Just another day closer to rain. Seems to have been that way for quite a while. Miss the snow yet?
Got a report this past week from our Veterans Service Officer indicating that their efforts to better serve our Veterans has been extremely successful. Even though we have lost in our Veteran population (down 24 from our previous number of 4,268) they have had an increase in benefits to the tune of $7.65 million.
Medina County’s participation in the Declaration of Local State of Disaster has been tabled until the Judge can address the language in the proposed Declaration as it had some untruths in it.
I had asked a month or so ago if we, as a County, could freeze taxes for the over 65 group like the School Districts currently do across the state. When I found out that we could, (the Legislation was passed in 2005 by 80% of the voters in Texas) I asked to put it on the Agenda.
I even drafted my Motion the day before the meeting so that there would be no mistake in the meaning. It read “..that Medina County freeze or limit the County taxes paid by homeowners age 65 and over to the tax rate and appraisal value in effect on October 1, 2022. Should the tax rate and/or appraisal cause the tax to be paid by homeowners 65 and over to decrease, then the County taxes owed will be the lesser of the two and frozen at that amount.” Never got to read the Motion…
There was standing room only in the Courtroom and it seemed that the only ones NOT in favor of the proposed Agenda item were sitting at the front of the room in the decision-making chairs. The law allows the County to freeze the taxes by a vote of Commissioners Court but, listening to the discussion it was clear that it would not pass by a vote of Commissioners Court.
Some addressed the issue that they would be voting on an item that would directly benefit them due to their age being 65 or over. I am over 65 and would have no problem voting on something like this that would benefit a large cross section of the residents of Medina County. To me, this argument don’t carry no water..
Anyhow, after some discussion it was decided that we would put this on the ballot in November and let the populace decide instead of taking care of it now. According to Judge Schuchart, we will meet and discuss this and the language to be on the ballot at a future meeting. Had I known this 10 years ago, I would have brought it up then.
I was flooded with calls in favor of this before and after the meeting. I can’t print some of the calls from after the meeting..
I believe that this will pass because if you aint 65 yet…you will be and nowadays, we need all the help we can get. So get ready for November…
The good news is that it is only 125 days until Christmas and 150 days until you have a new Commissioner. I am looking forward to both….
Category: Commentary
Campout with cousins
My dad and brother invited a gazillion boy cousins over for a campout, fishing, and cattle-working day at the ranch this past weekend, and they had a great time.
My brother caught a big garter snake and proceeded to walk in the house with it to scare me so that was the highlight of the evening for them all I’m sure. They also caught lots of crawdads, frogs and only God knows what else trekking around the tank bank with Uncle Sherm. I doubt I want to know exactly what all they caught. My brother’s sort of like that crocodile hunter guy. Thankfully, we don’t have any of those. Tucker is the youngest of the bunch, and he had so much fun tagging along with his older cousins, who no doubt taught him the ways of the world and just one or two cuss words along the way (accidentally).
When you get a bunch of kids together, they sure ask some funny questions, that’s for sure. It’s a lot of fun to eaves drop.
Some of the teenage girl cousins were there too, and when they all came running up to each other when the third one arrived they shrieked with joy to the high heavens. It was so funny. Cousins are fun.
On the morning after the wild campout, I took a couple of the boys for a horse ride, and they sure loved it. I got my exercise leading the horse around the ranch in the full sun, but their conversations and observations kept me entertained. I love to share the love and joy of a horse with children every time I get the chance. My rides around the ranch meant so much to me.
Some notes about ice!
Well, I could use last week’s column for this week, because not much has changed! The weather is still stiflingly hot, the highs for the day are usually 103ºF to 104º and this is at 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon. It’s Saturday, and twice today the sky has clouded over, the wind has picked up and it looked as if we could get some rain…not a drop so far.
My week was quiet, compared to what it has been lately. I only worked the one day in the gift shop and wasn’t too busy, but I did have a pretty good day. My little four-legged friend is visiting for a few days, he always wants either in or out! I am getting plenty of exercise walking back and forth to the doors.
This week, I’ve found out I’m going to be great grandma for the 18th time, and that was just one of the high points of the week. The other on is that I’m going to get to go on a vacation with part of my family and go to NM! I haven’t been in that area in many years and am really looking forward to the trip.
