We frequently hear statements like "Life is short, follow your dreams," or "don't labor your entire life at a job you hate, follow your dreams!" Well, this past Friday I decided to literally follow my dream. No, not the dream of fame and fortune or "making it big." The dream I decided to follow was a dream I had while sleeping, some twenty (something) years ago. I am not sure what was so special about this past Friday, except that I was off work. Oh, and one more thing, the main character from that dream of twenty years ago was in a dream I had on this Thursday night past. THAT was a surprise. So when I awakened Friday morning, I rushed through some chores I needed to do, and by 2:00 PM I was on the road. Destination: Somewhere on US 67 west of Big Lake.
For a little background, here is the gist of that dream of over two decades ago. The dream started with me and my little family driving down FM 137 on the seventy miles-or-so drive from Midland to Big Lake. I do not recall why we were going. We stopped at the one "twenty-four hour" store in Big Lake. As I walked across the parking lot to go inside the store, there was the stereo-typical mysterious, wise man in a long white beard and long white hair. I do not know why the man was interested in me, but he walked toward me and beckoned me. So I met him half way. He only said these cryptic words: Go to ............. before they destroy it." I was a history major in college at this time, if that has anything to do with it. I thought the name of this mysterious destination was something like "Cuidado Tenejas," but I really was not sure. Spanish words, one meaning "secure" and also "city." I do not what "teneja" means or if that is the word I heard, but I think there is a similar word meaning "lakes" or something like that. In any case, this name is what I understood from that dream. The man was gone when I looked back, and I do not remember any more details of the dream.
I consider myself a fairly reasonable and rational person, but this dream was so intriguing to me that I determined I would immediately drive west on US 67 until I found a town, a ghost town, a spot in the road, or something that sounded like Cuidado Tenejas. I got out maps (Google was not around then - this was before "the turn of the century.") and also the famous Texas Gazetteer. I scoured the main road and all nearby backroads, physical formations, bodies of water, known historical sites, etc., but to no avail. There simply was no place listed in any resources that sounded like Cuidado Tenejas. No matter, I would just run the entire highway from Big Lake to Highway 67's terminal point at the US/Mexico border south of Presidio. Immediately! Or not...
Who knows what happened? I let everything else get in the way, and soon this mission (but not the dream itself) was forgotten, buried among the various trials and busy-ness of life. I thought about the dream and the mission from time to time, but next thing I know, five years had slipped away, then ten, then...good grief! twenty years. Then, fast forward to 2016, another dream, the one I wrote about earlier, the dream that had nothing with the original dream, but the mysterious man was in it, not really a part of the dream, just standing there looking at me. I had to do it. I had to seek that mysterious destination: Cuidado Tenejas.
From my residence it is just a 35 mile drive to the intersection of Texas 349 and US 67 at Rankin. I started to take that route but then I decided to basically re-enact the dream...meaning I needed to drive from Midland to Big Lake and stop at the convenience store there. That deviation would add another 90 miles to the trip, but I did not mind. It was for a good cause. So I turned left at I-20 and drove to Stanton, turning south on SH 137 head for Big Lake...the city of the "vanishing lake." Less than an hour later I was there. And in for BIG surprise!
Big Lake is not much bigger than it was back in the '90s, but there has been some growth and a lot of changes. The BIGGEST change, as for as I was concerned, was that the convenience store on the corner of SH 137 and US 67, where I had met the white-haired gentleman in my dream, was GONE! It had been torn down, evidently some years ago, and now only a few gas pumps occupy that spot. A bigger convenience store, belonging to a popular chain, had been erected on the opposite corner. The first blow to my "re-enactment." I was stunned, but after all, it HAD been over twenty years. I pulled into the "new" convenience store and just hoped something unusual would happen. But I was disappointed. Nothing out of the ordinary happened; in fact, I was hardly noticed among all the oil field guys coming in and out of the store. I was disappointed, yes, but not defeated. I bought a couple of items and got back on the road, heading west on US 67.
Just a minute or so after I left the store in Big Lake, my cell phone rang. It was my daughter, Child B. She was sick and the baby was sick. Honey (Baby's grandmother) was in Philadelphia. So I was the next resort. My daughter asked what was happening with me, and I told her that I was on this little adventure. Then I told her that her father must be getting a little soft in the head. After all, Daddy was now over fifty. It was possible that Daddy was getting weak-minded. But, I love my daughter, she just said I was not getting soft in the head, I was finally finishing an adventure. But then she said she was really feeling bad and needed help with the baby. She knew by now I was in Big Lake and so she said she would call one of her friends to come stay with her.
