Anniversaries, Birthdays, Dirty Dancing, Cathedrals, and The Saga

On Saturday, Patrick and I celebrated our 39th Wedding Anniversary. We celebrated by spending the weekend in San Antonio. We didn't really have any plans except to attend the matinee performance of Dirty Dancing on Sunday afternoon.

On Friday evening, Ezra and June went to parents night out at Junie's day care center. That gave us the opportunity for a grown-up dinner out with Katy and Travis. We ate at Tong's Thai which is near their home. I had Honey Pecan Shrimp. It was absolutely delicious. I would order it again right now. Patrick had Pad Thai which he said was delicious too. After dinner, we went with Katy to pick the girls up from Night Out. I love walking in and watching them interact with the other kids and waiting for them to notice us.

On Saturday, we had a family luncheon for my sister Kay. Besides being our wedding anniversary, it was Kay's 65th birthday. We met at Chuey's for a long, family lunch.  We had so much fun, Bylinda brought Kay and two of her teenage grandchildren, McKinzey and Connor. Her son Zack also came. Katy's family and Patrick and I made ten of us. We ate and talked and, instead of cake, we had sopapillas with honey. Yum! Kay had fun and we sat and visited for more than two hours. It just proved that we need to get together more.

Saturday night, we didn't have any plans. Travis went to his monthly poker night and we decided to go downtown to the Main Plaza at San Fernando Cathedral to see one of  San Antonio's newest attractions, San Antonio/The Saga. This is a video art installation by French artist, Xavier De Richemonte. It is AMAZING! The 25-minute show is free and plays at 9:00, 9:30, and 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

First, a little bit of history about the Cathedral which serves as the "screen" for the show. The San Fernando Cathedral was built between 1738 And 1755 and is still an active Catholic parish. It is the oldest operating sanctuary in North America. It faces the Main Plaza which is one of only four colonial plazas remaining in America. We have attended Mass in this cathedral several times. It is known as the burial place of the heroes of the Alamo. The remains of Davy Crocket, William B. Travis, and Jim Bowie are interred inside.

On Saturday night, we paid $1.80 for a parking place about two blocks from the cathedral. We took lawn chairs and blankets along with mugs of hot chocolate.  There was not a large crowd. I would guess less than 150 people were there. There was a wedding party exiting the cathedral just as we arrived. As you might imagine, Our Little Princesses were very excited to see the bride and groom.

The show is accompanied by music and a little narration. It is fast-paced and bright and will hold the attention of any age. Every one of us enjoyed it. Our 3 and 5 year olds loved it and sat attentively on our laps for the entire show.

My new camera takes most excellent nighttime pictures so I snapped a bunch. Enjoy.

On Sunday we were treated to a matinee performance of the Broadway Road Show of Dirty Dancing at The Majestic Theater. My friend Heather bought the tickets and then wasn't able to use them, so she gave them to us. The show was awesome, one of the best I've seen. The singing and dancing was outstanding. It was a great show with a great cast. If you are a fan of the movie, you will definitely enjoy the play.

San Antonio is such a great city to visit. We love it for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that Our Little Princesses live there.

Texas A to Z

Grams is proud to be a Texan. I was born in Texas and have never lived anywhere else. All students in Texas are required to have one credit in Texas History, usually in middle school. I'm embarrassed to admit that, when I was younger, I thought everyone studied Texas history. I mean, why shouldn't they? It's so interesting and exciting. It never occurred to me that people all over the USA didn't have to take a class and learn about Goliad or the Alamo.

You may not know that March is Texas History Month. Grams is a bit of a Texas history buff. March 2, 2011 was the 175th anniversary of the adoption of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the day we declared our independence from Mexico and became a sovereign nation.

I thought I would use this as an excuse to celebrate Texas so I've put together a list of all things Texan from A to Z.

A is for the Alamo, the cradle of Texas liberty, where Texas heroes Davy Crockett, William Travis, and Jim Bowie along with about 180 other lesser known heroes died. It's also for armadillo, the official state mammal, commonly seen on the side of Texas highways as roadkill.

B is for Bluebonnets which are just bursting into bloom along Texas highways and byways. Bluebonnets are to Texas was fall leaves are to New England. There are entire web sites dedicated to following the annual blooms. And for Bluebell Ice Cream made in Brenham and considered by most Texans to be the best ice cream you can get without hand cranking it on your front porch.

