November 2013
GET READY FOR THE HOLIDAY SALE
With Thanksgiving on November 28th this year, the Holidays are going to go FAST! SHOP NOW AND BE READY. AVOID THIS YEAR’S RUSH!
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NOVEMBER Explore what's inside this issue!
10 From the Publisher
36 New CDs
12 Calendar.
38 Wine
16 Music
40 Random Thanksgiving Facts
18 Cibolo Nature Center 22 History 28 Dining
42 Then and Now 44 Football Quotes 46 Old Timer
34 Spiritual
EXPLORE magazine is published by Schooley Media Ventures in Boerne, TX. EXPLORE Magazine and Schooley Media Ventures are not responsible for any inaccuracies, erroneous information, or typographical errors contained in this publication submitted by advertisers. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EXPLORE and/or Schooley Media Ventures. Copyright 2012 Schooley Media Ventures, 265 N. Main, Suite C, Boerne, TX 78006
Contributing Writers
Marjorie Hagy (History) MARJORIE is a bibliophile, a history nut and an insomniac, among several other conditions, both diagnosed and otherwise. When she's not working tirelessly to avoid getting a real job, she nurses an obsession with her grandson and is involved in passing legislation restricting the wearing of socks with sandals. She is an aspiring pet hoarder who enjoys vicious games of Scrabble, reading Agatha Christie, and sitting around doing nothing while claiming to be thinking deeply. Marjorie has five grown children, a poodle to whom she is inordinately devoted in spite of his breath, and holds an Explore record for never having submitted an article on time. She's been writing for us for five years now.
Christine Friesenhan (Dining)
Christine Friesenhahn is a food blogger (www.texanaskitchen.com), competitive chef, and writer based in Boerne, Texas. Married with two teenagers, she finds real life to be an endless source of humor and entertainment.
Publisher Benjamin D. Schooley ben@hillcountryexplore.com Creative Director Benjamin N. Weber ben.weber@smvtexas.com OPERATIONS MANAGER Kate Kent kate@smvtexas.com ADVERTISING SALES 210-507-5250 sales@hillcountryexplore.com
Kendall D. Aaron (Spiritual)
I’m just a normal guy. I’m not a theology student, I don’t preach in church, and I’ve never written a book. I’m just a normal guy that thinks, and feels, and is on a never-ending journey attempting to be the best person I can be. I fail frequently at this quest, yet each day, the quest continues. I’ve lived in Boerne since the late ‘80s, I’ve got a most beautiful wife, three wonderful children, and just really, really love God. Thanks for going on my spiritual journey with me.
Old Timer (Ramblings)
The Old Timer tells us he's been a resident of Boerne since about 1965. He enjoys telling people what he doesn't like. When not bust'n punks he can be found feeding the ducks just off Main St. or wandering aimlessly in the newly expanded HEB. Despite his rough and sometimes brash persona, Old Timer is really a wise and thoughtful individual. If you can sort through the BS.
8 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
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From the Publisher Dearest EXPLORE reader, We have a station that we get via Dish Network called Palladia. It’s basically what MTV used to be – you know, they actually play music. Live concerts, videos, etc. It’s fun to see concert footage from old Pearl Jam concerts, watch videos for some of the Top 40 stuff on the radio, and generally just remember that they are still making music videos. When I watch it, I am frequently introduced to new music. I don’t listen to the radio much, so I don’t know what the latest greatest band is, so watching the music videos is a cool way to be introduced to new artists. Sometimes I even think this new music is good. I think to myself “Man, that’s a good tune. Maybe I’ll learn how to play it on the guitar.” So I break out my beat up guitar and try to follow along, and then all of a sudden they use a chord I’m unfamiliar with; some exotic bar chord that I’ve never seen or heard before. Quickly, I become discouraged, put the guitar away and simply enjoy the music. I think I might know 20 chords on the guitar total. Of those, I probably regularly use 10. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but I could name 100 songs that you all know and love that use little more than 4 chords throughout the song. It doesn’t take much to make something sound beautiful. Let me tell you: the entire George Strait catalog includes little more than 4 chords used in a different order. But sometimes I get frustrated because I don’t know 1000s of chords like some musicians. I wish I could be one of those guys that can listen to a song and be playing along with it in a matter of seconds. Not me. I have to squint my eyes, fumble my fingers into the proper configuration and then shake my head as I realize it is the wrong chords. It’s maddening. Invariably I retreat to my tried and true chords I know and just do the best I can. The best I can. And really, isn’t that all we can do? The production of that which makes our hearts happy need not be perfect; it should only be produced. There are a dozen things that I love to do, and not one of them have I perfected. There are scores of people reading this very letter that can play the guitar ten-fold better than I. I love to go fishing, and there are many of you in this county that know of all the secret fishing holes and tips that would guarantee me fish. As for me, sitting beneath a towering cypress tree, fishing with a hunk of hot dog, and not catching a darn thing still makes my heart happy. And so I do the best I can, which sometimes, nets me nothing but the production of satisfaction and peace. Sometimes I think that because we are not perfect at that which makes us happy, we condemn ourselves as “not good enough”, we think our errors are embarrassing, and after a while, we stop altogether. My 7 year old son loves to skateboard. He practices constantly, and he comes running into the house to tell me about how he has just learned a new trick. I come outside to watch this new trick, and he falls all over himself 15 times before “sort of” pulling off the trick. But there he is, with a grin from ear to ear that just screams “DID YOU SEE THAT DAD??” He has no idea that he’s not perfect at his passion; he just knows that it makes his heart soar, and so he does it. Whether he’s good or not isn’t even a debate to have. It makes me happy = I do it lots. So what have you shelved that at one time was something you were truly pursuing. Art? Music? Writing? Biking? Running? Teaching? The list is endless. Somewhere along the line, you had something that you wanted to pursue, but when you didn’t see the progress you wanted in your craft, you threw your hands in the air and gave up. But that passion and desire is still there inside you. Life is a short thing. You lay your head down as a 20-something and you arise as a 60-something. Too busy on your career? On your goals? Working toward your retirement? Guess what you would miss during all that time that you chose not to seek and engage in those things that make your heart smile; you would miss your life. You might (or might not) be left with a hefty bank account, but you would have missed the things that would have made you truly rich. Welcome to November. A month of THANKS. Be thankful for that career, and your family, and your home in the beautiful Hill Country. And then show thanks for your life by truly living it, and finding the loves and passions that make your imperfect soul smile. Smiling,
Benjamin D. Schooley
10 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
a
gRoup oF expeRienced ResidenTial Real esTaTe pRoFessionals oFFeRing impeccable peRsonal seRvice.
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(2
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oPen house, nov. 17Th 1pm-4pm
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kiTchen aid sTainless appliances; double oven, 6 buRneR W/gRill gas cookTop and poT FauceT; glass FRonT cabineTs; gas FiReplace, gRaniTe ; 2 panTRies; kiTchen desk; haRdWood FlooRs . 2800+ sq. FT., 3/2.5 /sTudy/bonus on .2 acRe in TRails oF heRFF Ranch W/FanTasTic neighboRhood ameniTies ! mls # 1022687 $316,000 contact carol schultz 210-268-3691
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acre ProPerty oFFeRs
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valley
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beaR cReek lake Ranch $2,090,000 190+/- ac FiRsT
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FRedeRicksbeaR pRopeRTy. on
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cReek
comFoRT
WiTh beauTiFul
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The pRopeRTy is a nice
3-4
acRe lake ThaT
is The Focal poinT oF The pRopeRTy.
pRopeRTy, including FRom The hill oveRlooking The lake and The ley.
nice oaks, live
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h av e
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right
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val-
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Texas Ranches FoR sale is a seRvice oRienTed Ranch bRokeRage FiRm ThaT geTs ResulTs. We combine yeaRs oF expeRience WiTh cuTTing edge Technology FoR maRkeTing qualiTy Ranches ThRoughouT Texas. www.TexasRanchesFoRsale.com • InFo@TexasRanchesFoRsale.com we
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222 s. main sTReeT boeRne, Texas 78006 830.249.9339 oFFice 210.579.1900 Fax
NOVEMBER
Get out and enjoy the great Texas Hill Country! The most comprehensive events calendar. Send submissions to info@hillcountryexplore.com
November 1 BANDERA Hunters’ Barbecue and Outdoor Expo
November 11 FREDERICKSBURG Veterans’ Day Observance
Mansfield Park Show Barn. www.banderahuntersbbq.com 830-796-3280
National Museum of the Pacific War, 340 E. Austin St. www.pacificwarmuseum.org 830-997-8600 ext. 205
November 2 BOERNE Wild Game Dinner
November 15-17, 29-Dec. 1 FREDERICKSBURG Trade Days
Includes all-you-can-eat wild game (plus other “not-so-wild” food), entertainment, auctions and prizes. Kendall County Fairgrounds. www.boerne. org 830-249-7277
November 2, 9, 16, 23 BANDERA Cowboys on Main
Features a Western display in front of the Bandera County Courthouse and strolling entertainers. Hours are 1–4 p.m. Main Street. www.banderatexasbusiness.com/cowboys-on-main.htm 800-3643833
November 5 BANDERA Cowboy Capital Opry
Begins at 7 p.m. Silver Sage Corral. www.silversagecorral.org 830-796-4969
November 8-10 KERRVILLE James Avery Hill Country Golf Classic
Takes place at Scott Schreiner Golf Course, Comanche Trace Golf Course and Riverhill Country Club. www.hillcountrygolfclassic.com 830-896-1155
November 9-10 FREDERICKSBURG Pacific Combat Living History Reenactment
The World War II Combat Zone comes alive with three presentations daily. National Museum of the Pacific War Combat Zone. www.pacificwarmuseum. org 830-997-8600
Seven miles east of town at 355 Sunday Farms Lane. www.fbgtradedays.com 830-990-4900
November 16-17 FREDERICKSBURG Fall Antiques Show
Gillespie County Fairgrounds on Texas 16 South. www.texasantiqueshows.com 830-995-3670
November 16-17 GRUENE Old Gruene Market Days
In Gruene Historic District. www.gruenemarketdays.com 830-832-1721
November 22 MARBLE FALLS Christmas Light-Up Parade
Main Street. www.marblefalls.org 830-693-4449
November 22-Jan. 1 MARBLE FALLS Walkway of Lights
More than 2 million lights transform Lakeside Park into a holiday wonderland. www.marblefalls.org 830-693-4449
November 28 GRUENE Annual Gruene Turkey Trot
Take a 5K run/walk through Gruene Historic District. Starts and ends at Gruene Hall. www.comalcopsforkids.org
November 29 FREDERICKSBURG Holiday Lighting Ceremony
on the community Christmas tree and German Christmas pyramid are switched on. Marktplatz. www.visitfredericksburgtx.com 830-997-6523
November 29-30 BOERNE Dickens on Main
Dickens on Main brings tidings of good cheer to Boerne this November and December! What’s Christmas without snow, colorful lights, theatrical plays and, of course, ice? This year’s Dickens on Main holiday extravaganza will be a two-weekend celebration encompassing all the joyful festivities Christmas has to offer! Fire & Ice Weekend will light up the town Nov. 29-30 and O Tannenbaum Weekend will continue the jubilee Dec. 6-7. Bundle up and head to Main Street for a family-friendly festival full of lighting ceremonies, community plays, holiday tunes, snow shows, fire pits, a Christmas parade and more!