This morning, a group of us that attend the country church, got together and cleaned the pavilion as we will be having breakfast there tomorrow morning after church. We do this on a monthly basis, but this month is special as it is in honor of the saint the church is named after; “St. Ann”, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prior to the pandemic, we usually had Mass in the afternoon and then served chili dogs or some such thing. Now, we will be doing breakfast, and serving various and sundry casseroles, kolaches, fruit, cake, and other brunch foods. I made a ‘Southern Pecan Praline Cake’ for our meeting last week, and it went over well enough that the president of our group requested that I bring it! Luckily, it’s a pretty simple cake to make. Also, I’ll be making a casserole using shredded hash browns as a base with a really delicious sausage sauce over it, as well as some mini-cinnamon rolls. If it turns out as usual, we’ll have enough food for a small army, hope lots of folks decide to come to early Mass!
According to World Book Encyclopedia, the tiniest snowflake or particle of frost imaginable weighs less than a tiny bird’s feather.
The weight of a glacier is in the billions of pounds.
Glaciers, snowflakes, frost and hail stones are all ice and are formed the same way when the temperature of water and moisture in the air falls below 32ºF, or 0ºC.
Salt, sugar, and alcohol added to water lower the temperature needed to freeze it. This is why alcohol is used in anti-freeze to keep car radiators from freezing.
When frozen, the volume of the water increases by 1/11. This is why ice floats in water and also why jars of liquid in the freezer or water pipes burst when frozen.
Five to ten million dollars of ice is sold in the United States annually.
Most of this ice is made in ice plants where pure water is frozen in vats in blocks weighing 300 to 500 pounds.
In some areas of Canada and the northern parts of the United States, ‘natural ice’ is cut from rivers and lakes and stored in ice houses which are made especially for this purpose.
In or around 1800, ice was first shipped from New York City to Charleston, S.C., and during this time clipper ships carried it to many parts of the world including the West Indies.
The first commercially successful ice making machine was used in Florida in 1851.
An ‘artificial ice’ plant was first set up in New Orleans in 1868, and during this same year, refrigerated railroad cars were built; which meant that more areas of the country could have fresh produce and fresh meat.
I’ve given you various ice cream recipes over time, so I’m not including them today, (other than the one for Big Red Ice Cream) but wanted to remind you how wonderful an old-fashioned Root Beer Float would taste on these hot days, also, we’ve also used Big Red to make the same type of float…have fun, stay cool.
Root Beer Float
1½ cups vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
1½ cups cold root beer
Put two scoops of ice cream in a tall fountain glass and pour in enough cold root beer to cover. Add two more scoops and top again with root beer. Serve with a spoon and straw.
Do you remember the days of going to A&W drive in on Nogalitos St. in San Antonio, and having root beer floats served in frosted mugs? How about the Black Cow on Broadway near Pearl Brewery? Their root beer float was called “Black Cow”, and was also served in a frosted mug. Weren’t those days fun? You can make a Big Read Float this same way, using red soda in place of the root beer! It is delicious.
In case you want to try something different, here is a recipe for Big Red Ice Cream.
Big Red Ice Cream
4 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can (large) evaporated milk
1 cup granulated sugar
1 small box (cook type) vanilla pudding mix
1 bottle (2-liter) Big Red soda
¼ teaspoon salt
Mix together eggs, condensed milk and evaporated milk. Stir in sugar and pudding mix and mix well. Add Big Red soda and stir just until mixed. Pour into freezer container and churn until frozen.
This is a fun and slightly different cake to make, my friends and family have always enjoyed it.
Earthquake Cake (aka-German Chocolate Up-side Down Cake)
(Read all instructions before beginning).
1 box German Chocolate cake mix, (along with ingredients to make according to directions)
1 cup coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
4 cups powdered sugar
1 block cream cheese (8-oz)
1 stick butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Lightly grease the bottom only of a 9×13 baking pan. Sprinkle pecans and coconut over pan. Mix German chocolate cake according to package directions and pour over coconut and pecans. With mixer, mix together powdered sugar, cream cheese and butter and vanilla. Drop by spoonsful over cake mix. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes.
Lost and Found: Chicken and Handguns
Another week with not too many calls, that sure is nice. Officers handled 47 calls for service and conducted 88 traffic stops. Those 88 stops resulted in 79 citations and 9 warnings.
Officers made one arrest last week. Sgt. Hanson and Ofc. Pena responded to a domestic disturbance on N. Benton St. and arrested a male for assault causing bodily injury to a family member.