So I drove from Big Lake to Rankin, passing a couple of historical markers on the way. Then I passed through Girven, then McCamey. I had seen no indications of the destination I was searching for, and really I had not expected to, because instinctively I knew that if such a place existed, it was much further south, possibly beyond Presidio, which was still over two hundred miles south. Then I got the call. My Baby really needed me to come over...not necessarily for help, just for comfort. She needed her Daddy. There was no question then. My adventure over for the time-being, I turned right at McCamey and drove for Odessa as fast as I dared without attracting the attention of the Highway Patrol or any local officers who might be encountered along the way.
Within the hour I was at my Child B's house. She and Baby Baby were so happy to see me. I was just as happy to see them. I played with the baby for hours, and did little things for Child B. A few hours later my son (in law) arrived and took over. I said my goodbyes and headed home. I was not even disappointed anymore. I just thought how lucky I was that my daughter, Child B, would still call me if she needed me, and she knew I would drop what I was doing and come to her aid. And how lucky I am to have such a cute Baby Baby who will grow up to be such a cute granddaughter, and no doubt, will be just as strong-willed as her mother. Oh, those pay backs.
Who knows? Maybe on another day I will finish this dream quest. And the good news is that I can start at McCamey, a much shorter drive than going from Midland to Big Lake. I cannot explain why this dream, and this adventure, still call to me to complete the journey and the quest. But it reminds me of a song by the legendary Marty Robbins. The song, "El Paso City, is about a man's (Marty's?) uncertain destiny as he decided whether or not to go back to El Paso. The particular lines I have in mind are these:
Can it be that man can disappear
From life and live another time
And does the mystery deepen 'cause you think
That you yourself lived in that other time
and
El Paso City by the Rio Grande
A voice tells me to go and see
Another voice keeps tellin' me
Maybe death awaits me in El Paso
For a little background, here is the gist of that dream of over two decades ago. The dream started with me and my little family driving down FM 137 on the seventy miles-or-so drive from Midland to Big Lake. I do not recall why we were going. We stopped at the one "twenty-four hour" store in Big Lake. As I walked across the parking lot to go inside the store, there was the stereo-typical mysterious, wise man in a long white beard and long white hair. I do not know why the man was interested in me, but he walked toward me and beckoned me. So I met him half way. He only said these cryptic words: Go to ............. before they destroy it." I was a history major in college at this time, if that has anything to do with it. I thought the name of this mysterious destination was something like "Cuidado Tenejas," but I really was not sure. Spanish words, one meaning "secure" and also "city." I do not what "teneja" means or if that is the word I heard, but I think there is a similar word meaning "lakes" or something like that. In any case, this name is what I understood from that dream. The man was gone when I looked back, and I do not remember any more details of the dream.
I consider myself a fairly reasonable and rational person, but this dream was so intriguing to me that I determined I would immediately drive west on US 67 until I found a town, a ghost town, a spot in the road, or something that sounded like Cuidado Tenejas. I got out maps (Google was not around then - this was before "the turn of the century.") and also the famous Texas Gazetteer. I scoured the main road and all nearby backroads, physical formations, bodies of water, known historical sites, etc., but to no avail. There simply was no place listed in any resources that sounded like Cuidado Tenejas. No matter, I would just run the entire highway from Big Lake to Highway 67's terminal point at the US/Mexico border south of Presidio. Immediately! Or not...
Who knows what happened? I let everything else get in the way, and soon this mission (but not the dream itself) was forgotten, buried among the various trials and busy-ness of life. I thought about the dream and the mission from time to time, but next thing I know, five years had slipped away, then ten, then...good grief! twenty years. Then, fast forward to 2016, another dream, the one I wrote about earlier, the dream that had nothing with the original dream, but the mysterious man was in it, not really a part of the dream, just standing there looking at me. I had to do it. I had to seek that mysterious destination: Cuidado Tenejas.