November 29-Dec. 1 FREDERICKSBURG The Peddler Show
Gillespie County Fairgrounds. www.peddlershow. com 800-775-2774 ext. 210
November 30 JOHNSON CITY Lighted Hooves and Wheels
Parade Begins at 6:30 p.m. Also enjoy dance performances, Santa, a chuck-wagon food court, carriage rides and crafts for sale. Memorial Park. E-mail: info@johnsoncitytexaschamber.com
November 30 STONEWALL Holiday Cookie Decorating and German Traditions
Observe and learn 1900s German holiday traditions such as cookie decorating, wreath making, tree decorating, candle making and story telling. Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm at LBJ State Park and Historic Site. www.tpwd.state.tx.us/stateparks/lyndon-b-johnson 830-644-2252 ext. 222
Enjoy caroling and refreshments before the lights
12 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
AWARD WINNING CALIFORNIA MASTER COLORIST/STYLIST and salon owner
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831.917.6575 50% Off Color and Cut with Your First Visit
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As Seen On:
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14 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
HAPPY
HOLIDAYS
A WORLD OF DELIGHTFUL CHOICES November 2013
210 SOUTH MAIN STREET • BOERNE, TEXAS 78006 (830) 331-9355 • BOERNEEPICURE.COM
www.hillcountryexplore.com
15
MUSIC
SHANE WALKER Musician Shane Walker has a strong knowledge of the arts, whether it encompasses his music career, teaching career or his hobbies. He lives life to its fullest, emerging himself with nature and his passions in life. He develops his own lyrics for his “Indie/Alt-Country” music style and continues to gain inspiration for making it his own. Enjoy reading about Shane and we look forward to him performing in Boerne again soon. EX: Tell us a little background about yourself. SW: I am a high school Spanish teacher in Waco (I grew up in the Crawford area - about 20 miles west of Waco). I enjoy beekeeping and fly fishing (and The Great American West). I travel a lot through Latin America. I’m really into the poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Billy Collins and Pablo Neruda. EX: What got you involved in music? SW: When I went to college at Texas A&M, I discovered a record called WRAPPED by Bruce Robison. I didn’t know that “indie” music existed especially country indie. Before this, I had only ever experienced music that they played on the radio. And after that record I discovered STEP INSIDE THIS HOUSE by Lyle Lovett, which is a cover record of all of Lyle’s heroes. So from that record, I discovered all this poetry set to music - Guy Clarck. Townes Van Zandt. Willis Allen Ramsey. I never knew about those guys before that. And I was so impressed by the idea that beyond the radio dial existed this whole universe of creative energy and the chance to make a living doing it. That was it for me. I went for it. That’s when I started The Gougers. We were at it for seven or eight years in all. It was awesome. We played in 30, or so, states. We opened for Willie and Roseanne Cash and Ricky Skaggs and so on. We had a record that was in the AMA top ten for six weeks. We got more plays that
year than Lyle Lovett and Levon Helm. So many of my dreams came true and then some. Following my music career with The Gougers, I went to Guatemala to figure out my next step in life. That’s when I learned Spanish and became a Spanish teacher. My musical ambitions are the same. But I don’t have to walk that line anymore between art and commerce. I feel really free to do what I want to creatively. EX: What ties do you have to the area? SW: I am marrying Jenna, a long-time Boerne resident! My old band, The Gougers, frequented the area from 2001-2009. We played in Boerne, Kerrville, New Braunfels, San Antonio, etc. EX: What inspires you to do what you do? SW: Art is something that you do with thought (mind) and feeling (heart) that helps you participate more deeply in your own life. And all of my arts - whether they be songwriting or beekeeping or fly fishing or even teaching certainly does this for me. Art is reflexive, too. Meaning it works like a mirror that helps you see inside your own “self” in deeper ways. It shows you what your weaknesses are, for sure. It informs you about your hopes and struggles and love and fear. The more you participate in the creative process with yourself, the more you really get to know yourself and become a better version of “you”.
EX: How would you describe your music to people? SW: My music is like me - it’s country/folk that took every opportunity it could to travel outside it’s own safe zones and got changed by that experience. It’s based on lyrics and poems. But over the years I have become more and more interested in the SOUNDS of music. Now I incorporate Jazz, Rock and Roll and Indie music to give it (hopefully) a spin that sounds as 2013 as it does 1975. I call it “Indie/Alt-Country”. EX: Do you write your own songs? If so, what inspires your lyrics? SW: Yes. I consider myself a songwriter first and foremost. My influences are Guy Clack, Townes Van Zandt, Gram Parsons, Gillian Welch, Jeff Tweedy and Neko Case. EX: What are your music career goals? SW: I want to continue to record and perform music that makes me excited to write and perform the next song. EX: What advice would you give to fellow artists? SW: Don’t buy into the applause. EX: What are you listening to now? Who are your favorite artists?
SW: Wilco is my favorite band. I have really been enjoying Jason Isbell’s new record SOUTHEASTERN. Ryan Adams is a constant go-to artist. My Morning Jacket is another example of a band that mixes country and folk (however subtle) with innovative and modern sounds that will always move me. Neko Case, too. EX: What are your hobbies outside the music scene? SW: Fly fishing for trout in the Great American West is my all-time favorite past time. I got into that in 2009 when The Gougers went to Idaho to play the Braun Bros. Reunion (Reckless Kelly’s music fest up in Challis, ID). I took a fly rod (that I could barely cast) and got lucky and caught some trout. Pardon the pun but I was “hooked” on trout fishing and the mountains and that whole “dau” of being in a complete wilderness. I usually spend entire summers in the Rockies with my lady, doing week-long hikes into the mountains and spending two months at a time living in a tent. In the same way, beekeeping is another hobby that slows you down in a way that puts you in line with the pace of nature. It demands that you move slowly, respect the bees and pay attention to the details and the subtle changes that you experience. And, like fishing/backpacking, it never stops providing you with this sense of wonder and amazement that makes you thankful for every little discovery - even when those discoveries come via setbacks and stings. It has very little to do with honey. Same with fishing. Unless I am low on supplies and 75 miles from the car - I will throw the fish back in to be caught another day.
For upcoming shows visit www.shanewalkermusic.com for a tour list.
16 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
We care for seniors in their home... INDEPENDANT LIVING COTTAGES AMENITIES: • One or two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom, laundry room & screened in portch overlooking beautiful woodland grounds and pond • 3 Meals a day delivered to cottage • Housekeeping and laundry service • Medication reminders • Activities, socialization and entertainment • Senior Buddies personal assistance available as needed. • Pets Allowed
ASSISTED LIVING AMENITIES: • Private and Semi private rooms and suites • Assistance with bathing, dressing & grooming • Medication assistance and healthcare management • Assistance with ambulation to meals and activities • Excellent home cooked meals and special diets • Activities, exercise and entertainment • 24 hour staff • Housekeeping and laundry service • Beauty and barber shop services • Senior Buddies personal assistance service is available for one on one care. • Walking paths in a beautiful woodland setting
...where their heart is SENIOR BUDDIES was founded to provide a loving, caring way to assist the elderly and their families. We specialize in enhancing the lives of seniors limited by Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and strokes. We also provide respite care, surgery recovery and service for other seniorrelated needs.
