The 2022-2023 White Tail Deer Season brought about some changes for me that had not occurred in a long time. A tract of land that I leased for decades sold in early 2022 and I had to vacate. While bittersweet in some regards, it gave me the motivation to set up a new hunting location on our Home Place as well as begin to “learn” a new leased property. Both those experiences have proven beneficial. Opening day found me in that new spot and one of the animals I observed was much larger, body wise, than our usual spike bucks. His antlers were simply two spikes but longer than generally found on that age class. Because my goal for the day was much more about gathering some “intel” than on harvesting, no shots were fired. As more deer sightings began to accumulate, it became clear that we had an ample supply of the younger class bucks in our area. In consultation with some game stewards that I respect the decision was made to not gamble this young fellow. Maybe he was a SUPER SPIKE but more likely an older deer that did not develop even one branched main beam or brow tine. The dilemma became that we no longer saw that fellow over the course of numerous hunts by guests and family. On the Friday afternoon before the spike and doe season was over, I put one of our favorite young friends out in that same location. He had harvested a nice doe already, but his young family could benefit from some additional venison. I reviewed the deer to watch for and those that were “off limits”. The final statement was to look for The Tall Spike as that deer had come to be labeled. Just about sundown he texted me that Long Spike and a couple of eligible does were at the feeder. I asked that he try for the buck but if an ethical shot did not present itself, take a doe. After some milling around the spike moved away and a well placed single shot created an immediate death. In reviewing the deer while field dressing him, we confirmed he was older than 1 ½. But further investigation showed an old wound of some kind on his back. All healed up it was difficult to determine if a bullet that was too high, a fence cut, or something else had caused the injury. But we agreed that he was going to be a fine addition to the table fare of his growing family. And the experience was another one to add the young man’s list of hunting memories. He reminded me his first doe, first mature buck, and now, his first spike had all come while hunting as my guest. With that perspective in mind, I am glad he was the one to harvest The Tall Spike. That made for a wonderful ending to yet another hunting season out in La Brasada.
Tucker woke up with a colorful thought this morning. “Mom, if you can get me and my cousins to the moon, we are gonna kick the alien’s butts!” I don’t know if he was having one heck of a dream or what, but this is one guy who doesn’t “come in peace” I guess. Life is always exciting with Tucker and he sure enjoys his “cousins.” Everywhere we go, he tells all the other kids he’s playing with about his cousins. He hit some big milestones this week. Best of all, he spontaneously decided to clean his room by his own free will, while I was cleaning the kitchen. I was so impressed! Number two, he volunteered to give me a foot massage yesterday. I don’t even know how to say how much I love that! He’s obviously not a big fan of aliens, but he sure does love his mommy. I love that kid–to the moon and back!
Last week was busy, but not just too bad! On Tuesday we had over four inches of rain which was badly needed. I worked in the gift shop as usual and as you can imagine, with a downpour going on, there weren’t many customers for me. Of course, the Dr.s offices were open and everyone who came in was pretty wet. On Wednesday, there was a “meet and greet” occasion for our incoming CEO, it was very nice, and I found out, that like one of my grandsons and his wife, she is a Star Wars fan! After the party, I headed out to Devine for my usual bunco, and the visiting that I do each month, beginning with the time I now get to spend with my youngest grandson and his family. Those little ones are so cute and I have so much fun with them. The trip was not bad and there wasn’t much traffic for me to contend with, and I am always happy about that. That area did not have the amount of rain