Columns & Opinions

Windmill Odyssey

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These last few weeks of sequestering plus the usual spring/ summer work have reminded me of earlier times here---when we first returned to Texas. Zack had a day job then, but every evening, weekend and holiday found us outside--- working very hard. It was intense--- still is. On a ranch, there’s no such thing as “retired”. Some of those early days stick with me more than others. The old windmill looms large in many memories. It’s still around but inactive; after the serious droughts of the last decade, the old well went dry for the first time ever. Water reappears sporadically in very wet seasons. Perhaps if we ever see consistently normal rainfall, water will return---and the windmill will be up and running again.

Letter to the Editor

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I saw [the] article about he County Commissioner’s Court and the split vote on the property tax increase. I agree with Commissioner Liardon.

Pandemic messes with Texas

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Texas Department of Transportation officials noticed more personal protective equipment -- face masks, wipes and gloves -- on the side of roads and highways, so they called in the big guns for a new round of “Don’t mess with Texas” commercials. The celebrities featured include George Strait, Matthew McConaughey and Eva Longoria.

Letter to the Editor

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Skin Color I was born into our American Caste System. Fortunately I was born white of skin, a very important notation on my birth certificate.

Rain Dances

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If you were wondering where last week’s rain came from, you can thank me and Zack. We learned years ago what works for calling down those precious drops of water. We don’t use our magic, rain-making superpowers except in dire emergencies. Last week, that time had come. 2020 didn’t need to add severe drought to its ongoing list of crazy.

High-tech Lincoln Logs turn heads

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Trees are almost as old as dirt in the construction industry, but they’re new to Texas in the form of the state’s first mass timber office building. The Texas project generating the buzz is The Soto, which opened last week at Eighth and Broadway streets in San Antonio.

Magic Mud, other delights

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While others may be enjoying paroxysms of house cleaning and closet sorting during this pandemic, I’ve been mostly hard at work outside, taking time from my own chores to help Zack as needed. Just as my priorities were interrupted and rearranged at his insistence, so were his feral hoghunting and fence-building ventures delayed when the stock troughs went dry. And it all trumped painting the house.

Hurricane Laura brings renewed pitch for Ike Dike

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As thousands fled southeast Texas ahead of Hurricane Laura, Texas A&M promoted an Ike Dike as a critical way to protect the region from devastating damage. Texas escaped a direct hit from Laura, which made landfall as a Category 4 storm in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, just east of Port Arthur.