From my residence it is just a 35 mile drive to the intersection of Texas 349 and US 67 at Rankin. I started to take that route but then I decided to basically re-enact the dream...meaning I needed to drive from Midland to Big Lake and stop at the convenience store there. That deviation would add another 90 miles to the trip, but I did not mind. It was for a good cause. So I turned left at I-20 and drove to Stanton, turning south on SH 137 head for Big Lake...the city of the "vanishing lake." Less than an hour later I was there. And in for BIG surprise!
Big Lake is not much bigger than it was back in the '90s, but there has been some growth and a lot of changes. The BIGGEST change, as for as I was concerned, was that the convenience store on the corner of SH 137 and US 67, where I had met the white-haired gentleman in my dream, was GONE! It had been torn down, evidently some years ago, and now only a few gas pumps occupy that spot. A bigger convenience store, belonging to a popular chain, had been erected on the opposite corner. The first blow to my "re-enactment." I was stunned, but after all, it HAD been over twenty years. I pulled into the "new" convenience store and just hoped something unusual would happen. But I was disappointed. Nothing out of the ordinary happened; in fact, I was hardly noticed among all the oil field guys coming in and out of the store. I was disappointed, yes, but not defeated. I bought a couple of items and got back on the road, heading west on US 67.
Just a minute or so after I left the store in Big Lake, my cell phone rang. It was my daughter, Child B. She was sick and the baby was sick. Honey (Baby's grandmother) was in Philadelphia. So I was the next resort. My daughter asked what was happening with me, and I told her that I was on this little adventure. Then I told her that her father must be getting a little soft in the head. After all, Daddy was now over fifty. It was possible that Daddy was getting weak-minded. But, I love my daughter, she just said I was not getting soft in the head, I was finally finishing an adventure. But then she said she was really feeling bad and needed help with the baby. She knew by now I was in Big Lake and so she said she would call one of her friends to come stay with her.
So I drove from Big Lake to Rankin, passing a couple of historical markers on the way. Then I passed through Girven, then McCamey. I had seen no indications of the destination I was searching for, and really I had not expected to, because instinctively I knew that if such a place existed, it was much further south, possibly beyond Presidio, which was still over two hundred miles south. Then I got the call. My Baby really needed me to come over...not necessarily for help, just for comfort. She needed her Daddy. There was no question then. My adventure over for the time-being, I turned right at McCamey and drove for Odessa as fast as I dared without attracting the attention of the Highway Patrol or any local officers who might be encountered along the way.
Within the hour I was at my Child B's house. She and Baby Baby were so happy to see me. I was just as happy to see them. I played with the baby for hours, and did little things for Child B. A few hours later my son (in law) arrived and took over. I said my goodbyes and headed home. I was not even disappointed anymore. I just thought how lucky I was that my daughter, Child B, would still call me if she needed me, and she knew I would drop what I was doing and come to her aid. And how lucky I am to have such a cute Baby Baby who will grow up to be such a cute granddaughter, and no doubt, will be just as strong-willed as her mother. Oh, those pay backs.
Who knows? Maybe on another day I will finish this dream quest. And the good news is that I can start at McCamey, a much shorter drive than going from Midland to Big Lake. I cannot explain why this dream, and this adventure, still call to me to complete the journey and the quest. But it reminds me of a song by the legendary Marty Robbins. The song, "El Paso City, is about a man's (Marty's?) uncertain destiny as he decided whether or not to go back to El Paso. The particular lines I have in mind are these:
Can it be that man can disappear
From life and live another time
And does the mystery deepen 'cause you think
That you yourself lived in that other time
and
El Paso City by the Rio Grande
A voice tells me to go and see
Another voice keeps tellin' me
Maybe death awaits me in El Paso
Child B was so kind. She assured me that I was not getting soft in the head, that this was a worthwhile adventure, especially for me, with my historical interests. But, like the song says, the voice telling me to go and see has never really stopped. I have often wondered, and still do, what awaits me if I do find such a place as Cuidado Tenejas? I have to say, at the risk of sounding soft in the head, that I have also had a strong feeling of belonging to another day, another time. Reincarnation? Who knows? But, like Marty Robbins, I too have felt over the years a very strong draw toward past times. As for Cuidado Tenejas, or whatever the correct name is, I will one day finish the quest, hopefully finding this mysterious place that a white-headed stranger wanted me to find before it could be destroyed. Is it a real place? And, is it now too late? We will see.
Remember this, my friends, no moment in life is ordinary, except we make it that way ourselves. Really, life is daily an adventure.
Next post: Some Roadside History From My Dream Quest
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