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Cibolo nature center
The Brodbeck Flight in Kendall County by Brent Evans
When Paul Barwick was helping me with the Images of America: Boerne book, he gave me a copy of a little known book called Jacob Brodbeck “Reached for the Sky” in Texas,by Anita Tatsch.Paul said to check out where this flight took place, almost 40 years BEFORE the Wright Brothers. I was astonished, because it claimed that the Historic Herff Farm (that the Cibolo Nature Center had been working to acquire for 10 years) was the site of an early experimental “airship” flight. I quickly did the modern thing and googled up 72 different internet sites that discussed the event. Governor John Connolly had declared Brodbeck the Father of American Aviation in 1967, and there is a bust of him in Fredericksburg’s City Park. And evidently there was also a flight near Luchenbach Texas in 1874. Why was this such an unknown story, with so many missing pieces? Here it is in a nutshell. Inventor Jacob Brodbeckfled the tumult of revolutionary Europe for the wilderness life in Fredericksburg Texas in 1848. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire for these German refugees, who found themselves in a wilderness survival situation in a land of hostile Comanches. His most cherished project was his ‘air-ship’, which he worked on for twenty years.” Being a watch maker, he powered his craft with a set of giant springs! His flight demonstration was recorded by his family to have taken place in a large meadow at Dr. Ferdinand Herff’s home in Boerne on September 20,1865. Herff and Brodbeck were evidently great friends, and Herff became one of the financial backers for the Airship project. Later, Jacob had built an ice-making machine for Dr.Herff in gratitude. In the archives of the Daughter of the Republic of Texas at the Alamo, I found the stock certificates in the Airship Company that Dr. Herff had purchased, a photograph of the fateful crash, and Brodbeck’s technical notes. Brodbeck wrote, “The day of the proposed flight, I was up bright and early to check out all the parts to see that the mechanism would work as before’. By this time, my neighbors and friends had arrived to help me hoist the ‘Air Ship’ on the platform. It was tied down in such a way that all I had to do was cut it loose when I was ready to take off.” “A rather large crowd gathered to watch this unusual affair there were many military men there. After Charles Nimitz spoke, a few other well wishers said a few kind words in my behalf. But I said a few prayers as I crawled into the aeronaut’s chamber.” “I wound up the massive coil spring and cut loose the rope as I released the lever for take-off. The take-off was a success and the “Air Ship” soared majestically (about 50 yards) over the tree-tops. As the coil spring unwound suddenly something happened with the mechanism and
I was unable to rewind the spring fast enough to remain aloft. I found myself dashing towards the ground with my spirits shattered. I suffered only minor injuries, but my ‘pride and joy’ suffered severe damage.” “My craft was taken back to Dr. Herff’s barn where it was stored until I could rebuild it again. I had a plan to have a small steam engine built for motive power but did not have much success there.” His lifelong obsession with manned flight had, in fact, been realized. Yet, his reaction to the crash was utter disappointment, which conveyed a sense of failure to his backers, who promptly backed out. The event faded into obscurity. I thought to myself that if only Brodbeck had emerged from the wreckage and proclaimed, “Hallelujah! Success! Man can fly! It can work! Now I know it can work!” – he would have framed the scene with excitement and exaltation. His life and the history of aviation hinged on that moment. It was his attitude that failed to reach enough altitude. In 1984 the Dallas Bonehead Club named Brodbeck “Bonehead of the Year” for the “monumental goof” of failing to perfect his promising aircraft, patent the machine, and market his product. Accepting the award was his great-grandson, Sherman Brodbeck, then chief deputy sheriff in Hays County. “It was so far-fetched,” Sherman said. “I remember my dad telling me that a lot of people called him crazy because he had this stupid idea of flying, when they were having the Civil War and fighting Indians.” In one sense, the story of Brodbeck is one of a courageous failure, of determination that did not end in glory. And, perhaps that is the appeal of the tale that it is everyman’s story, one that most of us can relate to. Said Dr. Herff regarding Brodbeck, “Sometimes people pay more attention to a person’s defects than his triumphs.” The story is not without controversy, and a variety of versions are out there. So, I called up still-living Sherman Brodbeck, who was very inter-
ested to learn that there are Herff descendants living in Boerne and the Herff Farm is open for public programs. We cooked up a plan to reunite the two families, which we did at the farm this spring. It was amazing to watch the 91 year old Herff twins meeting 91 year old Elnora Kneese, the Great, Great, Great, Grandaughter of Jacob Brodbeck. She presented The Cibolo Nature Center and Farm her original painting of the airship in flight at the farm. We listened to the stories of 8 other Brodbeckfamily members, who all remembered the oral history of the flight occurring at the Herff Farm. Then, Sherman noticed the old defunct windmill at the farm, and mentioned that his hobby was restoring vintage windmills. So, in a strange twist of fate, Sherman is now working on repairing the Herff Farm windmill. How ironic that Jacob’s obsession with flying in the wind eventually found expression in Sherman’s fascination with windmills on the same property some 147 years later. At the upcoming Living History Festival at the Herff Farm on November 16, a talk on Jacob Brodbeck will be presented, and his descendants have been invited to attend and participate. Come join us, and learn about this strange and unexpected chapter from our local history. And, thanks Paul.
EVENTS
9 Tree Planting & Care Location: CNC Pavilion (by parking lot) Time: 10 – 11 am Cost: FREE
16 Boerne Birders: Cibolo Nature Center Location: CNC Pavilion Time: 8 – 10 am Cost: FREE
9 Second Saturday Volunteer Day of Service Location: Herff Farm at 33 Herff Road Time: 9 am - Noon
19 Mother Nature’s Storytime: Clouds! Location: CNC Visitor Center Time: 10 - 11 am Suggested Donation: $5.00 per family
November 16 and November 30 Farmers Market at the Cibolo, 33 Herff Road, Boerne 8:30 am -12:30 pm The Farmers Market at the Cibolo features local produce, baked goods, canned goods, and other natural food products, along with handmade artisan products. The Market also features a demonstration organic and waterconscious garden and regular live music. Cibolo Nature Center Programs for NOVEMBER 4 Tree Walk Location: Meet at CNC Pavilion Time: Offered at 9 am and again at 5:30 pm Cost: FREE 9 Fire Ecology: How to Conduct a Prescribed Burn Location: CNC Auditorium & Prairie Time: 9 am - Noon Cost: $25 members; $30 non-members
9 Kid’s Club: Thanksgiving Hot Dog Feast Location: CNC Visitor Center/Courtyard Time: 10 – 11:30 am Suggested Donation: $5.00 per family 16 LIVING HISTORY FESTIVAL…at the Farm Don’t miss out! Location: Herff Farm at 33 Herff Road Time: 10 am – 3 pm Cost: FREE
23 Winter Sparrows and Wrens Workshop Location: CNC Library Time: 9 am – Noon Cost: $15 Members; $20 Non-members Free to Winter Prairie Bird Survey Participants Call 830.249.4616 or go to www.cibolo.org/calendar to learn further details about each of these events.
18 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
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HISTORY
By Marjorie Hagy | thefam2001@yahoo.com
This month we continue our story of a grisly, unimaginable murder of two families on a seemingly typical country evening. For the complete story, go to www.hillcountryexplore.com and read the October 2013 issue.
For Henry Bickel, the day that had begun under the eaves in the loft, with chores in the dew of the morning, had become a horrific nightmare, washed in blood. Men had become demons, dancing in the gore of Henry’s murdered family, dead-eyed ministers of violent death, fiends without pity, without laughter, without souls. One of the men had called Henry’s father onto the porch and another struck him down with a log of wood; another appeared and John Bickel’s throat was savagely and mercilessly laid open. From his attic room, underneath the eaves, before he ran for his life, Henry had seen the men. Had seen and recognized them. The window in the little attic room wasn’t far from the ground; the whole house had a scrubby, compact look about it, as if a house grown out of the land by some natural process of the earth, its materials indigenous and weathered to the same hue as the August landscape around it. Perhaps Henry had used this window before, to leave the cabin by night for a surreptitious moonlight walk, a dip in the creek, or some other thing twelve year-old boys leave their houses for without wanting their family to know. This night, though, the earth below that window might have seemed a thousand feet distant, with the terror upon him and the threat of death. Or the drop may have seemed like a single stride as the boy streaked from his loft hiding place and ran to save his life. Some reports of the time say he was actually pursued by one of the murderers who nearly stabbed him as he cleared a rail fence. Whether or not he was chased that night, or was able to slip away unnoticed, the boy knew what was behind him - not men, not any agent of this earth -- but a dark, evil thing, a million things all with teeth gnashing and bloody. The whole legion of Satan’s devils ran behind Henry Bickel in that longest night in the world. There are the stumps of centuries-old oak trees on the old Bickel place today, between the house and the creek. Oaks that stood in 1868 and that Henry may have sought his safety that night. Or maybe he made it to the creek before he climbed one of the trees overhanging the water. It is certain that he climbed a tree - an act, like dropping out of his window, that may have been so fast and so headlong that he never remembered doing it, never really realized where he was or what he had done until he was hidden in the branches among the leaves. He clung to the trunk and tried desperately to quiet his rasping breath lest he should be discovered and dealt with by the monsters who had called at his father’s door. Perhaps it was when he was finally still in the tree that what he had seen took shape in his mind. What had become of his life, of his father and sister and their friends may have at that moment come into focus and formed an image. An image so evil and so unthinkable that he didn’t dare to look it in its horrible face. Henry stayed in the tree that whole night, the longest night, the worst night, and clung to its solidity, to the rough tangibility of its bark, seeing things he couldn’t imagine in spite of his tightly closed eyes, oozing tears. He held on silently all that long, long night. Henry Bickel would never completely recover from that night; part of him stayed in the oak tree on his father’s farm for