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,...
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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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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....
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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...
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VIENNA, AUSTRIA — I stood in State Hall, originally part of the imperial residence complex of the Hofburg Palace in the heart of Vienna, looking around and upward in awe. Walnut bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling; all crammed tightly with 200,000 books published between 1501-1850. Above the shelves, some 30 meters high, is a domed cupola with an ornate fresco depicting the deification of Emperor Charles VI, painted by court artist Daniel Gran. It took him about five years — 1726-1730. I don’t know about Charles’s “deification,” but the fellow is responsible for building one of the most...
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MUNICH, GERMANY – For 215 years, folks have gathered to celebrate Oktoberfest at a 100-acre public space called Theresienwiese, named in honor of Princess Therese Charlotte Luise of Saxe-Hildburghausen, now part of the central German state of Thuringen. That is to the north of Bavaria, the country’s southernmost state. She married King Ludwig 1 of Bavaria in this meadow on Oct. 12, 1810. (This Ludwig is not the whacky one mentioned in a previous piece. He was the grandfather of Ludwig II, the mad king.)
That meadow became the venue for Oktoberfest, now celebrated in Bavarian cities and in Texas...
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SALZBURG, AUSTRIA — Images of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are ubiquitous in this historic city. Mozart was born in 1756 and worked under the patronage of Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colloredo until he moved to Vienna at age 25. Apparently, he chafed at the restrictions placed upon him by the archbishop and either quit or was fired. Still, Salzburg proudly claims him as a hometown fellow who made good. Mozart died in Vienna 10 years later at the age of 35. Just before he died, the reportedly told his sister-in-law, “I have the taste of death on my tongue.”
We (daughter Mere, son-in-law...
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