that we did and the only place you saw anything other than sere and brown in the countryside was where someone was irrigating, usually winter rye or something like that. Bunco, that evening, was fun as it usually is and all of them said they had been in good health, and I got to catch up on everything that had been happening in the past month, and even won first prize! That always makes the evening more fun! As always, Thursday was my fun day, no traveling for hours, just visiting, either on the phone in person with a couple of friends, and of course lunching with my son! And then, getting to see my great-granddaughters in Castroville. Since it had dawned on me, during the night on Tuesday, I had a busy weekend coming up, I realized that I had to travel back home on Friday, rather than on Saturday and I met with my daughter and the little girls and had a delicious early lunch, before I went back to Devine for a hair appointment, so it was later than usual when I left, however, it was closer to dark than I like when I got home. No problems until I got to Floresville and hit some typical 5:00 p.m. traffic. Thank goodness it isn’t football season, then you really have traffic! Saturday and Sunday were both busy with a fundraiser for one of the organizations at church, my sister and I are in charge of the cole slaw and Saturday we made six gallons of the dressing that we use and helped cut up potatoes that are part of the meal and Sunday, we made over 200 hundred pounds of cabbage into slaw. We work well together, and the guys did all the lifting for us. We both came home tired, had lunch together around 2:00 p.m. (the plates were “to-go” only), and then went our separate ways for the afternoon, with naps on the horizon for both of us. She is doing well but is still unable to drive due to neck surgery that was done on November 1. She is hoping the brace will be removed this coming week but is still unsure. A couple of weeks ago, I gave you a recipe so you could make treats for the dogs in your life. Today, I’m going to include one to make for the precious feathered friends you may have at your feeders. Food for our winged friends is scarce at this time of the year, and my son-in-law gave me several similar recipes he found online for a treat for them. As he took it out of the freezer, I wondered what kind of treat he was planning to share with me, only to find out it was a birdie treat! He has a wonderful feeder set up that can be observed from their kitchen window and sometimes they have a large variety of birds there eating the grain he provides. Right now, however, all he has is an occasional ring-neck dove and lots of sparrows. Version 1 1 part peanut butter (crunchy or regular) 1 part shortening 1 part flour 3 parts cornmeal 1 part cracked corn (chicken scratch grain is what he used) 1 cup black oil sunflower seeds Mix all together and chill until firm. Version 2 Homemade Peanut Butter Suet 1 cup shortening 16 to 20-oz crunchy peanut butter Heat and stir together until melted. Add the following: 1 cup raisins 1 cup black oil sunflower seeds 6 cups cornmeal 4 cups flour Mix together with the shortening/peanut butter mixture and spoon into a 9×13-inch pan and chill until firm. Cut into chunks for suet feeders or do as he does and just cut the chunks and place on the feeder itself. Now, here is a recipe for you to make for the family, it is simple enough that the children can help you. I made this and took it to the group working in the kitchen at our fund raiser and it was a big hit, everyone loved it, and I hope you do also. Cinnamon Roll Delight 1 can Caramel Apple Pie filling 2 cans, (8-count each) cinnamon rolls (I use HEB brand) Preheat oven to 375ºF. Open the pie filling and pour into a bowl, cut the apples into smaller pieces. Open the cinnamon rolls (set the frosting aside, you’ll use it later), cut each cinnamon roll into four pieces, when you’re finished, mix the cinnamon rolls into the pie filling. Place the mixture into a sprayed 9X13 baking pan or dish and bake 35 to 40 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls are done, it should be lightly browned on top. Cool for about 10 to 15 minutes and then use the reserved frosting pouring it as evenly as possible over the cinnamon rolls and apples. Serve warm or cool.