the rest of his life. He was a bewildered and terrified boy, his world gone in one mindless, mind-numbing moment, hugging the fat, inviolable trunk as if it were his long-dead mother. With the morning light, Henry must’ve realized that his family’s killers had gone far enough away for him to leave the tree, and so he did. Once his feet were on the ground again, Henry had to move them in one direction or the other, had to make a decision about where to go. He had to continue the harrowing business of continuing to live in a world he suddenly knew nothing about. Whether he walked or ran, whether he went slowly and bewilderedly, or flew until his heart was pounding, he arrived finally at his neighbor’s home – Mr. Zoeller’s. And there Henry poured out his story to the stunned old man, in the now wheezing voice that would be his for the rest of his life. Neighbor Zoeller- referred to in contemporary news reports as ‘Old Man’ Zoellerheard the boy’s dreadful story and was horror-stricken. Indian attacks happened in those days, certainly, and the kind of violence that sometimes erupted amongst the people of a tiny, interwoven village like Boerne, but this kind of wholesale carnage was unprecedented. What Henry told the old man was that his family and the Spangenbergs had been killed by Mexican men, maybe six or seven, though it may have seemed like many more to the traumatized boy. He thought, too, that maybe two of them had been white men, but he just didn’t know. One other thing Henry said: the men had been there the day before,shearing sheep for his father. Just what followed is a little fuzzy, but even after one hundred and fifty years, when much of the story has been lost, forgotten and changed, there are still clues like tiny glints of light that point to the truth. One intriguing question is why the victims of the slaughter were buried in town, in the Boerne cemetery? The custom of the day was for country folks to be laid to rest on their own land. These tiny family plots are in the
most unexpected places even now - in the Dominion near the golf course, in a front yard in Country Bend, enclosed by an old post-and-wire fence off the road to Boerne Lake - all people once buried on their homesteads. (As an aside, but a fair example: Charles and Euphresema Schrempp came from Baden, Germany with their 5 children in 1881, bought the one hundred and sixty acre Bickel farm the following year, and lived in the old cabin the rest of their lives. The house was lived in up until the 1950s, and the Schrempp’s descendants live on the place still. Charles and Euphresema’s graves, and the grave of a little child, are within twenty yards of the porch where John Bickel was murdered, their cross-topped headstones tucked into a little grove of trees.) So why weren’t the Bickels and Spangenbergs buried there as well, where they lived and died? The Boerne cemetery had only been in use for about a year or so when they were interred there, and it hadn’t become the fashion or the practice for the country people to be buried in town. Maybe the most plausible explanation proposed by an expert on the subject of the massacre, is that the “horribly mutilated” bodies of the victims of this atrocity, this “butchery that could only be perpetuated by barbarians,” were brought into Boerne to whip the townfolks into a frenzy. Probably the Boerne sheriff fetched by Zoeller decided this was a horror worth sharing. These sad remnants of the Bickel and Spangenberg families, having been carried the four miles into town over rough wagon tracks on one of the hottest days of the year, were then laid to rest by the stunned townspeople of Boerne. So many of them, so brutally, savagely maimed- John Bickel, the “honest old farmer and head of a family”, Henry Spangenberg, a big, strong man and veteran just home from the bloody war, Katherine, the young woman who called to her milk cows of an evening, and finally the tiny, bloody body of the three year-old Spangenberg baby who’d toddled along behind Katherine that long, hot day. The sight of those four bodies, piteous in their wounds, taken from the blood-smeared wagon bed and lowered into the earth, did act upon the people gathered in the cemetery, and if indeed the purpose was to stir them to vengeful action, the purpose was served. ‘Many people gathered around the place where the slain people were,’ reads a report of the time, ‘And after they were buried a party was made upon the spot to take the trail of the murderers and punish them, whoever they might be, as soon as found.’ To punish them, as soon as found. Their intention was not to bring these men to trial, to face justice in the courts. This was a posse. This was a lynch mob. ‘There were men from Kendall and Comal counties, and two or three from Bexar, sixteen in all who went in pursuit.’ They were seeking Mexicans. There had been talk of ‘a gang of Mexican horse thieves who are making [the] border unsafe.’ Henry’s feeling that some of the men may have been white was dismissed- maybe Henry himself decided he was wrong, or who knows, but it was almost immediately decided that the murderers were Mexicans, and nobody but Mexicans. This is the term that was used in all the contemporary accounts, and at this date it may be impossible to determine whether those involved were Mexican citizens, Tejanos, or just people of Mexican descent. Remember, there was all this bad feeling towards all of the above on the part of the white citizens of Texas and Boerne, and they wouldn’t have been much of a mind to stop to distinguish between groups. The fact is, this posse set out to find themselves some Mexicans, and if the Mexicans they found happened to be the murderers, so much the better. One man who ran a bar in town told the sheriff he had served a group of Mexicans, drunk and getting drunker, and had noticed they were paying from a purse. A leather purse. One with initials tooled on it - JB. This item would become forever after known, among those who remembered the Bickel-Spangenberg murders, as the Bickel Purse. It was from this purse that John Bickel had paid his men for their work shearing sheep on the afternoon of his death. Henry Bickel must have known that leather wallet of his father’s almost as well as he knew his father’s work-worn hands - maybe they were the same texture, the Bickel purse and his father’s hands, the same suntanned shade of brown. And Henry Bickel must have known, too, that the Bickel Purse, when his father placed it in the table drawer after the men were paid, still contained fifty-five dollars in coin. From a report of the affair, written a few years afterward: ‘The trail from the scene of the murder was so conflicting, and scattered in so many different directions, that the avengers were more than ever satisfied now that it was Mexicans, and at once commenced rounding up and capturing all of that race then living in the country.’ All of that race. The spark that was needed for the simmering pot to come to an angry, rolling boil was lit, and hell rained down on the Mexican people in Boerne. The angry mob, for that’s what these men had become, kicked in doors and dragged fathers from their families, boys and young men from their homes and work and visited misery
22 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
upon them. Especially suspect was anyone who had anything ‘Indian’ in their homebows, arrows, arrowheads, anything that might connect them to a recent rash of horse and livestock thefts. Also particularly targeted in this spree of violence were Mexicans who had ‘been staying around Boerne without any visible means of support and never working [therefore] the supposition was that they were the prime factors in the daily occurrences of horse stealing.’ But wait...didn’t these men appoint themselves avengers of the Bickel/Spangenberg massacre? Why now were they indiscriminately yanking men into the streets, beating them, looting their homes, on suspicion of horse theft? In fact, the men whom Henry had identified as the killers were, in fact, working men, at least on that last day, shearing sheep - so what, really, was this posse looking to requite? At some point, the fact of the massacre, devastating and abrupt and cruel as it was, had loosened other dark forces in the hearts of these otherwise ordinary, rather stolid men. Maybe the bitterness of the Civil War years, when the townspeople were sharply divided, some men proudly going off to join the fight for a cause in which they believed and others unabashedly standing out for the Union (that issue would divide folks all over the Hill Country well into the 20th century, even into my own childhood in the 1970s). Maybe the harsh realities of life after the war’s end, the poverty, the scarcity of almost everything they needed, the heavy hand of martial law being handed down by Federal troops. Maybe the smoldering animosity toward these mistrusted ‘strangers’ in their midst – “We beat ‘em in the Mexican war didn’t we? We won this land fair and square, it’s ours now, they don’t belong here!” The people who didn’t look like them and were therefore suspect and who they now believed to be stealing what had taken them so many long, hard hours, days, years to earn. Everything that had oppressed them, that had taken the heart out of them, that had ground and worn them down - the slow, simmering anger suddenly burst into a seething steam of rage, and that steam suddenly found an outlet. There was hell to pay in Boerne and by God, they were out to get back some of their own. In the Freie Presse fuer Texas, the German language Texas Free Press newspaper of September 5, 1868 - a week after the bloodbath at the Bickel farm - at the end of an account of the murders was tacked this statement: ‘(later report) From Boerne comes the news that the murderers of the Bickel family have been captured.’ But as the breaking news report continued, the lines blurred even more. The next sentence read: ‘Subsequent information is that 6 Mexicans were found hanging to a tree on the Cibolo. They were not the murderers of the Bickel family, but were connected with the band of thieves and cut-throats that is harassing the upper country.’ Hang on- they were NOT the murderers? So who were they? Why were they hanged? Why does the paper report that the murderers had been captured but not elaborate, and why was no one else ever brought to justice for the Bickel farm murders? The Free Press merely goes on: ‘The supposition of their guilt became a reality in the minds of the people when the loafing vagabonds were caught making arrowheads. These had been used by them occasionally to kill cattle, with the object of giving the impression that Indians had been around.’ I believe, though I cannot prove it - yet- that the posse that had formed to hunt down the murderers, in the end simply lynched six of whom they considered the worst Mexican men of those living in the area. Maybe they were rowdy, or drunk, or they’d been caught with arrowheads or arrows or feathers, or for whatever reason - or for no reason at all. These six would serve as a warning, they figured. These will do. In the end, I believe, any six men were enough, so long as they were brown, so long as they spoke a different language, so long as they looked different from the ones doing the hanging.