Only three property crimes were reported to us. #1 – H.E.B. Plus reported a theft that occurred on a prior day. An unknown female was observed on camera leaving the store with $9 worth of unpaid merchandise. All I can say is that they have some rather good cameras up there, $9 doesn’t buy much these days …. maybe you could hide that in the palm of your hand. # 2 – H.E.B. Plus reported another theft, a male left the store with a rotisserie chicken and an adult beverage. I’m not sure which flavor rotisserie chicken he got but if I were going to steal one it would be the lemon pepper, it’s good. #3 – A complainant reported that somebody got their new debit card and set up a pin and “went to town”. They charged about $600 before the card was shut down.
In another case, a complainant who reported his handgun as stolen back in 2020 said he found it. We removed it from the system as stolen. I misplace stuff all the time, never done that with a gun though. In another case: A gentleman found a wallet and turned it into the PD, it was full of cash. I thanked him and told him that most people take the cash out before they turn it in. We were able to locate the owner and reunite him with his wallet and cash within the hour.
Mark your calendars for the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022. We will be hosting our first National Night Out event since 2019. The event will be held at the Lytle Community Center, so the heat or rain won’t ruin our event. If your group or business is interested in setting up a booth, please email me. I am sure we will be providing food, drinks, and snacks. It should be a fun night. I would have a celebrity show up, but I don’t have those kinds of connections.
Book written in Devine, Tx makes national news
I was scrolling news online last Wednesday night when I stumbled across an article about my book “Hello from the Great Blue Sea” on Yahoo News! It came as a total surprise.
An article about our book was published on the front page of the Corpus Christi Caller Times last Monday, July 11, and I noticed that article was written by a journalist who is part of the USA Today Network. So Yahoo News apparently picked it up sometime after that.
The book is illustrated by Chad Wildoner, an inspiring young man who battles the same disease as my little niece, but he won’t let this disease stop him from living life to the fullest. He’s gone skydiving, horseback riding, kayaking, you name it–and now he has illustrated a children’s book that made National news! I wrote this children’s book for my niece Audrey (after she was diagnosed with A-T) to help show her that she too, can do anything she wants to do and go anywhere she wants to go, wheelchair or not.
Chad and I are donating all book sales profits to a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for A-T, the A-T Children’s Project.
Because A-T is such a rare disease, the A-T Children’s Project is the driving force behind most of the research that’s being done. So our family has connected with Chad’s family, over 2,000 miles away in California, in our mission to help raise funds for a cure.
You can buy our book on Amazon by typing the title into the search bar: “Hello from the Great Blue Sea”.
The theme of the book is how the world’s oceans connect us all, so how appropriate it is to be a fundraiser for a condition so rare that it only affects 1 in 40,000-100,000 people, but to see so many people come together to help us in so many ways. Small acts of kindness can go such a long way, like the sweet lady, Mrs. Ann, who is the director of the condo at the beach, who agreed to sell our books in her little gift store in Port Aransas. Because of that, the Corpus Christi Caller did a story on our book, because the book is sold at a local store. Then the story ends up on Yahoo News. Pretty cool.
A direct link is as follows on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Hello-Great-Blue-Sea-Wonders/dp/B0B5KXGSYW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2NTAACF3YETO8&keywords=hello+from+great+blue+sea&qid=1658175708&sprefix=hello+from+great+blue+se%2Caps%2C136&sr=8-1
Hello from the Great Blue Sea is a non-fiction picture book with sea animals including a starfish, shark, sea turtle, dolphin, whales, and fun facts along the way. A short 5-minute read. At the back of the book, are a “behind the scenes” story and pictures showing the illustrator as he drew the pictures and telling the story of how he continues to overcome his disabilities.
Gun Trading
I recently wrote a Tale about a Cattle Trading trip with my Grand Dad Rosenauer when I was a young boy. Because some days you can say Good Morning to me at Sunrise and I am stuck for an answer till Noon, it caught me by surprise when this Tale came to mind while right in the middle of writing the first one.
So, I figured I better put it to paper right quick before it “melted away” into that dark empty crevice called My Brain, to be lost forever. I mentioned how my Grand Dad would “meander around” a while before coming up with an amount to buy or sell something.
My Dad was the exact opposite most of the time. He had enough of the livestock business growing up in La Brasada, and never owned a cow or horse in his life as an adult. But besides his family and hunting, he sure did love to “mess with guns”.
