By Shannon Williams
Sometimes, the hardest thing about writing this column is not the writing, but trying to decide on what to write. If I can come up with the right topic, it writes its self. I keep a little posted note on my computer to jot down when I come up with something I might want to write about, but just because I think I might want to write about it does not mean when the time comes, that it will still be such a good topic to write about. So…. this week, I am writing about 2 things, but they share being some of my favorite things.

It’s Labor Day weekend, and after a certain age, you spend part of each holiday looking back at how you have spent that holiday in the years that have passed, both good and bad. From the time I was 16 until my late 20’s, I spent each Labor Day weekend at a camp called Ceta Canyon. It was a magical place in many ways. It is located right at the start of the Palo Duro Canyon in the panhandle of Texas. The drive is long and flat and dusty, BUT as soon as you get to Happy Texas, (yes, there really is a Happy, Texas; nothing there, but it is a real place) you turn west. Please note at that time you must put Dan Fogelberg on the car stereo and yes, it was an 8 track in the early years, and then a cassette tape. You have to have the proper background music to match this drive and Dan Fogelberg was always the one (maybe one day I will write about him LOL, but would hate to revel how much of a fan I was and still am). You go down small farm to market roads and you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere, and then it happens; you turn into the canyon and it is just breathtaking, and is such a hidden gem. Not only was the setting memorable, but the people who shared these times with me shaped my life in so many ways. We would spend the weekend together, talking, sharing, exploring, playing guitars around a campfire and just being.

As all things come to an end, one day it was just no more. We had all gone in so many directions and had changed into young adults with families, that it just was not something we could continue to do. Facebook has allowed most of us to stay in touch or at least find out when someone passes. My husband shared a few of those weekends with me when we were in our early 20’s. We both went on to marry other people and to have children, but years later as we reconnected, those times were still so precious to us and these days, I would give anything to meet all of them there again for Labor Day. I would want to stay at a hotel LOL, but my heart will always go to Ceta Canyon on Labor Day. I had added a picture of the waterfall there, you would have to really hike to get to it, but the reward of jumping in was worth it. I found a picture of Paul and I back in the day!!!

One my other favorite things is CBS Sunday Morning. For years it has been my favorite TV show. It provides information about so many things that I would never know if I had not watched it each week. I usually tape it and watch it late at night when the house is quiet and I can get lost in the information. This Sunday, they did a story on 9/11 which was right on point, told by a father of a firefighter. I am part of a Facebook group about the show and love to hear what people thought of the stories. I have discovered so much over the years, places to go, things to see, stories I never knew. They are great about interviewing celebrities in such a different way, you really just feel like you are having a cup of coffee with them. Oh, did I tell you, that you need to either drink a cup of coffee, some nighttime tea or maybe a glass of wine while you watch, it is just part of the whole experience. I hear new music that I would never of be exposed to. My newest find, is “Lake Street Drive” – give a listen if you want new music that does not make you feel 80 years old. It is great to have a couple of bands that both my son and I listen to and can talk about. What a great part of parenting, talking about music that moves you with your kid and he loves it too!!!

I hope you think about some of your favorite things and share those with those you love.

[Sept-7-2021]