It has been nearly 34 years since Michael Busby, one of my closest friends, died from lung cancer at the far-too-young age of 36, in June 1990. I think of him often, even decades later. Michael was a renaissance person who loved books as much, if not more, than I do. We met in Nacogdoches in 1974 while both attending Stephen F. Austin State University. I co-owned a modest, and ultimately unsuccessful, bookstore in a small two-story house next to the fire station on North Street, where Austin Bank is now.
Michael worked across the street at Pizza Inn (now Cotton Patch Café) and would come over...
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Four years ago, the world had largely shut down, as the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world. Schools closed, non-essential businesses either shuttered completely or went to curbside only service. I shot photos of empty mall parking lots for an online piece for Texas Highways, talked to folks by phone on how it had affected their jobs. Interviewees included longtime local sports editor Jack Stallard, on what it was like to cover sports when no games were being played, someone in the oil and gas business worried about the effects on the economy, a health care professional on the massive stress of dealing...
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HOUSTON — We spent a few days of Spring Break in the Bayou City, where spring has fully arrived, with azaleas and wisteria in full bloom, and the weather was chamber-of-commerce perfect — a season that lasts about two weeks before summer arrives here for an extended visit. Our first stop was St. Arnold’s Brewery, the oldest craft brewery in Texas, located just north of downtown.
We arrived just in time for a tour of the brewery, which began operating 30 years ago and has expanded into an impressive operation. A young man took a small group of us through a tour of the brewery, closed on Sunday....
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The Canada geese finally returned this week, as you can see from the photo accompanying this piece. The waterfowl in the grass is a decoy duck. And, of course, that’s Pancho in the background watching with a bemused expression. We named this place Three Geese Farm after a trio showed up last winter.
I was seated at my computer, as usual, when I heard them honking and watched them glide to a smooth landing in Pancho’s Pond. They stayed long enough for me to snap the photo, then took off again. I later headed to the feed store to get a sack of cracked corn, in hopes of enticing them to linger...
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