Current events are proving to be a bit overwhelming these days, at least for me. We are beset with tragedy, corruption and disasters. Even for a news junkie like me, someone who has spent his life following — and reporting, on a modest scale — what is happening in the world, there are days I simply can’t listen any more to NPR news, or read The New York Times or Washington Post online. That is rare, since it is so ingrained in me, but it happens. Thank goodness for Spotify and iTunes.
At least it is October and there is baseball. My beloved Boston Red Sox beat Houston with four straight...
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I began producing stories for Red River Radio a month or so ago. I was asked to help them expand their news coverage with piece every week or so. Sure, I said. It pays a modest amount, being public radio and all, but I’m happy to help. For nearly six years, I have contributed weekly commentaries gratis. Producing a news story is different. I ensconce my self in the small closet in my study, which is banked with file cabinets and boxes of unsold books, which doubles as a recording studio.
(By the way, Christmas is coming, and a copy of “Yours Faithfully, J.A.: The Life and Writings of H.B....
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A high-school classmate and fellow CrossFit fanatic mentioned several months ago that he had signed up for a mail-order genetic testing kit and had just received the results. He’s a well-respected doctor in town, so it caught my attention that he was willing to fork out $199 for the test. This fellow is not likely to spend money on scientifically dubious endeavors. His test was conducted by 23andMe, one of three companies out there catering to consumers. It is the least expensive by far, and uses SNP genotype testing, which examines the spelling variations in DNA.
The test covers both ancestral...
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This is Banned Books Week, launched in 1982 to call attention to attempts to keep certain books out of circulation. At the Margaret Estes Library on the LeTourneau University campus, where I work part-time weeknights as a reference assistant, the student worker in charge of promotions and social media put together a compelling exhibit to note the week. Construction-paper flames and the word “BANNED” in fiery red lettering peeped out of books around the library. A banner proclaiming Banned Books Week hung from the ceiling. Lots of students asked what it was all about, which was the intent of the exhibit.
Students...
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Autumn officially arrives on Saturday. In East Texas, the official date doesn’t mean much. Summer heat can linger well into October. I am keeping my eye on a cool front possibly arriving late next week that could drop our highs down into the 70s and lows into the high 50s — practically sweater weather to thin-blooded East Texans. The highs this week have been pushing 100. It is well past time for the dog days to end.
Heat notwithstanding, the leaves have begun descending, skittering across the deck when a breeze blows, clogging the swimming pool skimmer, finding their way inside the house...
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I showed up on a rainy Saturday afternoon to take Mr. G’s photograph. “Come about 2,” he said on the phone the day before. “It usually slows down by then.” When I opened the door to Gonzalo’s Mexican Restaurant, about a half-dozen folks turned to see who was entering. They were waiting for a table, while Mr. G. – Gonzolo Hernandez – stood behind the cash register, the three walls behind him covered in snapshots.
So much for not being busy.
That’s how it has been at Gonzolo’s – which most folks call Mr. G’s – since the 78-year-old owner announced he was closing the restaurant...
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I was walking Sam the Dog the other day, listening to NPR as usual, and a rather lengthy report came across that Coca-Cola had purchased Moxie. One might ask why this would matter if raised anywhere except New England. It is likely most folks in these parts have never heard of Moxie. If I concentrate, I can still summon the bittersweet taste of sipping a can of Moxie soda.
Moxie is the official soft drink of Maine. The town of Lisbon hosts an annual Moxie Festival. The beverage is produced in New Hampshire, my native state. It tastes somewhat like root beer, but with a bitter, rather wanky aftertaste....
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Forty-five years ago, I first visited the Stephen F. Austin State University campus. My friend Frank had begun college there, and I went down for a visit. I was a senior in high school and intent on attending the University of Texas. But the beauty of the campus – and the lower cost of tuition – caught my attention. I would be paying my own way through college, by both choice and necessity. After a year of night school at Kilgore College, I headed south to Nacogdoches.
My SFA experience was fun and fascinating, though I often worked two jobs while squeezing in school. Since I was toting...
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A while back, I parked our 1965 Ford F100 in the parking lot of a local business on the loop, with permission, a “For Sale” sign on the windshield. Few folks called. The truck runs great, is mechanically in perfect condition, but doesn’t have power steering or air-conditioning. One young woman, about to get her driver’s license, contacted me. She loved the truck. I asked if she knew how to drive a stick shift and had ever driven a vehicle that didn’t have power steering.
The answer was “no” on both counts. I gently suggested she talk to her dad before proceeding further, figuring...
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RIO COSTILLA, N.M. — We are wearing hip waders and standing nearly knee-deep in cold, running water surrounded by plush pasture filled with fat Angus cows. Lots of cows. The Rio Costilla winds through this 80,000-acre ranch, which provides both fishing, hunting and camping opportunities as well as livestock management. The ranch has been operated by the Rio Costilla Cooperative Livestock Association since 1942, when a group of New Mexicans purchased the property from the state after it had been seized for non-payment of taxes. The water is clear, the riverbed rocky. The Sangre de Cristo mountains...
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