Suddenly, it is Christmas. Here’s praying that the new year brings peace and prosperity, that at least some of your hopes and wishes are fulfilled. As for me, I am grateful as always for family, friends, and undeserved good health.
Once again, our house is filled with decorations. However, an overly curious kitten named Ozzie the Terrorist compelled my Beautiful Mystery Companion to only decorate the top half of the indoor tree. He has mainly behaved around the rest of the decorations. A judiciously used spray bottle of water provides an incentive for him to stay out of the collection of Santas...
Read more...
I recently received an anonymous email from a reader of my Capital Highlights column, which I have been writing for about five years for the Texas Press Association. It runs weekly in about 100 Texas newspapers. I am the latest in a half-dozen or so writers of this column, which possibly began in the 1940s. No one is quite sure. The premise of Capital Highlights is simple. I comb the state’s major news outlets, state government agency news releases, and other legitimate sources for items of interest to readers. It is primarily published in smaller newspapers that do not subscribe to a wire service,...
Read more...
I learned the other day that the Book of the Month Club is about to turn 100 years old. I mistakenly assumed BOMC had gone the way of the pay phone and the slide rule. But it is still around, offering a curated monthly shortlist of fiction with an emphasis on emerging writers. Good for them.
I first subscribed to both BOMC and the History Book Club while still in high school in the early 1970s. The latter had a compelling introductory offer, something like four hardcover, first-edition books for $10. In return, members agreed to buy a set number of books annually, maybe six. I confess that I gamed...
Read more...
Time moves slowly but passes quickly
— Alice Walker, “The Color Purple”
“You’re fine for another 10 years,” the gastroenterologist said after I awakened from a colonoscopy on Monday morning. That is what he also told me 10 years ago, the last time I had this preventive procedure done. “Nothing to worry about. Come back when you turn 80.”
Jeez.
Propofol is the amnesia used in most colonoscopies. Michael Jackson died from abusing it. His doctor was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Used properly, it provides what is called “twilight sleep,” acts within seconds,...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
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...
Read more...
BURGKIRCHEN, BAVARIA — The Teutonic Trio (daughter Mere, son-in-law Matt, and I) stopped in this small town for Matt’s brief dental appointment. Then it would be on to Burghausen, where Matt works most days, and more sightseeing for Mere and me. (More on that in the next installment of my Bavarian and Austrian adventure. Go to garyborders.com to read earlier pieces.) Mere and I bought espressos and shared a pastry before strolling around town.
We quickly found a picturesque church — not surprising in Bavaria. St. Johann Baptist is a Catholic church first consecrated in 1477. It was locked....
Read more...
VIENNA, AUSTRIA — I had an afternoon to myself once my son-in-law Matt and I arrived by train in Vienna, known here as Wien. Matt works part of the week here and the rest in Burghausen, a small Bavarian city on the border of Austria. (More on that next week.)
While riding the train to Vienna I found several hop-on, hop-off bus tours online. I downloaded the app for one of them and bought a 24-hour pass for €34, about $40. I learned long ago that this is an excellent way to get an initial feel for a large city. Matt left for his office, while I walked out of the train station, called the Wien...
Read more...