One Sunday in January I was serving as a Church Parking Lot Attendant. My friend, The Turkey Meister, leads this effort at our Church. He calls that role The First Impressions Team. Which probably sounds a bit classier than the title I used. It was brisk that day, and the wind was probably blowing at 20+ mph with a pretty good “bite” to it. One of our older ladies walked up, kind of “leaning into” the wind and commented she sure hopes it warms up soon. This lady is small in height/ build and that NE wind was pushing her around pretty good. Upon the conclusion of the Morning Worship Service, the wind had picked up even more and after descending the stairs and rounding the building’s corner, it came close to knocking her off her feet! I won’t repeat her comment that time. Let me just say it did not reflect any improvement of her opinion of the weather conditions! Less that 48 hours later one of my good friends from Church texted me to say that the 80-degree mid -day temperature was just WAY too hot for this time of the year. Now this fellow is the physical opposite of the previous person mentioned above. A former Defensive Lineman in college who became a Football Coach, one of his legs probably weighs more than that lady. I commented I was going to write a story about weather and dedicate it to him. Those two extreme opposite perspectives reminded me of a Tale from back when I was spending a good bit of time out at the Home Place as a kid working with my Grand Dad. You could find me starting at a pretty young age glued to his side whether in the fields, pastures, or cattle pens. Of course, none of those places are much fun to be in come July and August or December and January. I was often either cold as an ice cycle or burning up and drenched in sweat. Not surprisingly, sometimes I would whine about the weather. After a complaint or two, Charlie Rosenauer would stop whatever we were doing, take off his hat, and look me sternly in the eye. “Boy”, he would say. “Do you really think the Good Lord needs your help with the weather”? Of course, such an admonition would put me back in the right frame of mind plenty fast and I would mumble “No Sir”. “Okay. Then get back to what you are supposed to be doing and let GOD be GOD.” That was the end of that conversation, and it was best NOT to bring up the topic again for a while! Far be it from me to speak in such a way to the fine lady or my good coaching friend. But the reminder for me is that any of us can spend a bunch of time focusing on stuff we simply CANNOT control. One of my finest Mentors in a long line of some excellent ones, had a saying that comes to my mind while writing this Tale. Long ago gone from this Earth, I still remember he would often tell me : “Don’t fret on trying to fix things you can’t fix. Just try your best to do the right thing as often as you can with those things you can do something about”. I reckon that is good advice even today. And last time I looked, one of those things we don’t have much say about is trying to fix the weather!
What happened in Lytle last week? I’m glad you asked: Lytle PD officers handled 59 calls for service for the week ending on Sunday January 22. Your officers conducted 88 traffic stops, those stops resulted in 74 citatIons and 14 warnings. Property Crimes: We only had one possible property crime reported. A Main St. resident reported his .380 handgun was missing. Arrests: Officers made three arrests last week: #1 – A 16 year old male juvenile was detained for assault causing bodily injury (family violence). He was transported to the Atascosa Co. Juvenile Detention Center.
2 – Officers responded to a report of a driver that was asleep behind the wheel of a moving vehicle! Ofc. A. Lopez made contact with person and he woke up and sped off towards La Coste. After a short pursuit he was taken into custody. The suspect had four active felony warrants and was in possession of a loaded firearm (which is a no-no since he is a convicted felon). He was booked into the Medina Co. Jail.
3 – A traffic stop by Sgt. Hanson on S. Somerset St. resulted in the driver being arrested for DWI. The driver was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail.
In other news: On Monday, January 16, officers responded to a single vehicle accident on IH-35. Sadly, the driver did not survive. He was the sole the occupant. On Thursday, January 19, officers assisted Medina Co. S.O. with a pursuit that resulted in a “bailout”. Of the 10 that fled, 4 were apprehended. The incident occurred at IH-35 and FM 3175. On the personal side…… I took the three oldest kids over to Beaumont last weekend for a youth conference. In true Southeast Texas fashion it was cold and rainy, it took me a few minutes to remember what rain was.