November 2013
They may as well have been hanging in effigy all the things they hated, all the things they feared, all the people and events and circumstances that had ever hurt them and taken from them and made them lie awake at night. The six men were hanged from a single tree out Ammann Road, and left there to the elements, and the men who hanged them went home. What they felt is lost to time, to the hundred and fifty years between then and now. Whether there was regret, or horror at what they had become in those hours and days, or lingering images burned into their memories of six dead man swaying in the scant breeze of an Indian summer evening, whether they felt some satisfaction, that no matter what had ever happened to them, they had finally struck back, that they had made their world a safer place. There is a postscript to this awful, haunting story. Texas at the time was under martial law under the rules of Reconstruction, and word of the lynching and the outrages visited on the Mexican people of Boerne got to the United States soldiers stationed in San Antonio, a squad of whom came to town and arrested the men. One of the interesting things about this development is - well, first of all, that nobody’s ever heard of it, leading me to believe that the men involved and their families, and perhaps just about everyone in the white community in Boerne, swept this shameful bit of history into the silence and pulled a veil over it. Another thing, though, is how the US garrison in San Antonio heard about the whole thing at all. ‘[M]any of the men concerned in the raid on
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23
the Mexicans were arrested on affidavits, furnished it is supposed by Mexican women, none of whom were killed.’ If you know that women were disenfranchised, disrespected and didn’t have a voice in 1868 Texas, then you must know too that it was doubly, or triply so for Mexican women. For this group of women to stand up and somehow make contact with United States soldiers in far-away San Antonio, to speak up against the wrongs committed against them and their husbands, sons, families and homes, by an angry mob of white men, is nothing short of astonishing and heroic. The men were held in custody in San Antonio for about two weeks, ‘but when the trial came up there was so much conflicting testimony among the witnesses against the men that they were all turned loose and allowed to go back home.’ I have no doubt that the brave group of women who had the courage to stand up against these men, were bullied and otherwise compelled to retract their statements, and so there never was a trial. So the men went home and the white people of Boerne went unnaturally silent about their actions that bloody week. There must have been some tacit understanding that there were Things We Don’t Talk About. In fact, there is some evidence that an alternate version of the story was put about to throw suspicion away from Boerne altogether. A man recounted the story of the massacre for Boerne’s Centennial celebration in 1949, which was printed in the Boerne Star. His was a story passed down through the family from his great-grandfather, who just happened to be passing the Bickel farm at the time of the murders and claimed to have heard the ‘terrified screams’ of the victims, yet took them to be Katherine calling to her cows (surely a very different sound?). In the great-grandson‘s 1949 version, which was mistaken in many of the details, he says that it was thought that a man in San Antonio, who owed John Bickel seven hundred dollars, hired the Mexican men to murder the family. Nowhere else is there any indication of this theory, leading me to wonder about its origins. Maybe the massacre was purposely
transformed into another Indian atrocity- who knows? In my own family, my grandfather was always alluding to tales that were better left untold - I think this one was Boerne’s family skeleton. The story of the murders was repeated in legend over and over again, changing a little with every telling, some of the more horrific parts never referred to in mixed company and so finally forgotten, the secret things left out, maybe some convenient lies stirred in, and the years passed by. In 1917, the year the United States joined the Great War, Henry Bickel died at the age of sixty-three, and was buried beside his family and that of Henry Spangenberg’s in the Boerne cemetery. Some time later a flat stone was placed to mark the mass grave, with their names and this inscription: ‘Killed in Indian massacre in 1867. Henry Bickel was 12 at the time of the massacre and escaped to neighboring Zoeller farm. He was buried in 1917.’ By virtue of the date on the stone, that 1867, the grave made it onto the historical marker at the front gate as one of the first burials in the cemetery, which it certainly was not. The massacre that stole the lives of four people in a few bloody, brutal minutes, that broke the young Henry and left him struggling for breath for the rest of his life - that led to the murders of at least six others and the vicious assault on the Mexican community of Boerne, happened in 1868, by which time there were lots of people buried in the cemetery. And it wasn’t an Indian massacre, of course - it was a terrible, heart-breaking tragedy that tore the little village apart, committed by neighbors against their neighbors, by people who worked side by side and must have believed they could trust one another. The story changed so much in the passing down, naturally or by design, that even the stone that marks the grave of the first victims tells a different tale from the terrible things that really happened. What still abides is the old Bickel place, roofless now, its windows empty of glass, floorboards rotted, sagging but still standing. You can put your hand on the stones of the fireplace whose circle John Bickel and Henry Spangenberg left to answer that voice calling them out onto the porch, touch the remains of the ladder that led to the tiny loft. Perhaps John and Katherine Bickel, Henry Spangenberg and his child, and Henry Bickel, who in some ways never left that place, abide there too - and maybe the shadows of those other victims remain near the oak tree along the Cibolo Creek. A hundred and fifty years is a long, long time, but as William Faulkner observed, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” End note When I began this story, all I had was a copy of an old article written at fourth hand and the information from the headstone and the historical marker, and I thought that was all there was. I thought it would be an easy article to write. I was wrong. It turned into a fascinating investigation, and a trip into the past that was the closest thing to a time machine I’ve ever experienced. This whole story I owe to Laura Duennenberg Young and Paul Duennenberg, fellow historians, who were raised on this story and know everything there is to know about it. There are more details and lots, lots more to find out about the Bickel/Spangenberg massacre and the assault on the Boerne Hispanic community, and I very respectfully leave it to Laura and Paul to write the definitive story, which I look forward to reading with great eagerness. Laura, if the trees could talk, I hope they would tell you how grateful I am. My very heartfelt thanks to both of you.
24 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
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dining
It is often said that cooking is art and baking is science. Cooking was so natural to a right-brained, artistic type like myself. I viewed a recipe as the canvas on which I would create my masterpiece. A blank space to which I would add my own color with a pinch of this, or a dash of that. If a recipe called for paprika, I could substitute white pepper, or cumin, of whatever I wanted. The resulting dish may not have resembled the original, but was capable of standing on its own merits. So when I decided to try my hand at baking, I began with the same sort of “devil-may-care” attitude, playing fast and loose with the recipes. Here’s the deal folks: when it comes to baking, recipes are not mere guidelines. They are more like scientific formulas, where each ingredient plays a crucial role in the final outcome. Oh, you CAN substitute margarine for butter in a chocolate chip cookie, but you don’t get a whole new cookie creation. You simply get a weaker chocolate chip cookie. One lacking the full flavor and texture of its buttery counterpart. In baking, your ingredients must be fresh, the steps must be followed, and the ratios of dry to wet ingredients, or fats and leavening need to be respected. This holds especially true in bread and pastry. Stray from those ratios, or use poor quality ingredients and your souffle will fall. In fact, it may never even rise. After I had earned sufficient lumps in basic pastry and bread making, I figured I was perfectly equipped to take over the baking of the Holiday apple pie. My Grandma was not an especially notable cook, but had always made a fantastic apple pie. When her age and declining health made it impossible for her to continue to do so, and since it just isn’t possible to have Thanksgiving or Christmas without homemade apple pie, I decided to take up her rolling pin and forge ahead. I figured it would be a piece of cake. Oh, that it were that easy... My first apple pie was a huge embarrassment of failure. My pastry was good, as I had whupped the pastry making years ago. And it looked beautiful. I guess it would have been lovely if we hadn’t actually had to cut it or try to eat it. The golden brown, flaky crust on the top gave way to a great runny mess underneath. Basically, half-raw apples swimming in spiced cider. I poured off juice a few times, and more would appear in its place. This not only made all of the flavors run down the drain with the juice, but made the bottom crust a rather gooey, glue-like mess. I have always taken a scholarly approach to problems, and this was no different. I bought several books on the topic, and read voraciously. The biggest problem with apple pie, is apples. You see, they are all so different. This may seem elementary to you, but growing up I really only knew of three kinds. Red delicious, granny smith, and golden delicious. I had heard talk of McIntosh and Winesap, but never actually ate them. My youth and inexperience told me that apples were apples. They could be used interchangeably. The books told me something else. Apples, you see, are full of juice. Some have a lot more than others. Some apples hold their shape while baking, while others turn to mush. And here’s another little gem...Different varieties of apple taste different. Yep. Who knew? I honestly don’t know why I had to read that somewhere, but bless my blond-headed heart, I did. I began buying every new apple variety that came out, and trying it. I go online and research it. Is it best eaten out of hand, or baked? Does it hold its shape? So whereas I only ate red and gold delicious apples twenty years ago, I don’t eat either now. Among my favorites for eating out of hand are Honey Crisp, Pink Lady and Fuji. For baking, I love JonaGold. But my all time favorite, for any application, is the Tentation. Don’t go word-smithing me on that--that is how it is spelled. It is a bright gold variety from New Zealand, with a beautiful orange pink blush to it. The flesh is crisp, almost yellow, with a very strong, almost spicy sweet-tart flavor. It holds its shape well, and has a moderate amount of moisture. Bad news--it is only available for 12 minutes in June, and doesn’t seem to be widely available. When they are available, I buy bushels full, peel them, slice them, and freeze them in ziplock bags so that I can make pies out of them during the holidays. Anyway, that same year I decided to tackle apple pie, the Kendall County fair was holding its first ever apple pie bake off. I challenged myself to enter a winning pie. I spent three weeks baking pies, and entered the following recipe in the event, which won a blue ribbon. I used Jona-Gold that year, but use Tentation when I can. If you can’t find either, then use a mixture of Granny Smith and Gold Delicious. I am including the alternative crumb topping for Dutch Apple Pie, as well.
By Christine Friesenhan texana@aol.com | texanaskitchen.com
ALL AmERicAn ApplE PiE
8 cups apples, peeled and sliced (Jona-Gold, Jazz, or Tentation) 1 T cider vinegar 1/4 C brown sugar 1/4 C sugar 1/4 C flour 1/4 t salt 3/4 t cinnamon 1/2 t nutmeg 3 T heavy cream, divided 2 T coarse sugar, or sanding sugar (I used gold sanding sugar) recipe for 2 crust 9” pie pastry Preheat oven to 425* and place oven rack in lowest position. Place apples in large mixing bowl. Toss with vinegar. Mix together all dry ingredients and toss well into apples. Roll one half of pastry into a 12” circle, and place in the bottom of a 9” pie pan. Pour filling in, making sure filling is tightly packed and higher in the center. Drizzle 2 T cream over the apples. Roll second dough into 12” circle and place over filling. Tuck the edges of the top crust under the bottom crust, and seal (crimp, pinch, etc..). Cut slits in top to vent steam. Bake at 425* for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with remaining heavy cream, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Return to oven and bake an additional 20-30 minutes, until golden brown and juices are thick and bubbly. Cool 3-4 hours before cutting. Variations: Dutch Apple Pie--omit the second crust. Crush 1 sleeve of buttery round crackers into heavy crumbs. Mix with 1/4 cup sugar and 4 T softened butter, to form crumbles. After 30 minutes baking, sprinkle the crumb mixture on top of filling and finish baking.
28 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
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BOOT JACK BAR 6 BIG SCREENS O U T D O O R PAT I O S H U F F L E B OA R D P O O L TA B L E DA RT S
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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So - still thinking of trying your hand at making paintings? Well, do we have a solution for you! Bill Zaner, noted landscape painter, has produced a new series of instructional videos now available for subscription on his website, www.billzaner.com. They’re fun to watch as well as being full of useful information about panting in general and Texas landscapes and seascapes in particular.
