All roads lead to Palestine

Palestine, Tx that is.

I went to college in a small East Texas town. I was lost in the picturesque piny woods and frankly I loved it. It really was beautiful and almost serene. The one major drawback to the town was that it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We had to drive nearly two hours to get anywhere that could be considered civilized.

It sort of goes without saying that I spent a lot of time in college driving to other places. I mean honestly there is only so much drinking you can do for entertainment. If we wanted a mall, a real restaurant, or controversial movies*, it called for a road trip. Plus there is nothing quite like a college road trip.

It was during all of this driving around East Texas that I noticed there was always a sign pointing you towards Palestine. Going to Tyler or Dallas there were turns to Palestine. Driving to Houston there were turns to Palestine. Going to Shreveport, you guessed it, Palestine. It seemed like there was no escape of the roads to Palestine. It was almost as though Palestine was the Sun of the East Texas solar system.

I only actually ended up in Palestine once in all my years of driving around those pine lined roads. We were heading back from Tyler and it was well after midnight, and we got lost. It only made sense that when you get lost in East Texas that eventually you will end up in Palestine. We spent some time in a very strange truck stop before an off duty state trooper kindly led us back to the road we wanted to be on to get home.

And then we ran over a couch.
In the fog.
On the highway.
But that is a story for another time.


So now every time I am driving towards East Texas, and I see a sign for Palestine I have this strange sense of comfort. In my mind I know that all roads will eventually lead me there, and if I can find Palestine, I am never truly lost.


* True story: When Dogma came out in theaters it was banned in my colleges town. We had to drive two hours to Tyler Tx to see it. Dogma? Really? But they showed Hostel which was practically soft core porn and gore. I just don't get it.