This past week slowed down a bit by the time the weekend rolled around. My sister and I did a couple of things together, including having supper on Friday, with my niece and her husband. They had to leave early Saturday to return to their home in north Texas and we had a great visit. They had also invited my sister’s daughter and her husband; pizza was the order of the day and it was very good. My sister took fruit salad, her daughter brought a delicious chopped salad, and I took dessert. (Real simple, cake taken out of my freezer!). Saturday was noodle making time at the Family Center of our church. Our ladies’ group, Catholic Daughters of the Americas is having their annual chicken fried steak fundraiser this coming weekend and we always have a “Country Store”, where we have baked goods, canned goods and homemade noodles. All the bags of noodles always sell quickly, if you are working there and want some, we all know to have them on hold until we can pick them up. My sister and I with some help this year from others will be making the cole slaw, just as we have done for several years. It’s still hard for her to do some things, as she had neck surgery in November and has to wear her brace for another couple of weeks. My personal biggest news is that I have a brand-new great-grandson! He was born early Saturday morning in Colorado, and when I spoke with my granddaughter, they had not yet named him! This week will see me back on the road to Devine for bunco, I didn’t realize how much I missed bunco and seeing my friends until the pandemic hit us and now I think I enjoy it more than ever! We have talked about baking cakes in the past but hopefully there are a few new readers who will enjoy this weeks column. When is the last time, or have you ever baked a cake from scratch? When I was growing up, cake mixes didn’t exist. All cakes were baked from scratch. Cake mixes came out after WWII, with Betty Crocker bringing out a Chocolate Cake mix for the first time in 1947. The lady I talked with didn’t have any information as to whether they were the first to come out with a cake mix or not, but, I’d bet a nickel they were. Since I couldn’t find an 800 number for either Duncan Hines or Pillsbury, I couldn’t check any further. A cake from scratch is not hard to make. It just takes a little longer than a box mix. My two favorite recipes were in my Betty Crocker Cook Book. There were two which Mother had also used and I learned to make them while I was still in school. The recipes in this book give you a choice of two ways to mix the cake, one by creaming the sugar and shortening until light and fluffy, and adding eggs, one at a time and mixing well, then adding the dry ingredients alternately with the milk; and the other by sifting the dry ingredients and then adding the shortening and eggs. Each page also has several variations of each cake, using the main recipe and then adding nuts or fruit to the batter. The following two recipes are both from the Betty Crocker Cook Book, (ninth printing, first edition), which I received as a shower present before I married. The one is called Light Golden Cake and the other is called Rich Golden Cake, the main difference between them is the amount of eggs used.
Light Golden Cake 2¼ cups sifted Softasilk (cake flour) 1½ cups sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt ½ cup soft shortening 1 cup milk 1½ teaspoons flavoring 2 eggs Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch round or square cake pans or a 9×13 pan; set aside. Sift together dry ingredients. Add shortening and a little over half of the milk and flavoring. Beat 2 minutes. Add remaining milk and eggs. Beat 2 minutes. Pour into greased and floured pans. Bake until cake tests done. Cool. Frost as desired. Rich Golden Cake 2¼ cups sifted Softasilk (cake flour or 2 1/8 cups Gold Medal flour) 1½ cups sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup soft shortening 1 cup milk 1½ teaspoon vanilla 3 eggs Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch round or square pans or one 13×9 pan. Sift together the dry ingredients, add shortening and a little over half of the milk and vanilla; beat 2 minutes. Add remaining milk and the eggs; beat 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pans; bake until cake tests done. Frost as desired. Easy German Chocolate Cake 1 box German chocolate cake mix 3 eggs 1 cup water (scant) 1 carton sour cream (8-oz) 1 can coconut pecan frosting Mix together cake mix, eggs and water, stir in sour cream. Pour into microwave safe tube pan. Drop frosting by spoons full into the batter. Microwave on High for 15 minutes rotating pan after first 9 minutes (unless you have a turntable). Cool about 3 to 5 minutes and then turn out onto serving plate. German Chocolate Upside-Down Cake 1 box German Chocolate Cake mix Eggs, oil, water to make cake 1 cup coconut 1 cup chopped pecans 1 lb. powdered sugar 8-oz package cream cheese 1 stick butter Lightly grease a 9×13 pan. Cut waxed paper to fit pan and grease paper also. Sprinkle pecans and coconut into pan. Mix cake according to directions on package; pour over coconut and pecans. With mixer, mix together powdered sugar, cream cheese and butter. Drop by spoonfuls over cake mix. Bake at 350ºF until cake is done. Cool in pan about 5 minutes, turn onto serving platter. Peel off the waxed paper. Serve either warm or cold. The following recipe was displayed as part of our hospital décor for fall. I have made it several times, and everyone always enjoys it. Delicious Apple Pie Cheesecake 2 medium to large Granny Smith apples, peeled cored and sliced (you may take steps to prevent the apples from darkening, but I do not feel it’s necessary) * 1/3 cup granulated sugar ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 package (8-oz) cream cheese at room temperature ¼ cup granulated sugar 1 large egg (lightly beaten) ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 prepared graham cracker crust (10-inch) ** 1/3 cup quick cooking oatmeal (not instant) Preheat oven to 375ºF. Whisk 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese ¼ cup sugar together in a bowl until smooth, add egg and vanilla and mix until evenly combined. Place apples in the graham cracker crust, sprinkle sugar/cinnamon mixture over apples, sprinkle oatmeal over sugar/cinnamon mixture. Pour and spread cream cheese mixture overall. Bake in preheated oven until top is just beginning to brown, about 40 minutes. (If it seems to be browning too quickly, turn the heat down to 350ºF). Cool on wire rack for 1 to 2 hours, refrigerate until completely set, 3 to 4 hours. Also, if you rinse the apple slices with lemon juice/water or lemon-lime soda, be sure to drain them well before using. **I haven’t tried it, but I feel that a 9-inch crust would work just fine, because the apples settle a bit as they bake.