The Hill Country of Texas has been a favorite subject for artists since the very beginning of its settlement. When in full spring bloom, it is especially spectacular. In this scene, Bill has depicted the iconic “Bluebonnet Painting”, giving the work his own special consideration with several different varieties of native flowers spreading across the fore and middle ground. In the background are the ubiquitous, rusty-roofed barns backed by live oak trees and distant hills, including a cloud - shadowed limestone cliff. The painting is an oil on canvas, size 36”x48” and is titled Oak Valley.
Santa Elena Canyon, the longest and deepest of the National Park Gorges, remains another favorite subject since Bill first visited Big Bend in 1958. Challenging the cliff and water scene, Bill has employed a square format canvas here to better indicate the immense scale of the canyon. As usual, he eschews the obvious methods of doing this, such as showing people floating in canoes or rafts. Bill believes nature will itself aid the observant artist in producing the desired effect. He insists on atmospheric as well as physical accuracy in his Big Bend paintings as in all his work. Boca del Cañón – Santa Elena oil on canvas, size 40”x40”.
Depicted here is another fine example of Bill’s master of atmospheric accuracy in painting a specific geographic location, the dunes and ocean off Padre Island, Texas, in this instance. Can you almost hear the wind, taste the salty air? Are you listening to the squawking terns as they discuses their supper? Feel the calming effect the outgoing tide at sunset has on you? This, and all Bill Zaner’s works are ORIGINAL, that is, there will no prints made of them “as long as,” he says, “I can lay my brushes on a canvas and smear some paint around.” This work, all Bill’s work, say to the viewer, “this man obviously has great affection for, and knowledge of, the landscape and seascapes of Texas.” Late Evening - Mustang Island, oil on canvas, 36”x48”.
Bill’s paintings are available for viewing & purchase exclusively at one of the finest gallery spaces in the country - Johny Rosa’s TEXAS TREASURES FINE ART GALLERY at 605 S. Main in Boerne, TX. Johny, a veteran of the Santa Fe art scene, has assembled a distinctive collection of art and placed it in several beautifully appointed rooms. The gallery is open 7 days a week for your convenience.
w w w. t e x a s t r e a s u r e s f i n e a r t . c o m • 8 3 0 - 8 1 6 - 5 3 3 5
SPIRITUAL
A
JOURNEY
called...
By Kendall D. Aaron | kendall@hillcountryexplore.com Life is not a destination – it is a journey. Hokey sayings like this are printed on high school motivational posters throughout the country. Designed to get young minds to explore their dreams and their possibilities, they are certainly dismissed as one of Mrs. Johnson’s Social Studies class posters that simply become a memory. Thrown into the dustbin of “Carpe Diem” posters and the like, it’s the stuff that your Dad spouts to you while being “fatherly” and you don’t remember until much later in life. I did that. And still do sometimes. But, sometimes, like tonight, when I’m sitting up late waxing philosophically, I can come to see the truth in such simple little sayings. I think that what gets dismissed with statements like the above is that for many people, life IS a destination. It’s a life that DOES have a reward, a finish line, a point where we think “There – I’ve made it.” For some it’s a large house at Cordillera Ranch, with a Porsche in the garage, and a couple of kids at Ivy League schools. They can sit on the back deck of their 8000 square foot house and think “You better believe I’ve reached my destination.” I know lots of these folks. For others I think that it’s just the process of getting through life. “I’ve got a comfortable middle class life with a comfortable middle class car, and my kids enjoy our neighborhood, and I’m good with all of that forever.” And that’s it. There is no journey; it’s simply the sustaining of what exists around them. But again, late at night, I can look at this in different ways and come away with new perspectives. As an exercise, mentally zoom out of your neighborhood. Like an aerial camera in a movie, begin to gain altitude until you can see all of Boerne from high above. You’ll see the twinkling lights of city streets and car headlights below. Keep going, and you will get so high that you can see all of TEXAS. Even higher, eventually you’ll see the entire Earth as but a giant blue marble. Round and round it goes. Billions of people on a giant blue marble that is spinning slowly across the backdrop of nothingness. Billions of people trying their best to navigate life. Some are in Cordillera Ranch, sipping imported coffee and surveying their large homestead. Some are huddled around a campfire in Ethiopia, listening to crying children in the background as they starve to death. Others are in a fishing village in Norway where 12 year olds are boarding boats to begin their heritage of learning the family business. So many variables, and so many people, and so many…journeys. But is your life a journey, or is it just sustaining your existence? Sometimes I see those Discovery Channel shows where they chronicle some poverty stricken community in Nigeria. They have to pump water from a well, kill their own livestock, and live in a straw
hut. They have nothing, but rest assured, life is one big journey. I wonder to myself, “What do you think that person might do if you drove them to Boerne, put them in a Herff Ranch house, put $5000 in the bank, and said ‘This is your new life.’?” Would they walk out on the back porch, put their feet up, sip tea, and think to themselves “Well, I’ve MADE it now!”? I don’t know. Maybe. Or, do you think they would seek out their neighbors? Community is necessary for survival in many cultures, so do you think they would try to infuse themselves into other’s lives so as to help them? Do you think they would volunteer with organizations, because after all, where they come from, if the community is going to survive, people have to work together. Do you think that they would invite people over to their back porch in the evenings so that they could discuss the day’s activities? Would they share the grief and joy of others as their own? Would they leave their home without a second thought in order to travel with their friends to a new and unknown land? And lastly, do you think their home or bank account matters? Is their car of concern, or is it simply a tool? Does the size of their TV bother them? Do you think that their current destination is of the slightest concern? Instead, do you think that they would seek the awareness and togetherness of others, and JOURNEY through life with them? I know I’m rambling, but I just can’t help but think that oftentimes we all get into the mindset of “destination”. 2 Timothy 1:7 says “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power.” A spirit of POWER. People with a spirit of power do not sit on the back porch and shuffle through their lives! They strike out on new adventures, even if those new adventures are changing their neighbors to “friends” and volunteering at the local food bank. If we never break free of the rut of comfort and safety, there is little journey to be discovered. There will be minimal adventure, and we may never know of the path that Christ has laid for us in our lives. So break out – let go of the safety of the cast line, and let the winds take you where they may. Life is a very short and fragile thing, and when the day comes for you to leave this Earth, you will not be thinking about your home in Herff Ranch. You’ll be longing to be on the adventures and journeys that you missed. The ones that you missed because you were happy with where you were – even though the journey awaits.
34 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
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November 2013
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35
CDS
Sam Riggs and the Night People Outrun the Sun 2013 debut album from the Country singer/songwriter and his band. Produced by Erik Herbst (Eli Young Band, Bowling For Soup, Josh Abbott Band), Outrun The Sun signals a lyrical comprehension that reaches far beyond Sam’s years, and musical compositions that are both brave and progressive. The driving will in ‘Longshot; the matter of abuse in ‘The Change’; the perfect vocal accompaniment by Hubbard himself on ‘Angola’s Lament’; and the love-provoked courage in ‘Lighthouse’ are just a few of the towering giants included in this release.
Lincoln Durham Exodus of the Deemed Unrighteous Making a big impression with his white hot debut The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones in 2012, and his debut UK tour last autumn, Lincoln Durham will be previewing his eagerly anticipated second album Exodus of The Deemed Unrighteous on his second UK tour from the end of August. Lincoln Durham‘s second record Exodus Of The Deemed Unrighteous is an edgier, more raw and angst-filled big brother to its predecessor The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones. Produced by George Reiff, who co-produced Lincoln’s debut record, and recorded at The Finishing School with percussionist, Rick Richards, Exodus has a biting tale to tell.
Brandy Clark 12 Stories 2013 debut from the Country singer/songwriter. The album is full of diverse characters and stays true to Brandy’s self-proclaimed dark comedy theme. The woman in the first single, ‘Stripes,’ fantasizes about killing her cheating husband but doesn’t want to be caught dead in an orange jumpsuit. ‘Pray to Jesus’ describes a woman asking Jesus for help but plays the lottery, just in case. The bored housewife in ‘Get High’ escapes daily drudgery by rolling joints at the kitchen table. Prior to 12 Stories, Brandy penned songs for other artists. Reba McEntire and Kenny Rogers have both recorded her songs. Darius Rucker, Sheryl Crow and Kacey Musgraves have Brandy compositions on their albums. The Band Perry gave Brandy her first #1 single with ‘Better Dig Two,’ followed shortly after by another #1 in ‘Mama’s Broken Heart,’ cut by Miranda Lambert.
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36 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Don’t forget, we’re open for
Dinner Thanksgiving Eve.
Come join us!
