look around, see if there's anything you like. If you find something, I'll be at the local (Houston) farmers markets and art markets. Or you can email me and we can talk about it. I'll get a Facebook and Instagram presence when my wife gets a little time.

Oh, and except for the composited American flag/wood graphic above, I took every photo on this site with my cell phone camera while showing this beautiful country to my grandkids. I remember when...nah, you don't want to get me started.