My Dad would tinker and work with a gun and reload for it, until it shot as good as the rifle possibly could. Then he would lose interest in it and go to the next one. My Momma said it was a good thing he did not have the same attitude about his Wife and Kids!
As an adult I came to realize Dad had about 6 or 8 “gun nuts buddies” (his words not mine) who shared this passion. I don’t think they ever made much money on their many trades, but they sure did “swap” a lot of guns around.
Please keep in mind that was a VERY different point in time and all those men know each other very well. I guess a few “outside sales” did occur every once in a while. But mostly they simply traded among themselves.
I distinctly remember one time Dad had a sweet rifle that fit me, and I shot it really well. I told him not to sell it, and about the 3rd or 4th time it came back into his gun cabinet I asked how much he wanted for that gun. He told me and I wrote him a check for it on the spot. I clearly and somewhat strongly said it was now mine. But he could keep and use it. Just don’t ever sell it again. I believe he shot that gun for 11 more years before sending it “Home” with me. And I used it till the barrel wore slap dab out!
My Dad’s negotiating techniques were somewhat limited in style and format. His words were almost the same:
“I dont’ have to seel this gun and don’t owe no money on it. My family is gonna eat whether it sells or not. So, pay me $XXX or let’s forget about trading and talk about something else.”
As a reasonably successful marketing teacher, speaker, writer, and sales practitioner, I was always trying to point out other strategies or options to them. Grand Dad would “wander around in the desert” with his approach and Dad was a “take it or leave it” kind of a guy.
Far be it from me to question the integrity or character of these two significant role models for me and others. But is sure does seem like having a few more “sales tools in your selling portfolio” was a good thing. But then what does an old backwoods south Texas Aggie Doc know about much anyway? After all I am still trying to come up with a prompt response to Good Morning!
Summer desserts
All I can say about our weather is: Hot, hotter and hottest. With all the days with triple digit temperatures, it’s definitely a heat wave. A local friend of mine commented that the Devine area was having even more heat than we are. She had been watching a weathercast on the news and they mentioned it.
My week was not too busy, just two half-days in the gift shop, but my weekend was wonderful. It started out that two of my daughters were coming to visit, my youngest and my eldest. It went down to just one coming in, and we had talked about shopping rather than crafting. We had a supper Friday night of one of her favorite dishes, fried catfish, with a salad and some French fries, cleaned up the kitchen and then we mostly sat and visited afterwards and played a couple games of Rummikub. She also did some chores that have gotten a little difficult for me, and then before we knew it, bedtime was upon us. Since she had worked all day and then driven for several hours, she was worn out. Saturday morning, we were both up, having breakfast, and deciding what we were going to do, and the shopping trip was looking great! She has not been here in a while and thought about maybe Ross and a couple of other places. As we were sitting with our coffee and talking, I turned around at a sound behind me and there was my eldest daughter! Talk about a surprise, it turned out that some plans changed, and she was able to be with us after all, and yes, the daughter who came in on Friday knew all about it, so the surprise was for me. We sat and visited and drank coffee most of the morning, then decided that with the heat, and because the daughter who had just come in had an injured foot, that we just needed to stay cool, so that is what we did. We took a short drive to town to get a couple of things, and then came home for the day, had a quick lunch (that my daughter brought in with her), and then spent the rest of the day playing Rummikub, in front of the AC and a fan, nice and cool! Since my older daughter wasn’t staying overnight, she left to go back home and the other one checked out a couple of electronic problems I was having, had a supper of boiled shrimp and some leftovers from Friday, played a few more games of Rummikub and called it a night.
I got up early Sunday morning for church, and came home, to find she had already dried the sheets we put in the washer late Saturday evening and had her bed stripped and these sheets washed and dried. We had breakfast and then decided to go to the next town to Wal-Mart for some things she needed, for a totally fun morning. We had an early lunch and by 1:00 p.m. she was on the road to home. And, it goes without saying, she left the kitchen spotless and the whole house neatened up!
Here are a couple cool desserts using lemons. These desserts are always so cool and tasty, especially in this hot weather.
Luscious Lemon Dessert
1 can fruit cocktail
1 can sliced peaches, (cut into smaller pieces)
1 can Mandarin oranges, drained
1 box instant lemon pudding mix
Pour fruit cocktail and peaches with their liquid into serving bowl, add drained Mandarin oranges, stir in pudding mix. Stir well. Chill before serving. Can be served with whipped topping if desired.
