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Christmas in Comfort

For years we always made an effort to stop in Comfort on the way from Medina to San Marcos in order to catch the used book sale of the Friends of the Library.  It is held in an old metal building that once was the old ice house.  A damp metal building is not the perfect place to store books, but there is no other facility to hold the books, apparently.  As a result of arriving early, we always found a parking place near the book sale location.. Not that the book sale is all that popular, but on this day, the town is set up for their big Christmas in Comfort street sale and parade.
Last year, we went after lunch and found that it was so busy that finding a parking place anywhere near the action was near impossible. So,this year we went early so that we could get to the book sale and to have some time to roam the street vendors----and, you guessed it, have lunch.
It all worked perfectly.  We arrived a the book sale and were able to park nearby.  We found some good books on politics, schools, essays, etc .  The two books by Thomas Sowell were an especially  good find.   All for a dollar, but we gave the stall keeper $5 because of its good cause.
We headed for High's Restaurant and found a table, as it was not too crowded yet at 11am.  We ordered one muffuletta sandwich and split it.  It was fantastically good tasting.
Out onto the street to see what was happening with the vendors.  There must be  hundred of them.
But, first, the petting zoo.


Years ago, as a result of our work on one-room schools and unstructured time for children to play, we became more aware of the need for children to be exposed to the realities of animals, whether wild or tame.  In the case of the petting zoo, here the children who may never, ever get to touch a goat or a sheep or see a pig up close can get the first hand feel of the animal.  Its always interesting to watch the look on the face of a small child as they carefully pet the animal.  Some are so struck by it all that they burst into tears.   We complimented the farm lady who was running the petting zoo, telling her how great it was that her efforts were having a big impact on these small kids.  She was running this as a donations effort.
Cruising the vendors, we found a well made tray/bowl made of long leaf pine needles with a polished stone set in the middle bottom.  The maker said she was part Coushatta Indian when we struck up the conversation about our collection of Indian made pine needle baskets.  We sent her photos of our collection and a photo of her work now positioned in the niches in the living room.
Here is the bowl:




Moving on down the way, we found a signed ceramic bowl in a odds and ends antique store.  So you see, we are still collecting.  Dad always said  "when you get old, stay in high gear, never shift into second gear?"   In our situation, I guess we should say "when you get old, keep on collecting, never get rid of anything"
Made it out of the area by 3pm and had an enjoyable ride home, noting all the beautiful red oaks in their fall colors.   We don't get a lot of fall color in Central Texas, so what we do get, we cherish.


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