C is for chili, the official dish of the State of Texas, invented in San Antonio. And, for the record, there are no beans in Texas chili.  C is also for Caddo Lake, the only natural lake in the entire state. According to a Caddoan legend, Caddo Lake was formed by an earthquake. A Caddo Indian Chief was warned by the Great Spirit to move his village from the low lands. The Chief ignored the warning and one day while he and his men were out hunting the ground shook. When they returned, their village was gone beneath the water of the newly formed Caddo Lake.

D is for Dr Pepper the oldest major brand of soft drink in the U.S., originally concocted and served at Morrison's Drug Store in Waco Texas. It's also for white-tailed deer which are abundant and widely hunted in Texas. The first day of deer season is practically a state holiday.

E is for Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg, a huge, pink granite dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. And, the view from the top is awesome. Hiking Enchanted Rock is one of my proudest accomplishments.

F is for the flags of six different nations that have flown over Texas: Spain, France, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Confederate States of America, and United States of America. It's also for the Frio River, a beautiful, ice-cold spring-fed river that runs through the Texas Hill Country. A favorite destination for most Texans. Frio is the Spanish word for cold and, trust me, the water is always cold.

G is for Goliad where the first offensive action of the Texas Revolution took place and the original Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. It's also the site of the massacre of Colonel Fannin and 341 of his men when they were marched outside the walls of the Presidio La Bahia and shot. It was the largest loss of life in the cause of Texas freedom and "Remember Goliad, Remember the Alamo" became the battle cry for the revolution.

H is for Houston, the largest city in Texas and the fourth largest city in the U.S. It's named for General Sam Houston, the first president of The Republic of Texas.

I is for independent. Texas is the only state that was ever an independent nation. The Republic of Texas existed from 1836 until statehood in 1845. And ... Texans are notoriously independent. As you know, everything is bigger and better in Texas.

J is for President Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president of the United States who is remembered for his Great Society policies including the passing of Medicare, Medicaid, the Civil Rights Act, and the Voting Rights Act. It's also for Lady Bird Johnson who led the effort to beautify America. She is responsible for the re-seeding of wildflowers across the State of Texas and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas bears her name.

K is for the King Ranch, located in South Texas and one of the largest ranches in the world. It's larger than the state of Rhode Island. And it's also for Kinky Friedman, musician, political satirist and gubernatorial candidate. He's definitely a Texas original.

L is for the Lone Star flag. It's blue for loyalty, white for purity, and red for bravery. The Lone Star stands for our unity ... one God, one state, one country.

M is for the Marfa lights, mysterious ghost lights that are visible year round. Native American's knew about Marfa Mystery Lights long before the first recorded sighting in 1883.

N is for Willie Nelson, a Texas original and living legend as famous for his run ins with the law as for his epic country music career. It's also for Nacadoches, the oldest town in Texas. It's so picturesque you might think you're in the Old South.

O is for oil, black gold, Texas tea. In 1901, the Spindletop gusher ushered in the 20th century and took Texas from an agrarian economy into the petroleum and industrial age.

P is for Palo Duro Canyon, the Grand Canyon of Texas and home to the production, Texas, billed as the most spectacular outdoor musical drama in the world, complete with horseback riders and fireworks.

Q is for Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanches, who never lost a battle to the white man. He was the son of a Comanche chief and Cynthia Ann Parker, a white captive.

R is for ranching which was born in the wide-open spaces of Texas. Texas boasts the Cowboy Capital of the World at Bandera. R is also for Rio Grande, the fifth longest river in North America which forms the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

S is for San Jacinto where General Sam Houston's army defeated Santa Anna. Now the site of the world's tallest war memorial, 15 feet taller than the Washington Momument.

T is for Tex-Mex, the regional cuisine which combines the best of Mexican and American cooking. Tex-Mex is noted for its usage of sour cream, cheese, meat, heavy use of Comino (cumin), jalapeño and even olives.

U is for universities ... Texas is home to some of the best. Texas A & M at College Station, the University of Texas, Texas Tech, SMU, Baylor, and Rice to mention just a few of the big ones. And Texas is home to one of the biggest and best sports rivalries anywhere between the Fighting Texas Aggies and the Texas Longhorns.

