Texas Tidbits; Welcome to Our New Home Town

As many of you have learned by now, Heather and I are moving to Texas soon. Oh, yeah...we're gonna take the kids with us, too. :) Anyway, the question I get from you the reader most often is, "Where are you moving to?" We considered many locations, but the one that kept coming back to us was San Angelo. It's a little "big" for my liking with 92,000 people and I am a small town kind of guy, but other outstanding qualities of the Concho City convinced us that is the place for us at this time. It has great schools (my little girls are 4 & 8), 25 City Parks, One badass State Park, two bigass lakes (the fish will fear me soon enough), great health care, warm and DRY weather which will be perfect for my arthritis and fibromyalgia and enough "big city" amenities, like What-A-Burger (!), H-E-B, Albertsons, Sam's Club, WalMart, etc. the most precious commodity that San Angelo has waiting for us is the friendship of the Funky Old Dude Bob Zeller and his wife of over 50 years, the lovely Ann. Bob and I have been blogging buddies for about a year and developed a very close friendship over that time, so it'll be a pleasure to hug Ann's neck. Oh! And shake Bob's hand. :) I could go on, but I thought instead, that I'd repost something I wrote a while back that has lots of good info on our new home-to-be.

Ladies and gentlemen...I present to you:

The Concho City

San Angelo

If you read more than one post on this blog, then you know that I am a trees and water kind of guy, like in East Texas. For some unknown reason, however, the rugged beauty of the desert has a bit of a mysterious hold on me. I can't explain it, other than to say it's a sort of sagebrush voodoo or something. Segue to San Angelo. San Angelo is one of those places where it's not quite desert and  it's not in the Piney Woods or Big Thicket, I could live there and be happy. It doesn't exactly hurt my feelings that there is a state park and O C Fischer Lake lies within the park and snuggles up right next to the San Angelo city limits. The city got its humble beginnings when after the Civil War, Fort Concho was established as an outpost to protect the flood of settlers heading west to find their fortunes. At one time Fort Concho was home to the Black Cavalry, which the local Native Americans called the "Buffalo Soldiers", earning great respect from the white soldiers they served with and, of course, the Indians. In those days, San Angelo was a trading center for settlers in the area, but as sanangelo.org states "The discovery of oil and gas, the influx of light manufacturing, the initial development of a communications center, the establishment and growth of Angelo State University, and the growth of the medical community provided diversification to a growing community. Today, this city of 90,000 is the trade and services hub of a 13 county area, supported by agriculture, manufacturing, education, business and health services, military, tourism, and retirement." Geographically, San Angelo is almost the bull's eye on the dartboard that is Texas and it ain't far from being a bull's eye on the dart board of places to live.

Texas Tidbits: Going Home to the Sacred Soil of Texas

Little Girl Talking to God

As you may have read on TexNetMaine, last night, Heather, my two daughters and I are gonna be on the move in the near future. We are moving my Blogging Empire World HQ from Maine to Texas. I am going home and Heather has visited Texas before, but this will be a new and exciting adventure for the girls. I have told them many stories about where I grew up and some of the shenanigans that I pulled as a little boy and as a grown man.

I am going to educate them about their new home and what it means to be a Texan. I am going to tell them all about the Alamo and how one battle, even a losing one, in a larger war can inspire people to do extraordinary things for their Freedom, Liberty and God-given right to self-governance. I will show them how the courage and the defiance to tyranny shown by the Heroes at the Alamo still permeates the hearts of tens of millions of Texans worldwide. They will be taught the self-reliance that has been a part of the character of Texas and Texans for hundreds of years. They will be reminded almost daily of their sacred duty and honor to help a fellow Texan who may be down on his luck due to no fault of his own, and to ask for nor expect a single favor or reward in return.

