Jeff Hampton – Page 72 – Jeff Hampton, Writer

June 24, 2022

Changes on the Wind

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Driving up into the Texas Panhandle we witnessed an interesting convergence of old and new on US 287: coal trains rumbling across pastures dotted with towering wind turbines.

Wind turbines represent a promise for the future. Coal trains embody the strength of our past. Both bring benefits to us right now in the form of electric power; both have their proponents and naysayers. Wind energy is clean and quiet but it clutters the horizon. Coal is out of sight unless you live near a coal mine or a coal-fired generator. Coal has an established business/economic model. Wind energy is still subsidized by most governments.

June 16, 2022

Strong and Tall

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Walking around the yard, checking on things as the heat increases and the chances of rain dry up, I noticed that one of the newish utility poles on the side of our corner lot has a round aluminum tag on it. Examining it closely, I found it was stamped with various abbreviations and numbers, including 10/24/19 and Lufkin, TX.

Most every summer of my childhood we’d drive down through the East Texas Piney Woods to my grandparents’ house. Our route took us past countless acres of tall pine trees, logging trucks and sawmills, and through the city of Lufkin. It may sound silly, but seeing Lufkin stamped on that pole made me wonder if the tree it started as might have been growing in the forest near Lufkin when I was passing through as a kid.

June 9, 2022

Hotlines and Lifelines

For Wilshire Baptist Church

I called a telephone hotline for the first time in my life. It was the Dallas Coyote Hotline.

It started on an early Thursday morning. I was sitting in traffic when a coyote darted across Lovers Lane and then Skillman Avenue and disappeared into an apartment complex. I tried to get my phone camera up but I wasn’t quick enough. A few hours later, I remembered that Dallas has a new coyote hotline so I gave it a call. They let you know up front that you have to leave a message, so I did with the basic time/date/place details they asked for as well as my phone number.