V is for Virgen de San Juan del Valle Shrine in San Juan, Texas (near McAllen) which is visited daily by hundreds of pilgrims seeking miracles, healing, and indulgences through the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Shrine was rebuilt after a plane was deliberately crashed into the original shrine in 1970. Miraculously, the image of the Virgen was unharmed and all 130 persons inside the church made it out alive.

W is for wildflowers which are just bursting into their annual springtime bloom along the highways and byways in Texas. It's also for Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, the king of western swing.

X is for the XIT Ranch in the panhandle of Texas. It was once the largest ranch in the world "under fence." The land for the ranch, some three million acres, was payment from the State of Texas for the granite used to build our state capitol building. It's also for  X Marks the Spot a Texas Monthly article detailing stories of buried and lost treasure in Texas, everything from pirate ships to bank robbers' booty.

Y is for the Yellow Rose of Texas. Legend has it that a beautiful mulatto slave named Emily Morgan was entertaining Santa Anna when the Texians launched a surprise attack on a napping Mexican army at San Jacinto. She was the inspiration for the well-known song. And, although the Yellow Rose of Texas isn't actually a rose, Tyler, Texas is the site of one of the largest municipal rose gardens in the world.

Z is if for Antonio Zapata, military leader and wealthy ranchero, who was convicted of treason and executed because of his armed resistance to Santa Anna and loyalty to the Republic of Texas. And it's for ZZ Top sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas." The rock legends, who have played together as a unit since 1970, are best known for their bearded, haggard look and reclusive mystique and for such hits as "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Gimme All Your Lovin'."

I love being a Texan!

Gone to Goliad

On Saturday, I met my sister, "Aunt B", in Goliad. Goliad is one of my favorite places to visit and I've been there many times. It's about halfway between my house and Aunt B's house. We're always looking for someplace to meet and this is a good choice. This was my first trip to Goliad Market Days.

If you're not from Texas, you may not know that Goliad is the site of Presidio La Bahia and Mission Esperito Santo. It was the place where the first offensive action in the battle for Texas independence took place when local colonists captured the presidio and hoisted the "bloody arm" flag. On December 20, 1835 they signed the first Declaration of Texas Independence here on the altar of the presidio chapel.

On Palm Sunday of 1836 it became the site of the largest single loss of life in the cause of Texas independence when Colonel Fannin and 341 men, who had surrendered to the Mexican army, were marched outside and shot at close range. Twice as many people died here as at the Alamo. The rallying cry for Texas independence became "Remember Goliad. Remember the Alamo."

You can still visit Presidio La Bahia which has been restored and the replica of Mission Esperito Santo. You can sit in the chapel and walk across the drill yard. It's especially moving to go for historical reenactments. The museum curators and docents tell the story in a beautiful and moving fashion. Grams will admit that no matter how many times I go, it still moves me to tears.

The centerpiece of Goliad Market Days is the Goliad County Courthouse which was designed by English Architect Alfred Giles in 1894. The market is set up all the way around the square. As you can see from the photo, Saturday was a post-card perfect day. The weather was warm but not too hot.

We started with lunch at one of several restaurants located around the square. We chose Panache on the Square which turned out to be a really good choice. It only offers a few menu items each day, but all of them are done well. It's a great little place, especially if you consider yourself a foodie. Aunt B and Grams both had half a Rachel sandwich, veggie chips, and a bowl of potato soup. It was delicious. On Saturday's menu they also offered a hamburger and another soup (I think it was Chicken Tortilla). We also noticed that they have a Sunday brunch. I think it would be worth the hour and fifteen minute drive from Corpus Christi just to try it.

We especially enjoyed several things about the market. As a matter of fact, we had so much fun that I didn't snap very many pictures. First of all, the market is smallish but it offers a very nice variety of merchandise. It wasn't just the same thing over and over again. Second, it was not crowded. There were a lot of people there, but it's set up well and spread out enough that it's not jam-packed with people. But my absolute favorite part was that all around the square there are rocking chairs and benches placed so you can just sit and rest a while. That's a really nice touch ... especially since Aunt B and Grams have dubbed ourselves as "LOL squared" (little old ladies - laughing out loud). We're both afflicted with bad knees and need to rest from time-to-time.