Lemon Pie in a Bowl
1 box instant lemon pudding and pie filling
1 carton (8-oz) whipped topping, thawed
Mix the pudding according to directions on box. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then stir in the whipped topping. Serve in bowls. With this dessert, the first time I made it, I had baked a pie shell and it broke, so instead of putting the filling in the shell, I mixed the whipped topping into the pudding, poured it into a bowl and broke the pie shell into pieces and stuck them into the mixture. As my daughter always says; “When you get hold of a lemon, make lemonade”. Cooking flops are not always that simple to fix, but many times with a little imagination, you can salvage what you have messed up and fix it!
Dewey Lemon Salad
2 packages (3-oz size) sugar-free lemon gelatin
1 can (16-oz size) crushed pineapple
1 can (21-oz size) lemon pie filling
2 bananas, sliced
2 cups hot water
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup Cool Whip
Dissolve gelatin in hot water. Add pineapple juice and cool until it begins to set. Fold in fruits and marshmallows, then place in either a 9×13 pan or a 9×9-inch dish. Chill until firm. Combine pie filling and Cool Whip, then spread over gelatin. Chill. Yield: 10 servings.
Inflation is over 9%
Think I might need to replace my rain gauge. Dang thing hasn’t been used in so long, I think it quit working or the battery died or something. Then, the rain was sent and I found out that it still worked. Got 4.2 inches on Thursday.
We canceled the Budget Meeting for Thursday evening and rescheduled it for Tuesday at 9 AM. Hope some got the message on Facebook cuz this comes out after the meeting.
Went to my Appraisal protest hearing. Shoulda stayed home. They don’t care what you present, the number is set. When I asked for a comparable sale in the area, the District could not produce one. I believe that Johnette Dixon took offense to me printing a story about her raise. Guess she didn’t want to advertise it. I would sure like to be on the Appraisal Board once I retire from this job on January 1st next year.
I sure hope some of you have contacted your Commissioner and explained how tough times are now. According to the news stations, it costs the average family over $450 more a month to maintain their level of existence without increasing their income. Inflation is over 9%, people are selling off their cattle cause the cost of feeding them is too high, fertilizer to put on crops is outrageous and it’s almost too late to plant anything that could produce in a timely manner. We need to do something about taxes soon….mid-term elections is a good place to start. Term limits is another place to start.
Concerning property taxes, if you have a 7 or 8 figure bank account, a couple hunnerd dollars don’t affect you. But, this happens EVERY year and it mounts up. If you are living on Social Security and a fixed income, it is a big burden. Sometimes, it’s pay your bills and skip eating or eat and let the electricity get cut off.
I have asked our County Judge and our Tax Assessor/Collector to look into the possibility of County taxpayers getting a break. Why can’t we (County) offer the 65 and over crowd a break like the Schools do? Why can’t we freeze their taxes too? Just my opinion but, I think the school system needs an overhaul as well…
This year is my last and my focus is not on improving the financial status of a couple hunnerd employees without taking into consideration the 50,000+ taxpayers of our County that fund this endeavor that some call a circus. Nowadays, if you have a job that is a blessing.
I am fixing to be one of those living on a fixed income. Hopefully, my retirement checks and my Social Security check will suffice enough so that we don’t have to deplete our savings accounts.
Hope that I don’t have to find a job after retiring a second time. If I could make a living on the advice given by Bubba Hanson and Mike Schott on Wednesday mornings at Las Palmas, I would try but, that advice ain’t useful at all….colorful but not useful.
Heard that rain falls on the just and the unjust so, just in case, keep praying for rain even though some of us got some…
A Little Reprieve
We got a little reprieve last week; we only had 38 calls for service! Officers had some extra time on their hands and conducted 110 traffic stops. Of those traffic stops, 94 resulted in a citation and 16 were warnings.
There is not much to report this week, so brace yourself for boredom. We only had one property crime: #1 – The Animal Control Director reported a possible burglary at Diamond S Buildings (19650 IH-35 Access Rd.). We discovered that someone pushed out a window AC unit and made entry. The owner reported 2 Takamine acoustic guitars were missing; they were valued at $350 each. Somewhere, some crooks are strumming on those guitars. If you happened to hear them, give us a call.