5 1 8 R I V E R R O A D , B O E R N E , T X : : W W W. L I T T L E G R E T E L . C O M : : 8 3 0 - 3 3 1 - 1 3 6 8
Be sure to stop in to LILLIANS OF BOERNE this November for Whiteout Wednesday, Black Friday and Small Business Saturday for some BEYOND crazy deals! NOVEMBER
NOVEMBER 27 TH, 29TH & 30TH! Lillians of Boerne 107 E San Antonio Ave • Boerne, TX 78006 • 830.446.2182 Open EVERY Wednesday (10-6), Thursday (10-6) Friday (10-6), Saturday (10-6), Sunday (12-5) Lillians.com
November 2013
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37
Wine
With thanks to the folks at Frogs Leap By Tom Geoghegan tgeoghegan@boernewineco.com
Anyone that’s a fan of the winery has seen their
Boerne) Two of the newest to grace the Texas 290 wine
poster…”Times fun when you’re having flies”. This
trail are Hawks Shadow and Lewis Cellars. I had the
article starts my second year of contributing articles to
opportunity to taste some of their newest releases, and
Explore (Thank you Ben for this ongoing opportunity).
was very impressed. Not the easiest to find as they are
It’s sorta hard to accept the fact that it’s been a
both so new, but very much worth the effort…here are
whole year later, but here we are with cool weather
numbers and web-sites…
and the Holidays right around the corner…we’ve even had some rain. And once again I hope to make the
The basic outline I use is pretty much the same…pick
Holidays a little easier, at least in terms of wines for the
your favorite recipes, outline your meal from apps (not
Holiday dinners.
applications but appetizers) to dessert and then start
So this is the time of the year to head to your favorite
pairing your wines. I still believe starting with cham-
wine guy (or gal) with your list of wines for your family
pagne/sparkling wine is a great way to make before
gatherings. The rules haven’t really changed that much
the meal a very social time…it adds that certain sparkle
since last year’s article…maybe a new vintage or label
to the meal as guests arrive, and it’s also an excellent
or two for you to consider.
palate cleanser! Entrée pairing follows the #1 rule in wine, which is basically that there are no rules when it
Remember….
comes to wine and food pairing. The basic premise for red and white offers a great starting point, but step out
Purchase the wines you like…you know the crowd
of your comfort zone…try some of the newer “discov-
coming, and which wines they like.
ery” varietals and regions. I read an article that added an interesting twist to the progression quandary…
Ask for your discount…most times dependent on the
they suggested “Humble to the Best”. This holiday
number of bottles. October, November, and December
season, I plan to use this for my selections…spoiler
generally have the best prices of the year…stock-up if
alert to our dinner guests…we’ll probably have only
you can. There is no downside to having too much of
one great bottle to share at the end, but plenty of
your favorite wines.
good wine before! Lastly, let’s look at the dessert course. The dessert wine is a greta way to get those
If you are looking for a special wine or especially a
special people that make these meals (spouse, mom,
large format (1.5 liter or larger) for still and sparkling
partner, etc.) out of the kitchen and back to the
wines, please make sure to give your favorite retailer
table. Just remember the sugar content on these late
enough time to order these for you. Nothing makes a
harvest still or sparking dessert wines is pretty high,
dramatic impact on a dinner table than a big bottle.
and adjust your serving size accordingly. Definitely
1.5 liter (Magnum) is the equivalent of two regular
something to sip slowly, and savor.
sized 750ml bottles. A special touch that makes the bottle and dinner more memorable is using one of
Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and of
the special pens (try Moon Mippy in Boerne) that can
course the big birds generally gets top billing whether
write on glass to have everyone attending sign the
it’s baked or fried. Ham is also a perennial favorite,
bottle with.
but let’s keep other options open from the pork, beef and lamb food groups. One trend that I thought was
Coming off Texas Wine Month in October, there are
interesting was an Italian-style Turkey. Same baked or
more and better Texas wines to grace your table this
fried, but with interesting sides…think risotto instead
year. The bulk of the wineries are located just outside
of mashed potatoes, vegetable sautéed with olive oil…
of Fredericksburg, between Stonewall and Johnson
you get the idea. Have fun and be creative, especially
City (remember to use the FM 1376 shortcut from
the dessert course. Look at some of the Tex-Ital wines
38 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
Sangiovese, etc. A quick plug for the Beaujolais region. Remember the Nouveau mentioned for Thanksgiving? This wine will still work for your Christmas dinner. In fact, many of my customers from Mexico buy this by the case, and use it for all three Holiday meals. And for those wanting something a little richer and more complex, consider the great Cru Beaujolais…think Nouveau from Grape Creek for some great pairing options (www.grapecreek.com) Chardonnay is the traditional favorite for the feast, but there are also some very nice Sauvignon Blancs (sometimes labeled as Fume Blanc… same grape), Gewürztraminers, and drier Rieslings that will work very well. Pinot Noir is a great alternative for turkey for the red wine group. One last red suggestion for an interesting red and that is the Nouveau Beaujolais. This will be the first grapes harvested for the new vintage, and is traditionally released the third Thursday of November worldwide. Now there are some wine lovers who dismiss this wine as just fermented grape juice (isn’t that what Ch. Petrus essentially is too…. fermented grapejuice), but I think it offers a beautifully light, fruit forward wine that pairs beautifully with turkey or pork. This is the wine for those people who have never had a red wine, or think reds are too bitter (acidic). It is a great introductory red wine for the novice. The actual availability of the Nouveau is pretty short time period, but the good news is it’s year round availability under the Beaujolais or Beaujolais Village designation. There are several great shippers (negociant), but I’ve always had great success with George Duboeuf (thanks Brian for the reminder).
As we move to the Christmas season, the weather definitely gets cooler, hopefully there is continued precipitation (the rain variety…not the white, fluffy stuff), and the entrée sources become more myriad. What a rich bounty to choose from…beef, ham, turkey, lamb, great wild game, and fresh gulf seafood. Is it any wonder that we chose this place to live? And since this is Texas, these choices coincide pretty well with smoking or grilling. Red meats generally call for a rich robust red. Great choices are out there in the Cabernet, Merlot, and Pinot camps. Kim (McPherson Cellars) of-
fers that his Rousanne is a great white for Holiday entertaining , and his Tre Colore is a very unique red blend to dazzle your out of state guests. Great alternative offering are wine from Spain, Argentina, Italy, and Australia/New Zealand. Discover these new varietals that include Tempranillo, Garnacha/Grenache, Malbec, Syrah/Shiraz,
on steroids. There are 10 different styles (from 10 different villages or cru’s) that offer a great range of styles and tastes. Your favorite wine shop, or wine guy or gal can provide more information and recommendations. Lastly as we come to the end of the busy holiday, we finish with New Years dinner. Each year brings an accumulation of memories that makes it a magical time. The innocence of our children is balanced with the wisdom of our elders. It is a special time for family and friends, rich in remembrances of places and events this past year. Nothing goes better with family and friends than good food and wine. All of the entree suggestions listed above work seamlessly with this celebration, but there seems to be more of an emphasis on apps (yes the other one...Appetizers, not applications for your phone or computer), and especially champagne…. lotsa champagne. And a personal recommendation for an entrée suggestion based on using this recipe… Jean Yves Osso Bucco (please email him at jyferrer@ boernewineco.com for your copy, and thank you Hefe for sharing)…what an exotic way to celebrate New Years dinner. And each New Years brings us that fresh start, a new beginning for plans, goals, and resolutions. The very essence of wine that it is never static, but always evolving and changing for the better…. new vintages, winemakers, regions, and varietals… a real sense of new discoveries. Step out of your comfort zone…if you buy domestic, try an import…red wine drinker, try a white. Discover the ABC wines (anything but chardonnay for the white lovers, and anything but cabernet for the red lovers)….Torrontes, Viognier, Tannat, Sangiovese, Riesling, Moscato, Malbec, Vermentino, Tempranillo, Grenache…the list is ongoing. And please remember that Champagne (or sparkling wine) is not just for celebrations, but is an excellent food wine. Its complexity using Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as its main grapes makes it perfect to pair with a variety of foods. Last year we talked about finishing these great meals with a nice port, coffee, and possibly a good cigar. We covered the Ruby and Tawny styles, along with the LBV, and vintage port styles. I got some great feedback on other ways to finish, including some fantastic single malt Scotches. Other suggestions were some of the small batch Bourbons and Tequilas (Thank you John and Dr. for that feedback ). Again this Holiday season, my thoughts are again very rich with memories of spouses, children, friends, and extended family. My shared thought again with all of you whom I’ve known through the years is heartfelt blessings as we reflect on all we have to be thankful for, celebrate the joys of giving, and hopes for continued blessings in the New Years. A special toast to all of you…may your paths be straight, may the wind always be at your back, and may the land rise to meet you!
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O M N RA D THANKSGIVING RELATED
FACTS
Commercially raised Of the 102 colonists that set out for America, only 57 survived the voyage and first winter. Good odds back then.
turkeys
Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese are thought to have made up the first Thanksgiving feast.
The heaviest turkey ever raised was 86 pounds, about the size of a large dog.
Congress passed a law on December 26, 1941, ensuring that all Americans would celebrate a unified Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November every year. That’s right. The day after Christmas Congress was WORKING!
Plymouth was not the first place the Pilgrims landed. More than a month prior to landing in Plymouth, they landed at what is present day Provincetown. However, they were unable to find a suitable area to set up a colony and small groups set out to search for a more habitable area.
CANNOT fly.
A 16-week-old turkey is called a fryer. A five to seven month old turkey is called a young roaster. Most people call them delicious.
Sarah Josepha Hale, an American magazine editor, persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving a national holiday. She is also the author of the popular nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. Abraham Lincoln issued a ‘Thanksgiving Proclamation’ on third October 1863 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving.
In 1939, President Roosevelt proclaimed that Thanksgiving would take place on November 23rd, not November 30th, as a way to spur economic growth and extend the Christmas shopping season.
40 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
Premier Custom Home Builder in the Texas Hill Country For over 40 years, KCN has been building beautiful custom homes of all sizes in Boerne, Comfort, Bandera, Castroville and throughout the Texas Hill Country. Our commitment to excellence is reflected not just in the quality of our products, but also in the superior level of customer service we provide during the building process. Our reputation for honesty and integrity, combined with our commitment to deliver excellent quality, expert craftsmanship, and customer service, has afforded us the opportunity to build many long lasting relationships with our clients. In fact, we have just completed a job for our 25th repeat client.
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BOERNE THEN
NOW
The hadcr afted Max Be housed in the Antler seler Bar Restauran t.
The Antler Restaurant circa 1975.
n on Main Billy Vanderstratten Saloo in 1908 Street. Destroyed by fire
Saloon & athletic w ing added Philip Man to the or in 1878 .
