The leaves are fleeing the trees here at Three Geese Farm. Soon it will be stick season, as they call it in New England, the transitional period between fall and winter. The difference, of course, is that it is unlikely snow will soon be blanketing the ground here in Northeast Texas.
I spent a pleasant Saturday bushhogging the pasture where Pancho the Donkey hangs out, as well as the side pasture that Willie and Waylon, our longhorn steers, now call home. It is past time to plant winter ryegrass, but warm, dry weather well into November required me to wait.
My Beautiful Mystery Companion...
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I did something unprecedented in my seven decades on this sphere. It was completely legal, indeed encouraged. I drank a draft beer while grocery shopping. Right here Behind the Pine Curtain.
It was a tasty Karbach Hopadillo IPA, brewed in Houston, one of my favorite Texas-brewed beers. It cost $1.08 with tax and came in a plastic cup. This is a grand opening special, and the price almost certainly will rise soon. I pulled out two dollars and told the bartender to keep the change – last of the big spenders. The bar is located inside Brookshire’s Fresh, a new grocery store and considerably...
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Last in a series on my recent trip to Bavaria and Austria.
UNTERNEUKIRCHEN, BAVARIA — Famed European travel writer Rick Steves once called Bavaria the “Texas of Germany.” It is by far the largest of the 16 German states, comprising about one-fifth of the country. Just as folks in Texas often refer to themselves as Texans — a habit not practiced in most states — folks in Bavaria often call themselves Bavarians first, rather than Germans. Both Bavaria and Texas were once independent and not part of another country.
As Steves notes, many Bavarians really...
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BURGHAUSEN, BAVARIA — Historians differ on when this lovely small city, built along the Salzach River that divides it from Austria, was actually founded. The oldest mention dates to 1025. Archaeologists have discovered artifacts dating back to the Bronze Age, approximately 5,000 years ago. The town predates the dawn of Christianity by centuries.
On a ridgeline, in the Upper Bavarian Alpine foothills above Burghausen, stands the longest castle in the world. It spans 1,051 meters (about 11.5 football fields). Daughter Mere and I visited the castle while son-in-law Matt worked in town. We first...
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