Officers made two arrests this past week: #1 – Officer S. Pena observed a Hondo ATV being operated on a public roadway. He attempted to make a traffic stop but the ATV rider opted to “run.” A pursuit ensued and with the help of Ofc. J. Cortez and ACSO Deputy E. Lopez the suspect was taken into custody. He was booked on a felony charge of evading arrests. #2 – Officer J. Cortez (assisted by Ofc. Pena) conducted a traffic stop on Main St. at Bank. A female was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia and a handgun was seized (the serial number had been altered). More charges are pending.
What else is happening around town? To put it simply; lots of growth. The city has three new subdivisions in various stages. Saddle Ridge Estates (which got out of the gate first) is building strong, by Halloween that will be some prime “Trick or Treat” territory.
The 7-Eleven / Stripes is getting close to completion. They were hoping to open in early August, but it looks like it will be a little later. The old Days Inn (originally the El Cid) hotel is long gone, replaced by fuel pumps and Slurpee machines.
I can’t believe it, but school starts in less than a month! August 11th will be the first day back for students at Lytle I.S.D. This year, like all the years in the past, the Lytle P.D. will do our part to get this school year started on a good note. Please take notice of the school zones and be understanding of the heavy congestion that comes along with the first few days of school. After the first few days it becomes just moderate congestion.
The 4th of July Fireworks show was a blast!
Your Lytle PD officers kept busy this past week. For the 7-day period that ended on July 10 we had a total of 63 calls for service. That period also included 87 traffic stops with 80 of those resulting in citations and 7 resulting in warnings.
Only two property crimes were reported last week. #1 – A 2014 Nissan Sentra was reported stolen. The owner had parked the car at John Lott Park (Adams St. side). #2 – A Bruce St. resident reported that her car was “keyed”.
Arrests for the last week: #1 – (Ofc. Diaz & Sgt. Hanson) A motorist stopped for speeding on Main St. was determined to be DWI. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. #2 & #3 – (Ofc. Diaz) Traffic stop at 2:40 AM resulted in two juveniles being cited for curfew violation, they were released to guardians. #4 – (Ofc. A. Lopez & Capt. Reyes) Officers responded to a trespasser in the 18000 Blk. of FM 2790 (by the Animal Control Facility). A male was arrested for trespassing and booked into the Medina Co. Jail. #5, #6, & #7 (!) – (Ofc. Cortez & Ofc. Pena) Officers responded to the Whataburger for a disturbance. The end result was one person arrested for DWI and a warrant for DWI, a passenger was arrested for a warrant out of Kendal Co. (marijuana possession), and another person was arrested for public intoxication. Three arrests for the price of one. They were all booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. This is the kind of stuff our officers deal with at 4:42 AM when most of us are home sleeping.
Crime of the Week: Aggravated Robbery – On Thursday July 7th at approx. 12:13 AM Sgt. Hanson was on routine patrol. He turned off of Wisdom Rd. onto Ball Rd. and observed a robbery in progress. Two victims were lying face down on the roadway, the suspects jumped into their vehicle and fled. Sgt. Hanson pursued them and they crashed out at Greenwood Rd. and Old Pearsall Rd. The suspects escaped on foot, and we are working to get them identified. It appears our suspect(s) impersonated law enforcement during the robbery. This case is under investigation.
The 4th of July Fireworks show was a blast! A bunch of people showed up and endured the heat for a good time. It would appear that the food trucks were a huge hit; I saw long lines and some ran out of product. I got that one wrong, I figured they wouldn’t do that well. My thought process was that people would be cooking out all day and the last thing on their mind would be food trucks. I stand corrected, this makes about the 6th or 7th time I have been wrong on something….so write it down. I talked to a lot of people and they all had positive comments about the event.
I stepped outside my comfort zone last week and was a youth camp sponsor for our church. I headed up to Highland Lakes Camp in Spicewood the morning following the fireworks show, my son and two other young men were in my care. I spent three nights in a bunkhouse we shared with about 40 kids and adults from La Vernia FBC, they were awesome. I’m not sure what they feed those boys over there, it looked more like a college football team. I was lucky and had two mattresses; I believe both of them were WWII surplus. Everyone said the food was really good for “camp food”, I didn’t miss any meals. There was a zip line, a pool, a banana boat (there was still enough water in Lake Travis, I’m not sure for how long), awesome speakers and worship music. Like most places these days they were short staffed, but they made do. By Friday morning I was wore out. If I was running that thing the schedule would include nap time.