NQ99HQ

 I think the Guadalupe County Ag Center conscientiously changed their business plan and it may have worked well.  In years past, the organizers of this section of the Pecan Fest did not charge admission to the Ag Center and provided a turkey dinner for $8.  Then they changed to an $8 admission fee with an $8 turkey dinner.  Of course, last year, they were frightened off by the virus, so nothing occurred.  This year, with vastly improved display facilities in the so-called Red Barn, they did not charge admission but had a $15 turkey dinner.  So, you can see, they are searching for the sweet spot in attracting visitors and bringing in some cash. Rodeos, agricultural fairs, and 4H exhibits put rural, farm and ranch life on display. We like to visit these events, especially to witness the enthusiasm of young people involved in outdoor and farm related activity. The Guadalupe County Agricultural Center is one of the favorites.  From our experience at any of...

 We have noted that the entire school system all the way from Kindergarten through college is coming under more scrutiny today than during anytime in our lives, and that is a long time.  This scrutiny by many parents and watchdog groups is due to a concern that children are being taught social concepts that are contrary to that of the parents.  This becomes serious when the child has to review what was learned in school on any day; a review which precipitates some corrective teaching by the parent. We know this happens because more than one mother has told us of the routine of review what was taught in today's class. Think of the stress that this contest between that which the teacher professes and what the parents then correct sets up in the child's mind.  Makes one wonder if social concepts should be taught in school at all.   There are other reasons for the increased scrutiny, but these seem to be overshadowed by the one mentioned.  These other two ...

 Over the many years we have exchanged an occasional note since we left high school but that was not but once every few years.  More recently, we have stepped up our communications via email and an occasional telephone call since Darold moved to New Mexico, thus leaving Colorado in the snow and dust. We have often talked of visiting him in New Mexico when we vacationed in Taos, but that has not occured in recent years, so there never has been a visit. One thing led to another in our conversations and then Darold suggested he and his partner visit us in late July.  This sounded great and we both realized that it would be a big adventure, especially on his part as he had to make the effort of driving all that distance, and especially because he would be hauling his travel trailer.  In fact, he would plan on visiting us as his first stop on a two week tour to Florida and then up and over to Arkansas and back to Las Cruces.  Now that is a big effort.  But, as h...

 The Conley Garage car inspection station was too busy in Wimberley the other day at 11:00 a.m. so we decided instead on an early picnic lunch at the H-E-B supermarket.  Ensconced on our chairs in the little picnic area under the trees with our salads, we were enjoying our lunch until a harried-looking man hove into view on our left coming from the lower end of the parking lot. He noticed us and said,  “There's a little kitten paddling for its life inside that fenced area”, pointing behind him, “ down in the drainage ditch and it needs help.”  He continued on up to the store and came back with one of the employees. They both assessed the situation and went back toward the store. The worried gentleman seemed loath to leave the situation without it being solved  but he also seemed anxious to get back to work.   He finally returned to his truck telling us in passing that a very helpful fellow he spoke to would tend to the cat in a few minutes with a ladde...

 The main reason for yesterday's trip was that our kitchen table needed some new legs that are easier to clean around than the cylindrical metal base the mesquite top rests on now.  And Faifer and Company outside of Floresville on 181 would probably have just the wood we needed.  Once through Seguin, we abandoned 123 for 467 and worked our way down through Guadalupe and Wilson counties on the backroads.  It was a beautiful day and the patches of wildflowers along the highways, especially the brilliantly-colored Gaillardias lit up the landscape.   We reached Floresville in good time for an early lunch and as we did we spotted an H-E-B and close by a Whataburger.  Not knowing if the supermarket had sandwiches and salads, we opted for the burger chain.  We hadn't been in one since they closed the seating for Covid-19 but here in Texas everything's open now.  While R went to get his drink, I got into a conversation with too other patrons talking ...

  It’s closing in on noon and we’re sitting in the car at the local gas station finishing up the grocery store salads on the orange plastic trays, from home, resting in our laps.    It’s a nice spring day in Texas and we’re pulled in by an embankment where there are trees above us and we can hear some birds in addition to the Prague Symphony playing Mozart softly on the radio.    Next on the agenda is a nice cup of coffee in the Kwik Café.   Sometimes we buy a couple of delicious fried chicken breasts and make sandwiches with buns from home since they only have little dinner rolls not large enough to hold the chicken.    The 5 or 6 tables are now open for dining as well as the counter, but most of us are still wearing masks inside except at the tables.    We really like to lunch or have coffee here as most of the patrons are “real” down home Texans and the coffee is better and cheaper than the coffee houses where the tourists and PC peop...

We often go to any small town and search for the coffee shop because in the daytime, that is often the place where people socialize, just the same as they do in saloons at nighttime.  Okay, so the crowd may be different in its makeup  from the coffee shop to the saloon, but we can accept that. Over the years we have been to plenty of coffee shops, some good, some not so good. Some of those we once liked no longer exist for some reason or another, and for some, we lose interest for one reason or another, but its usually because the coffee is not good.  We never go to places which serve expensive coffee as they seem to attract a different crowd.  The expensive places seem to attract hummingbirds who like sweet frappes and lattes rather than real, dark coffee and those whose thoughts do not run very deep.  But we shouldn't be critical, because they too have something to teach us. Our main interest, along with the coffee is to take note of people and to engage as ma...

 It all started with a video of a man somewhere in Canada who recorded his scene of hand feeding a hoard of about 30 raccoons their evening meal of two pounds of wieners. No, we didn't search for this video, it happened to be in the up next position after we were looking at one of our videos on our channel. Mind you, we are not fans of feeding wild animals people food, but on the other hand, in this busy world we all need a little merriment and watching this video was amusing. Then we decided to bait the game camera to see what would show up at our place in Central Texas.   We know that our most frequent visitor is the raccoon, since it (maybe they) have to make a nightly raid on the bird feeder getting every last sunflower seed. Now, 'coons don't get around much in daylight, but as soon as it gets dark, they are on the prowl and miss nothing if it smells like food. So, adding a package of wieners to our grocery list, we came home with 8 wieners costing 69 cents.  ...

 It was one of those nights in the southwestern desert country where the air is thin and pure and the stars seem so close you could touch them.  We had finished our dinner and were just walking around waiting for nothing, just enjoying the time in Alpine, Texas.  And then the Amtrak train pulled into town.  We know about the train and its stop in Alpine from our time years ago of renting a room in the hotel right across from the train station and every train that came through on its way from the west coast to the east coast blasted their horn to no end. The night passed slowly. But here was an opportunity with the Amtrak train sitting right there with its big diesel engines idling just as we approached the station while meandering around. Had the train not been 5 hours late getting to Alpine we would have missed this chance to talk with the crew. Trains have always been of interest to me, but in a different way from most.  My yearnings were for a ride in the loc...

Lockhart is a neat small town about thirty miles away. It is the county seat of Caldwell County, with the county courthouse holding supreme in the center of the town square with most of the businesses around the square doing fine, quite unlike so many small towns which seem to have abandoned their town center where the local shops move in the direction of all the newly built action, like Walmart, Tractor Supply and all the fast food places.  But in the case of Lockhart, this ruination of the town center has not occurred---mainly because the original courthouse still serves the county.  That means that the banks stay, the lawyer offices stay and when they stay, other fine business are attracted.  Also on this town square is the Southwestern Museum of Clocks and Watches, a place not to miss. We had lunch at Loop and Lil's a small cafe noted for its pizza and subs.  It was good, but not the place for great pizza that it was in years past.  It sure raises the questi...