It was the sky that welcomed me back

It was the sky that was Texas, the sky that welcomed me back. The land I didn't care for that much — it was bleak and monotonous and full of ugly little towns. The sky was what I had been missing, and seeing it again in its morning brightness made me realize suddenly why I hadn't been myself in many months.

Larry McMurtry

This was just what I realized after Tom and I took a trip years ago to the East Coast. Bursting out of the East Texas piney woods into the open plain as we headed for Dallas, I felt suddenly free, suddenly relaxed, suddenly at home. Yes, that sky and those wide open spaces.