A Love Letter to the Texas Hill Country

I watched from afar as the Texas Hill Country, my backyard, was ravished by floodwaters over the 4th of July holiday weekend. In Tokyo, CNN International was playing what seemed to be a constant loop of the devastation from the storms and subsequent flooding and there I stood, on the other side of the world, unable to do anything about it.

It's easy to become numb during events like this, my parents house was in the path of floodwaters in Western North Carolina in 2024 but came out unscathed, and, as a native Louisianian, we're no strangers to seeing our friends and neighbors trapped by floodwaters.

If there is one story you should read from the Guadalupe River flood, it's the story of Aaron Parsley and his family that will appear in the August issue of Texas Monthly. As the father of a bright, bubbly 15 month old boy, this is the story that broke me.

While it's not the most eloquent thing I've ever written, I felt the need to share what the hill country means to me. The article itself is more for me than it is anyone else but I felt the need to share it.

If you feel so inclined, please read it, if not, that's fine too. The Texas Hill Country will forever be a part of me and, hopefully, a part of generations of my family for years to come and I needed a reminder just as much as anyone as to what a special place it is.

A Love Letter to the Texas Hill Country