Market Days are dog friendly. There were several dogs there who were all on leashes and all very well behaved. I will admit that I fell in love with this beauty who is half Golden Retriever and half Chow. Gorgeous!

Goliad Market Days are held year round on the second Saturday of each month from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can buy a wide variety of merchandise from hand-made lace to Tupperware. If you go, I recommend that you stop at the Whataburger or a gas station and use the bathroom before parking and walking into the square. They only have one bathroom with two stalls and the line for the ladies room was long.

For more information about Goliad and Market Days, visit the Goliad County Chamber of Commerce web site.

Bluebonnets May Be A Brilliant Idea

Grams and Grandad had our house built back in 1984. It's a small ranch-style house in the northwest suburbs of Corpus Christi. We moved in on Grams 30th birthday and we've always loved our house and our neighborhood. Plus, considering that Grams is now 56 years old, it won't be too long before we invite all the neighbors over to celebrate with us as we burn our 30-year note.

Electrical outlet located right above 1980's wash basin.

We had no experience with building a house and had no idea what we were doing. We chose the house plans out of a book and didn't know that we really should have paid a little closer attention to the details. That lack of experience showed up in some interesting little quirks in the house. For example, in both of our bathrooms the electrical outlets are located exactly above and just to the left of the wash basin. It's neither convenient nor safe. And, in addition, in the master bedroom there are two doors about two feet apart. One of them leads into the master bath and the other leads into the walk-in closet. The problem is that the cable outlet is on the right hand side of the bathroom door and the electrical outlet for the television is on the left in between the two doors. It's just a small inconvenience, but over the years it's become a major irritant for me.

The other place where our lack of experience showed is in the direction our house faces. The front door faces due east meaning that the sun sets in our back yard. So on most evenings when we might want to use the back yard and patio for grilling and sitting outside, it's hotter than the face of the sun. It's so hot we rarely go back there between the middle of May and the end of October. It's not unusual for the temperature to exceed 105 degrees on the patio around five o'clock in the summertime.

Mexican Bird of Paradise

For several years we tried to grow a vegetable garden in the back yard and I had a small rose garden that we eventually moved to the north side of the house. The sun gets so hot back there that by late-June anything we've planted has been seared to a brown crisp. In some years it's just not possible to water enough to keep most things alive.

On top of all the usual heat and dryness, in 2009 we had a horrible drought and lost almost everything that was growing in the back yard including the carpet-grass and all of my angels' trumpets and lilies. Some of the grass has come back because this year we've had plenty of rain and it's been perfect for growing things. But other than some Mexican bird of paradise and some rosemary, nothing else survived.

Our Little Princess playing in the bluebonnets

Last spring, about the time we realized that most of the carpet-grass was not going to revive, we were driving around the Hill Country looking for a patch of wildflowers so we could take the traditional Texas bluebonnet snapshots of Our Little Princess. This gave me a brilliant idea. Instead of trying to replant the back yard, why not plant our own field of bluebonnets. (I use the term field lightly. Our back yard is tiny.) 

Bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas. According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, they're simple to plant and can be inter-seeded with existing growth. All you have to do is mow the lawn down to about 6 inches, rake away any thatch, hand broadcast the seeds, then stomp them down. You do this in September, water them occasionally, and they should bloom next spring. As a bonus, after they bloom, if you don't mow them down until the seed pods mature, they will re-seed themselves and will bloom again every spring. This should give us a lovely blooming yard while it's cool enough for us to enjoy it.

So this weekend, Grams is going on a quest for bluebonnet seeds. Hopefully, next spring we'll have a back yard full of beautiful Texas wildflowers. By the time the bluebonnets go to seed, we won't care what the back yard looks like. Isn't this a brilliant idea? Watch this space next spring for photos of my beautiful bluebonnet patch.

The Truth About Texans

A 1997 television commercial for Frost Bank, titled The Code, features a young boy standing in front of a corn field talking about what it means to grow up as a Texan. It goes something like this --

"I'll be as hearty of mind as I am of body. I'll be a straight shooter and a square dealer. My family name will be sacred and my word will be as good as any contract. I'll remember the Alamo. I'll stick by my friends and I'll eat more chicken fried steak."