Isabella and Bailey will be taught to be good stewards of the land and the creatures who inhabit it. Learning to fish will be one of the most important lessons of their lives. Fishing will be reinforce all of the things I have mentioned in the last few sentences - self-reliance, being good stewards of the bounty before them and the sense of sharing with a neighbor whose cubbard may be bare. A big old catfish will feed a man for a day, but my girls will be fed, literally and spiritually, for a lifetime because the know how to bait a hook and where to cast the bait. While fishing, I will show my little girls how to have a long talk with God, without ever saying a word aloud, a silent, prayerful conversation with the Almighty. My two little beauties are gonna make fine Texans. I know this to be true. The Good Lord Hisownself told me so. While writing these words, I took a fishing trip in my mind and laid my heart bare to Him. His words of comfort and Fatherly wisdom were few. "My son. It is time to go home and fear not, for I will be with you. Now go."

Amen.

Big Time NewsAlert! This is a MUST READ! Oh... Hello, Texas!!!

Get all the info on The Big News at this link to my other blog. Head on over and read the exciting announcement!

Thnaks,
Toby

Texas Tidbits: Fiesta San Antonio, The Party With a Purpose!

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know that I have a love affair with San Antonio. That love for the Alamo City gets even stronger today with the news I am about to present to you.

It's time for Fiesta San Antonio! Check out the video and get a glimpse of what it's all about, then we'll get back to the story. 

2011 marks the 120th Year of Fiesta San Antonio, which, if my Public School math serves me right, means Fiesta "started in 1891 as a one-parade event and has evolved today into one of this nation’s premier festivals with more than 100 events and an economic impact of almost $284 million for the city." Fiesta started out as a way to remember the heroes who fought (and died) at the Alamo and San Jacinto. The history of Fiesta is very interesting and it just so happens that I have a link that tells the story of Fiesta.

There are a hundred events that make up Fiesta San Antonio, so there is something that will please every member of your family. The Home Page for Fiesta San Antonio has a slide show that highlights the events that will take place during Fiesta San Antonio.

Fiesta is a phenomenal celebration of so many great things and people that have made Texas in general and San Antonio in particular, what they are today. If I were to be able to attend Fiesta 2011, I'd go for the food alone. Lord have mercy!

You'll find a ton of information at the links in the story. Fiesta San Antonio 2011 starts in a few days and continues on for ten more, so make travel plans and secure hotel reservations ASAP. The San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau can help you organize your trip for Fiesta.

It's gonna be a magnificent event or, as Fiesta is sometimes called, a Party with a Purpose. ¡Viva Fiesta San Antonio!

Texas Tidbits: Foat Wuth, Ah Luv Yew

I am on a bit of a Nostalgia Trip this week. I don't know exactly why, but I have been thinking back on what a "colorful" life I have lived and some of the places that "colorized" me. I came into this world on Sunday, September 16, 1956 at 8:41pm in Fort Worth, Texas. Although I haven't lived in Cowtown since I was nine years old, I have always had a special spot in my heart for it. I think it's because Fort Worth is the anti-Dallas. Big D is a great city, don't get me wrong, but to me it's a bit of a smug place compared to Fort Worth. Dallas = cosmopolitan, trendy, We're-a-big-city-not-a-large-town-dammit kind of place. Fort Worth = modern but old West-ish, cosmopolitan but Cowboy, We-ain't-Dallas-and-we-like-it-that-way-podnuh kind of place. (I loved those bumper stickers that read "Foat Wuth, Ah Love Yew") My kind of place. Fort Worth is the 17th largest city in the USA and 5th largest in Texas , yet in these modern times, maintains and proudly celebrates its Western heritage. Take, for instance, the iconic Fort Worth Stock Yards. This is probably the most famous landmark in the city - loaded with history and the feel of 1870. Not far from the Stock Yards is one of the best universities in the country, TCU, home of the Horned Frogs and Alma Mater to the Purple Cloud, number 74, Bob Lilly. Corporate HQ's in Fort Worth include AMR (American Airlines), Radio Shack and XTO Energy, Fortune 500 Companies all and they do bidness in Cowtown. When I travel in my mind's time machine back to Fort Worth in the early '60's, I am suddenly at Fossil Creek fishin' for catfish with my uncles, Tony and Tim or walking the railroad tracks for miles on end and picking up souvenir railroad spikes to tote back home. Or going to one of the best zoos in the nation, the Fort Worth Zoo and the nearby Botanical Gardens. POOF ! I am six years old again on a big piece of cardboard flying down the big ass grassy hill next to the duck pond at the Zoo, Natures Roller Coaster. Six years old hiding from restless Natives and man-eating tigers and lions in the jungle that is the Botanical Gardens. A six year old future Bill Dance finally managing to reel in (with the help of my Dad's Zebco 33) the catch of a lifetime from the Duck Pond at the Zoo. You know...six years old and Fort Worth were a mighty fine pair of Podnuhs. Foat Wuth, Ah Luv Yew.