We got some new chickens so it’s been kind of egg-citing around our house to say the least. These hens have a mind of their own, that’s for sure. We have our fake ceramic eggs and plans, making little nesting boxes for them to lay eggs, but they have other ideas. They are flying up to roost in our trees at night, and then getting all sorts of creative when it comes to finding a spot to lay their eggs. So far we’ve found 6 eggs, out of what I estimate to be 18 eggs hidden in our field, based on each hen laying 1 egg a day. So I guess that makes the score about 6 to 12, hens winning. I’m a little exhausted of this non-stop Easter egg hunt, but Tucker is loving every minute of it. He even insisted that we make a “treasure map” of our property, showing where all the eggs we found were hidden. It’s a pretty confusing map so far!
South Texas weather has recently again shown its “diversity” by going from below 20 to near 80+ in the span of under a week. We went from worrying about frozen pipes to thinking about heat stroke. Go figure! I was doing a late morning to noon hunt for turkeys with no success. After a quick lunch my guest and I settled into our spots again and proceeded to begin the afternoon “deer blind sauna” experience one more time. While I had carefully sprayed down with scent killer before leaving the truck, by the time the deer started moving out of the thick brush, it was near sundown and the NW wind had not done much good in cooling the interior temp. of the metal enclosure I had been sitting in. Several does and yearlings plus a fine 4.5-year-old 8 pointer were feeding along the food plot edge, with the buck pestering the girls. They seemed uninterested in his attention and preferred the corn spread out by the game feeder. Another buck, younger by a year, but with an impressive 10-point typical rack sneaked out and began feeding in a pattern that was going to take him directly down wind from where I sat. This was opposite the direction of the rest of the deer before me. At the exact moment his movement brought him to the very edge of where my scent was blowing, his head popped up like a jack in the box clown, and he started looking in my direction. Knowing the buck was off limits in my management practice of letting them grow to at least 5 years of age before even considering them as “shooters”, I was sitting very still and focused on his reaction. He instinctively knew something “stinky” was somewhere around and while not in a panic, quickly reversed his course and in less than 30 seconds was lost again in the thick brush of La Brasada. I guess my scent removal approach had worn off courtesy of the warm temperature in the blind. While that deer was in absolutely no danger of me that day, I was reminded how well The Good Lord has provided for their safety by giving them such a keen sense of smell. He did not know WHO I was, or exactly WHERE I was, but quickly had connected WHAT I was, and high tailed it to someplace far safer than being exposed out in the open.
