As 2019 draws to a close, we are barraged with “Best of the Decade” lists. One of the New Yorker’s film critics published his favorite movies of the past 10 years. I have not seen any of them and have only heard of a couple. Variety did the same with music albums, presented by three critics. Of the 30 listed, I had actually heard of about half the artists and own the work of one on the list — Kacey Musgraves, an East Texas native.
And on it goes. WalletHub ranked the least-caring cities of the decade, with Birmingham, Alabama taking the top (or low) spot on the list, edging...
Read more...
AUSTIN — As my Beautiful Mystery Companion and I trudged the Lady Bird Johnson Lake trail on an abnormally warm December afternoon, we approached the edge of Zilker Park. During the Christmas season, it is the site of the Trail of Lights, the city’s massive celebration attended by as many as 400,000 folks during its two-week run. Although the lights weren’t visible in the late afternoon, the song blaring from the speakers came through:
I really can't stay, baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away, baby it's cold outside
At the time, it was 81 degrees. A sheen of sweat coated...
Read more...
I ain’t gonna study war no more.
— Down By The Riverside
The chorus of that old spiritual, which predates the Civil War, has been running through my head lately. It’s likely the result of the subject matter of books I recently finished, and the photography course I completed teaching earlier this week.
Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War, by Karl Marlantes, is the most gripping — and emotionally difficult to read — account of that conflict that I have read. Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam. The book jacket says he received the Navy Cross, Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation...
Read more...
DALLAS – We wandered about the 19th floor of the Adolphus Hotel on Thanksgiving eve, not knowing at the time that the ghost of a jilted bride who hanged herself when her groom-to-be skipped out has allegedly haunted that floor since her death in the 1930s. We had the 19th floor to ourselves, since it consists primarily of meeting rooms, some fancy (I guess) suites, even a wheelchair lift since the floor is split-level. We didn’t see a ghost; we didn’t see anybody.
My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I weren’t staying on the 19th floor, just wandering around this grand hotel. When it was built...
Read more...
Outside the LeTourneau University library windows, at the front entrance, there is a canopy of oak trees. They have provided me hours of enjoyment during this vibrant fall foliage season. After the time change, by mid-afternoon, the sun had sunk low enough to filter through the leaves, heightening the intensity of the colors. Burnt orange is my favorite leaf color, of course. But I also enjoy the shades of red and yellow visible through the windows. While working my shifts at the front counter, I can simply swivel around and savor those autumn colors.
I teach my photography class in the library’s...
Read more...
Miss Geneva was laid to rest Saturday under a cloudless November sky, a steady breeze skittering leaves across the church grounds. Ebenezer Friendship Baptist, the modest country church she attended for a lifetime – 76 years — was full, as befitting someone who had attended thousands of services, weddings and funerals there. Miss Geneva cooked countless pies, casseroles and other culinary delights for church events. The preacher, who has held the pulpit just six years, wiped away tears while delivering the service. That doesn’t happen very often at funerals, at least in my experience. Too often...
Read more...
For my introduction to photography class, this week I prepared a lecture on the history of photography. Cramming nearly 200 years of photography into 75 minutes was a daunting task. I started with the earliest image known to exist — a “heliograph” created by French inventor Joseph Niépce in 1826. It took an eight-hour exposure to create the street scene using an asphalt-like emulsion coated on a pewter plate. The image, encased in a box and behind glass inside a dimly lit room, is on permanent display at the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The HRC boasts one of the largest...
Read more...
I went to fetch a Topo Chico out of the refrigerator the other day. As the door opened, a refrigerator magnet fell to the floor after I accidentally nudged it while grabbing the handle. The magnet displays the silhouette of a moose on a background of red and black checks — like the flannel shirt hanging in my closet. The title: Vermont. I placed the magnet back on the fridge, where it keeps company with other souvenirs of our travels — from Big Bend to Boston, Taos to The Big Apple. Interspersed are magnets sent annually at Christmas by a lawyer friend. One of my favorites purports to quote...
Read more...
Fall waited until the morning of Halloween to make an appearance, but finally it is here behind the Pine Curtain. Temperatures dipped below freezing Friday morning. The leaves on the oak and sweetgum trees visible out my study window are turning brown and raining down, leaving a colorful carpet on the driveway. The yard guy shows up every other week to blow and bag them up, a job I once performed but wisely retired from. The DIY ethic only goes so far with me these days.
There are certain rituals in our household to be followed as actual cold weather arrives. My Beautiful Mystery Companion is the keeper...
Read more...
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA – My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I took off last week and chased autumn, which has been slow to arrive in East Texas. We drove nearly 14 hours over two days to hike and drive through the stunning fall foliage that can be found this time of year along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was worth every mile and minute of the journey, which took us through Arkansas to bisect Tennessee – entering at Memphis and heading into North Carolina after exiting Knoxville, nearly 400 miles later.
The Blue Ridge Parkway stretches 469 miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Virginia...
Read more...