42 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
SPORTS MEDICINE
FAMILY MEDICINE
Charles McCurley, MD Board Certified Family Medicine Board Certified Sports Medicine
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Advanced arthritis treatment Muscle and joint pain Sports injuries for all ages Ultrasound guided treatments/injections In-office x-ray Sports physicals Broken bones/fracture care
Primary care for all ages Acute care/ Urgent care Newborn care Pediatric care/ Well Child exams Well woman exams Contraceptive management Adult medicine
Botox Chemical peels Cosmetic filler treatments
Wendy McCurley, MD Board Certified Family Medicine
SAME DAY APPOINTMENTS 136 Old San Antonio Rd, Suite 406 • Boerne, TX 78006 • www.sfmboerne.com • 830.816.5800
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p. (830) 816-5888 f. (830) 816-5889
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Nothing brings out the best, or worst, like college football. Unlike it’s professional big brother, NCAA football fans garner rivalries that can be described as nothing short of epic. The pride in one’s alma mater, regardless of rank, or lack thereof, drives families apart, spouses to sleep on sofas, parents to question their child’s life choices, and so on. So of course we here at EXPLORE felt it would be a good idea to give folks around town a platform to expound on any and all feelings of animosity they may have against their rival Texas team. Because let’s face it, no one around here cares about a rivalry between Army and Navy or Florida and Florida St. Wait, Florida has TWO teams?
UT
“Longhorns. The most entitled, arrogant, douche-bag fans on earth. I hate every single one of them. PASSIONATELY. Name me one other team that has more t-shirt fans. You can’t do it.” - Kevin R. “Here’s the thing: UT pisses me off more than any school. My blood pressure just goes up thinking about them. I hate their coach, their alums, and I can’t stand that damn cow they parade around. I can’t stand all the weird hippies running around up there, the tree-hugger mentality, and the traffic blows. Austin and UT are pretty much my version of hell. Burn it all.” - David J.
BAYLOR
“I went to Tech, so I hate all of the other teams in Texas. Except for Baylor. Those guys have sucked for so long – it’s kind of nice seeing them quasi-relevant. As for the rest of the schools: screw you.” - Chris P. “Can someone please tell me how the hell Baylor became relevant? I get RG3 was good. But he graduated for a bigger paycheck to cover his student loans. Why are they not being ground to a pulp every week?” - John S.
A&M
“Every time the Aggies play at Kyle Field, I secretly pray that a giant asteroid would land right in the middle of the field. I feel guilty about wishing such a thing, but I do know that it would raise our average IQ in Texas by 70 points.” - Everyone who didn’t go to A&M “Many family members of mine went to A&M. I went to Tech. I’m successful in life, and my uncle is named Bubba and sports a mullet. I’m confident I made the right choice.” - Eric H. “I graduated from UT so in order to not be tarred, feathered and forced to walk 6th St. in my underwear I HAD to hate Aggies. But the thing is I really like A&M. I’m really glad they made the move to the SEC. Now liking them isn’t so taboo.” - Charlie H.
OTHER
“TCU? They’ve played glorified high schools for the past 15 years, so now they think they’re competitive. It’s cute. And I hate them.” - Jack R. “I’m glad Texas State has a team. I hate having to drive to Austin or Dallas to see Tech win. Stupid Austin.” - Aaron V.
TECH
“Texas Tech. Situated in the armpit of Texas. What’s so “Tech” about them? They have the biggest campus this side of the Mississippi because they get to count the university owned farmland. The feedlots and dust storms make breathing a health hazard. Every time they elbow their way into the Top 10, they start ranting and raving about National Championships only to have their asses handed to them a few weeks later by a “real” team. And you just beat TCU, do you HAVE to rush the field and bring down the goalposts?” - Everyone who didn’t go to Tech and some who did “Why the hell is Yosemite Sam your mascot?” - Jake M.
As a Master in the Academy of General Dentistry, Dr. Chet Hawkins posses the highest level of education recognized for a dentist. As a graduate of the Pankey Institute, he’s had the finest post-doctoral training in the world. “I want to establish a master plan and then develop a blueprint for my patients’ long-term care,” he explains. “We want to solve the causes of the problems before we do anything else to their teeth. Then we can rebuild or repair with confidence that the fix will last as long as possible. We also educate our patients about other health issues related to oral disease. There is a connection between periodontal disease and heart disease that people need to know about.” Dr. Hawkins and his wife, Deby, have been residents of Boerne for 7 years and are excited to be joining the practice in Boerne.
I just went to see Dr. Hawkins yesterday for an exam and cleaning. I was promptly seen, the procedures were done painlessly and in a timely manner with the latest equipment. My necessary dental work was explained fully to me. Everyone in the office greeted me warmly and made me feel special. - Elaine Kieschnick The moment you enter the office you are greeted by Kim’s warm smile and friendly personality. The hygienists are professional and make you feel very at ease. Dr. Hawkins is very calm and soft spoken with a gentle touch. The office runs very smoothly and on time for appointments. - Charlotte Sabatier Pleasant, friendly staff. No wait. Dr. Hawkins listens to your issues and then provides clear solutions. Great dentist. Also, great hygienist. Overall, great experience. - Cindy Hawkins
30 YEARS EXPERIENCE Boerne’s ONLY Master Dentist T h e D en tal Wellness C enter • 8 0 6 N. M ai n St. • B o er n e • 8 3 0 -2 4 9 -7 8 7 0 o r 2 1 0 -6 9 6 -3 2 3 1
Old
Timer
Old Timer is our resident cranky old guy. We all know one or love one, and we’ve become quite fond of Old Timer, and enjoy letting him spout off about stuff that he sees happening around town.
A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF OLD TIMER Monday I hate Mondays. Nothing exciting happens around here on Mondays. All of the stores and businesses are closed on Mondays, and that adds to the “ghost town” feel on Mondays. Why and when was it decided that retail shops should close on Mondays? It would be one thing if they are open on Sundays, but nope – they take off on Sundays AND Welcome to Boerne. Come back tomorrow. Mondays, and for some reason, this irritates me to no end. So on typical Mondays, I sit on my porch, wait for the mailman, and generally just grumble about how boring Mondays are. And then I took a nap.
Tuesday I decided to take the River Trail and go check out the bridge. You know, the bridge that is continually under construction. They’ve been working on it for at least a year, and can anybody say that anything has actually been done?? I walked past it, and sure enough, there were exactly TWO guys sitting up on the railing eating lunch. That Dilbert. He’s so funny... what do you mean these aren’t the That seems like a big blueprints? I’m hungry. project, so how come there aren’t dozens of guys working? Just two dudes kicking back and enjoying some Riverside BBQ. I threw a rock at one of ‘em and told him to get work. He just gave me the finger.
Wednesday I had to go to the doctor today. When you’re my age, going to the doctor is no joke. I hate my doctor. I hate most doctors, actually. I’m 89 years old, and they continually tell me what I shouldn’t be doing. I’m 89 years old, so I think that they should just congratulate me for being alive and tell me do anything I I’m sorry... you’re going to put your fingers WHERE? want. I hate to tell you docs out there, but when you’re 89, I’m not going to watch my diet. And hell would freeze over if you saw me “exercising”. I’m going to sit on my ass and eat cheap Mexican food and love every blessed minute I’ve got left. Pfffft. Exercising.
Thursday I wanted a beer Thursday night, so I went to Buckles up on the north end of town. It’s a typical bar – 20 guys sitting around talking about how they could totally get a date from either of the two women in the building. Blah. Why does Boerne night life suck so bad? Why do we not have a real bar or tavern? Yeah, we’ve got Buckles, but that’s a glorified night club, that is really little more than a dimly lit sports bar with a dancefloor. We need a nice bar where the bartender knows your name, I dare say chaps, I do believe that attractive young woman and you could meet a colover there is a man. league for a drink after work. We don’t have that here, and I’m not sure why. We have the Boerne Wine Co, but I don’t want a $13 glass of wine. Just a $2 Budweiser. Someone fix this issue for us – I’m old timer, and even I hate that the sidewalks roll up at 8pm.
Friday Had lunch with my friend Ralph today at one of our cheap-ass Mexican food joints in town. We talked about the new Wastewater Plant in town. Just two guys, talking wastewater while enjoying lunch. Ralph thinks it’s great that we have the new facility. I laughed and laughed. Our new monument to getting completely screwed by the mythical Esperanza development. We have 4500 wastewater customers currently. The new plant can handle 35,000. You think Boerne itself could handle 35,000 people? I’m suddenly very thirsty Nor do I. If there are ever 35,000 people in town, we’ll have to move to Comfort to get away from the “city”. And I cannot stand Comfort. Saturday Went and laughed at the tourists today on Main Street. All 11,000 of them. Just gaggles of big old gals bouncing their way across Main Street, hurrying so as to not be flattened by Farmer Bob’s pickup. And their hapless husbands carrying their bags behind them. Hate to tell you guys, but Boerne is a woman’s dream: nothing but retail as far as she can see. That, and zillions of antique crap. Oh, but there is a broke-down bridge. Stop and visit with the workers – they don’t have anything to do anyway and would love the company. It’s like that. Only the frog is obese.
Sunday Church. Yeah, I go to church. Why does this surprise you? When you are this close to death, you button up all your bets. After church, I had lunch at Little Gretel. I love this place. Hands down, best spot for your after-church-lunch in town. I enjoyed my lunch, and watched the traffic build up until the River/Main light backed up all the way past Little Gretel. Which got me thinking about traffic. There’s something like 1800 new houses going in along 46 (River Rd) in the next year. That’s 3600 more cars, Good news kids! We only have to wait through 14 more approximately. It makes my red lights. head hurt, and nothing is set to change or improve. I love my town, but I miss the reasons why I moved here. I bet you feel the same way. It wears me out. So I went home and took a nap. But not before I laughed at that idiotic statue (shrine) to a dead duck by the river. You couldn’t make that up.
46 EXPLORE it! LIVE IT! The REAL Kendall County.
119 Staffel Street, Boerne, Texas 78006 830.816.2005 | TheCreekRestaurant.com
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