Greetings from Ozona, TX!

Run Stats:
Day: 288
Miles Completed: 1043.9
Miles to San Diego: 1056.1
Miles to El Paso: 342.1
Avg Miles/Day: 3.6
Marathons Completed: 39.8
Longest Run Streak: 9 Days
Current Run Streak: 2 Days
Shoes: Skora FIT/Skora Tempo
Playlist Favs: Beatles Week - Highlight blended B-side of Abbey Road Album

Bible Verse of the Day: "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." Proverbs 27:17 (NLT)

Run Reflections: I was talking to a friend this week about exercise. He has an offroad bike and recently completed a 60 mile ride. In discussing this, he mentioned that if he didn't have a group of friends to ride with, he probably wouldn't do it on his own. In thinking about this, I've been fortunate to have some good friends to run with and will try to share some more about this in future posts. Today though, I want to focus on how thankful I am that God has blessed me with the opportunity to share my life with my beautiful wife, Jody. This Monday, 10/17/16, will be our 24 year wedding anniversary. I've included a picture of us from our wedding day :-) Jody is an amazing wife, mother, friend and mentor who inspires me every day. Honey, I love you with all my heart. Thanks for being my best friend and helping to sharpen me. Your love, support, encouragement and influence have definitely made me a better man and (hopefully) husband. Happy (early) Anniversary!

OK, back to the virtual run. I virtually passed through the small town of Ozona, TX yesterday afternoon. It's been a fun running week with cooler weather, beautiful sunsets and the Beatles week playlist. As indicated above, I really enjoyed listening the the blended 2nd half of the Abbey Road album. I listened to it several times and it definitely helped get me down the road. The majority of the info presented here on this town is pretty much straight from wikipedia.

Ozona, TX: Ozona is an unincorporated community that serves as the county seat of Crockett County, TX. It is the only town in Crockett County which was described by the web site of the Crockett County Historical Commission as "3000 square miles of livestock territory." The earliest inhabitants of the county were indians of the Comanche, Apache, Kiowa, Mescalero and Lipan tribes. As you might have guessed, the county is named for Davy Crockett, a hero of the Alamo. Ozona is called the "Biggest Little Town in the World." Crockett County is one of the nation's leading producers of wool and mohair and is situated in the Edwards Plateau region at the western edge of Texas Hill Country. Hunters come to Ozone in search of white-tailed deer, javelina and game birds.

The county was organized in 1891 under a giant oak tree, which still stands and shades the historical marker describing the event. The town square City Park has a large statue of Davy Crockett and is also the home of the Crockett County Museum - a 3 floor building dedicated to local and west Texas regional history.

Ozona was originally known as "Powell Well", after land surveyor E. M. Powell, when it was founded in 1891; however, in 1897, it was renamed "Ozona" for the high quality of its open air or "ozone." I have included two pictures from Ozona, one a picture of the town Welcome sign and the other picture of the Crockett County Courthouse which was built in 1902.

For some reason, the small town of Ozona has some interesting ties to pop culture. Wikipedia cites the following:

• In the TV show Criminal Minds season 2 episode, "Boogeyman," the BAU travels to Ozona as part of a murder investigation.
• The British rock band Goldrush recorded an album called Ozona, based on their experiences when their tour bus broke down in the town.
• In Cormac McCarthy's book "All the Pretty Horses", character John Grady Cole is held in Ozona after the horses (Redbo, Junior and Blevins horse) are impounded after three men swear they have paperwork confirming ownership of the animals. He is eventually given the horses after John Grady tells the story of the plot to the local judge.
• New Orleans jazz-rock trio, Royal Fingerbowl, featured a song called "Ozona, TX" on their 1997 album "Happy Birthday, Sabo" which is about a hallucinating, dying cowboy.

It's kind of hard to imagine an area so big that only contains one small town. I also thought it was interesting to see these associated pop culture references. As I progress (slowly) down the virtual road each week, I often wonder what could really be different about these towns since they are so close together. It's really been fun to see how each town really has its own story and presents new insights on the diverse culture and influences in our country.

Thanks to all of you for investing the time to read these inputs. I hope you have a great week.

God Bless,

Pat