Last week your Lytle PD officers handled 57 calls for service and conducted 86 traffic stops. Officers issued 75 citations with 11 warnings. Arrests: Officers only had one arrest last week. Ofc. J. Cortez stopped a vehicle on Main St. for speeding and determined the driver to be intoxicated. He was arrested for DWI. He was booked into the Atascosa Co. Jail. Property Crimes (5 reported): #1 – A mini-storage unit on S. Somerset St. was burglarized. The victim reported that 5 inflatable Halloween decorations were taken, valued at $500. #2 – The construction company doing site work on the Rosewood Subdivision (on FM 2790) reported a $50,000 Caterpillar wheel loader was taken. They were tracking it on GPS, which was found abandoned on Smith Road in Bexar Co. before we could even finish the report. #3 – A person staying at the hotel reported that a window to their vehicle was broken out, and nothing was missing from inside. #4 – A business owner in the 15000 blk. of Main St. reported that a security light was “shot” out. #5 – Officers observed a vehicle with two open doors on Houston St. Contact was made with the owner, who stated a “junk box” was taken and they didn’t want to file any report. I love it when criminals steal worthless items. In other news …. It looks like the Adoption event at the Lytle Animal Care and Control center was a success. It appears that 7 dogs and 1 cat found new homes! One dog also found a foster home as well. I stopped by the event for a few minutes and saw that our city animal control staff as well as volunteers from Lytle Animal Allies were really busy answering questions and showcasing the animals. They had a bake sale going on too. I was able to resist, but Sgt. David Lopez opted for a brownie. Hit and run! On Friday night, Ofc. Luis Diaz was patrolling Live Oak St. when out of nowhere a deer tried to jump over the hood of our police Dodge Charger. Luis was surprised, to say the least, the dashcam didn’t record what he said, that’s probably a good thing. His windshield was busted out but other than that there was no damage! The deer just slid across the hood and kept on going. We feel that was just a random incident, we have no credible information to lead us to believe that this was a planned attack on a police vehicle by members of DAPA (Deer Anti-Police Association). Last Wednesday I celebrated my 23rd wedding anniversary! My wife has been on this police chief journey with me for a long time. That journey has included; lots of missed plans because of work emergencies, tons of phone calls that roll in 24/7, and of course the general stress of this type of work. My kids have been along for a lot of the ride as well and they too have stories to tell. I am blessed to be married to a strong Christian woman who has done more than her share to take care of my family while I am trying to take care of Lytle. I worked this weekend and it sure was nice to see a lot of people outside, the weather was really nice. During the heat of the summer, people stayed inside. You could drive down street after street and the only people you would see, if you were lucky, was somebody going from their vehicle to the house at a brisk pace. It was like we enacted a daytime, severe heat curfew and included a provision prohibiting rain.
Aint rained out in the Black Creek vicinity since December 18th. Some you folks are leaving rain outta your prayers. Almost time to pay your annual rent for the privilege of living in Medina County. Mine comes to $9.17 a day…every day. Thanks to last year’s vote, County taxes are now frozen for those of us over 65. Still high due to the Appraisal but, what are you gonna do? Pay them or give it to the County and let them sell it for less than it’s worth or defer your taxes and let them have it when you die? Last week’s Agenda for Commissioners Court was not very interesting with vacating and replatting taking center stage. Don’t think I’ll go watch unless there is something interesting on tap. Lost a good man last week that was a positive influence on your kids…mine don’t go to school here anymore. Jacob Sanchez touched those he taught and will definitely be missed. Those who were the recipient of his efforts will never forget his influence on their lives. Need a lot more like him. Retirement is good so far. I try to get at least one task completed every day. If not, I am free to put it off until tomorrow. After trimming trees for a couple of days, I woke up at 6 but, knowing I didn’t have to get up, I went back to sleep and slept till 9..felt good but, wasted most of the day. And no, Sandy don’t have a list of things to do…I got a list of things that I’d like to do but, sometimes I change priorities. Don’t know what your City has on its long range plans but, it would be good to resurrect some old ideas like…sidewalks on the other side of SH 173 or changing the name of that road to something more Devine like. But, that’s not my problem. I’m kinda like Bob Bendele and seeing the word “Hondo” on the front of our High School is kinda tough to look at. I would be in favor of the idea. KK has decided to let me continue to write for the paper and I’ll try to do the same bi-monthly entry and keep an eye on County (maybe some City) happenings. Danny Lawler has taken over as your Commissioner and I do believe that he is going to do good things for us in that Office. Says he’s gonna keep some of the services like tire disposal and assisting the Cities of Devine and Natalia.