Texas Tidbits: Honey, This is a Weird Looking Pepper

Zoo-keenie?

I am a gardener. I grow stuff - tomatoes, peppers,squash, you name it, I've probably grown it or tried to grow it. Gardening is something I learned from Grandma Shoemaker as a young child. I was fascinated that one day she would put a tiny seed in the ground and a few weeks later BAM!, there was a tomato! Even now, in my mid-50's, that little boy of the early 1960's shows up every time I spot a new blossom on a tomato plant or some such. Wow! That's gonna be a (fill-in-the-vegetable-name-here)! And I think of Grandma. The secret to a productive garden is good dirt, so preparation is key to a bountiful harvest. And let me tell you, while tilling up the ground for a garden, you are liable to find almost anything - nails, rocks, silverware, coins, old bottles, missile launchers....missile launchers??? Yep, there's nothing like digging up discarded military explosive devices to get a bang out of gardening. That's exactly what happened to 34 year old Jarrette Schule of Comal County near San Antonio. From the article, "Schule spent Tuesday afternoon calling the FBI, Homeland Security, the Sheriff’s Department — every agency he could think of. He was stuck in a bureaucratic limbo.
“Everyone was handing it off to everybody else,” Schule said. And some people want more government? This guy found this missile launcher on a Tuesday, made all the right phone calls to all the right people and nobody seemed to care! WTF? This tale does have a happy (and safe) ending, however. The next day, Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio was kind enough to send an ordinance disposal team to pick up the military hardware and do whatever they do with rogue missile launchers found by civilians while preparing some land for a garden. I don't know about you, but a few questions come to mind regarding this peculiar situation. Questions like...where were the local cops? Dunkin Donuts? What about Homeland Security? Were they too busy at the airport frisking nuns and 90 year old women who pose a threat to our national security? And the FBI? I hear they were deep undercover at the Glenn Beck 8/28 Rally looking for right-wing extremists carrying homemade signs that "Obama is a Kenyan". Don't get me wrong, I'm not raggin' on law enforcement here, their job is tough enough as it is. I love the guys and gals in blue and the Feds, but c'mon folks. One of the higher ups in one of these agencies should have had a passing thought like, "This old boy in Comal County found a missile launcher while digging up his garden and maybe, just maybe, there's an element of danger to him and the general public. Finkelstein! Get somebody out there pronto!" But, all's well that ends well, I suppose. Excuse me while I go get my dirt ready for next year's garden. I might dig up Osama Bin Laden.

Laughing, Humiliating and Learning

Guffawwwww!!!

After a little more than a foot of snow on Friday, today is sunny, breezy and a little cool in New England, but that big yellow ball in the sky is a joy to see. can I get an "amen!" from the readership? Amen back at you. I'll take the amens today, because guess what? We're gonna get more snow tomorrow and then again on Wednesday night. I don't have the will to look at the detailed forecast, I am just checking the weather widget in my status bar. I'll get back to you on the particulars another time, I just want to enjoy the today's glory. That's worth another amen because "It's a Great Day to Be Alive".

It's also a great day to laugh, make fun of Liberals and learn something new. Let's get to it!

• Unique Town names are always a hoot to laugh at. I have some real knee-slappers as we discover just exactly What's in a Name?
• Tweaking Liberals is one of my favorite things to do and, it appears, that Maine's new Governor and I have something common. The NAACP is not amused. LePage Tells NAACP to "Kiss My Butt". I love this guy!
• When I think of the Rio Grande, I think of the natural border between Texas and Mexico. There is much more to it than that. "The Rio Grande Starts Here".

I think we have accomplished our three objectives set forth earlier in the post. We have laughed at silly town names, made fun of Liberals and learned some new stuff about the Rio Grande. All in all, it is a great day to be alive.