Grams is proud to be a Texan. I was born in the piney woods of east Texas and have lived on the coastal plains of South Texas most of my life.

For a good part of my early life we lived with my granny in a little house that was described as being at the corner of plumb and nearly -- plumb out in the country and nearly in the creek. Now, Grams is a typical suburban housewife.

When you grow up in Texas you learn early about the Texas mystique. Every middle-school student in Texas is required to take a full semester of Texas History. And honestly, I should be embarrassed to tell you that I was an adult before I realized that everyone in the USA doesn't actually study Texas history. Imagine that!

Texas is where Colonel Travis drew a line in the sand before the battle of the Alamo. It's where "Remember Goliad" became the battle cry for freedom after Colonel Fannin and his men were massacred. Once a sovereign nation, Texas entered the union by treaty rather than by annexation. The dome of the Texas Capitol is the only state capitol that is taller than the dome of the United States Capitol.

And Texas is big. How big? In square miles, it's 268,601, second only to Alaska (which is at least partly ice). In population, there are an estimated 24,326,974 Texans, second only to California.

Texas is so big that it has five distinct areas, each very different in ethnicity, culture, topography and climate. It's is the land of charming small towns, quiet back roads and three of the ten largest cities in the USA. There are places in East Texas where you would swear you were in the Old South. Driving across the Panhandle you might think you're in the high plains of Nebraska. And there's no place like the Texas Hill Country, where every Texan loves to go to float the river and get away from it all.

Texas has many more dubious distinctions. We're famous for counties where dead people cast votes in presidential elections. We own more guns than any other state in the union ... two for every man, woman and child. And it's legal to carry a concealed weapon, if you have permit. It's the home of Dealey Plaza where JFK was assassinated as well as the home of the Enron debacle. And, yes, George W. Bush is a Texan.

Texas is home to ranchers, roughnecks, astronauts and scientists. We've got NASA, the Riverwalk, the Dallas Cowboys, the San Antonio Spurs, Galveston and Padre Islands and the old Spanish Missions.

We have world-class medical centers and we lay claim to the best cancer treatment center in the world. Our universities are second to none. Almost one quarter of the oil produced in the U.S.A. comes from Texas.

Everyone knows that the women of Dallas have their own style. And, those ladies down in Kingsville, home of the King Ranch, have a look of their own, too. Texas women are known for their big hair and their big hearts. Western wear is appropriate for Saturday night and Sunday morning. Cowboy boots can be worn by women and men with jeans, dresses or tuxedos.

High school football is our game of choice. There's not a better sports rivalry anywhere than the rivalry between the fighting Texas Aggies of Texas A&M University and the Longhorns of the University of Texas.

And our food is uniquely ours. We have our own kind of barbecue and we don't put beans in our chili. Tex-Mex is our brand of Mexican food. We like our steaks chicken fried. And, oh by the way, we drink our tea sweet with ice ... and we start drinking it when we're still in diapers.

Porch sitting is an art in Texas. There's nothing better than sitting on your porch watching a blue norther bring a bit of cool air after a long, hot Texas summer. And if you don't happen to have a porch, just pull up a folding chair in the garage and watch from there.

We're flag-waving patriots. Our kids still say the pledge of allegiance every morning in schools across our state. There are 23 major military installations in Texas and we love and support the men and women in uniform. We're proud to be Americans and we're proud to be Texans.

And, yes, we have our own way of saying things. We say "howdy" and "y'all." We might invite you to "come in and sit a spell" or tell you we were "just fixin' to" do something. If we don't believe what you're telling us we'll tell you "that dog won't hunt." We "run with the big dogs" and live in a place than can be "hotter than the hinges of hell." And if you ask for directions don't be surprised if they sound something like "turn left at the Dairy Queen and keep going until you get to the place that used to be a Wal-Mart." And a someone pretending to be something they're not might be referred to as a "drug store cowboy" or "all hat and no cattle."

Contrary to what you may have heard, all of us don't ride horses, wear boots or carry sidearms. Most Texans don't want to secede from the union. And, hey, some of us even voted for Obama. But hush, don't tell anyone, we don't want to spoil our image.