February 17, 2021 Issue

While there is little debate as to the current adverse effect on residents during ongoing cold and icy conditions; the ranching community has been kept busy covering the health and well-being of their livestock. Frozen water sources due to continual low temperatures and broken pipes are common problems which require constant attention.

Mary Evelyn Engdahl was born December 30, 1933 in Rochelle, Texas to William Theodore Engdahl and Pattie Mae Cole Engdahl. She attended school in Rochelle and briefly attended business school in Abilene, Texas before marrying Jamie Voigt Hemphill December 21, 1952. Jamie and Mary lived in Abilene while Jamie completed degrees in Bible and Mathematics at Abilene Christian College.

With yesterday being Ash Wednesday, the Mason County Ministerial Alliance will have a Lenten based devotion for our Shepherd’s Staff articles. Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent with a call to repentance and a call for self-reflection. I have been focusing this year on looking for joy and hope in all circumstances.

While the extreme cold snap has lingered on for far longer than a couple of days; the strain of excessively cold temperatures for central Texas has caused its fair share of problems. Power shortages and outages in addition to roadway closures due to the icy conditions, are part and parcel of weather that most of us have little experience with. According to the Climate Narrative for Mason County, Texas recorded for the period 1971 to 2000; the coldest temperature on record was 3 degrees on F ...

We have snow again. This is historic in our part of Texas. Our household remembers the big snowstorm of 1985. Well, we think it was 1985. It may have been 1986. John and I went to the boat and RV show in San Antonio. The kids were with my brother and wife, Fred and Edmona, at their home in San Antonio.

In honor of Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, I thought I would do a Cajun recipe. Everyone knows there are some traditions that go along with Mardi Gras. It is all about music, parades, picnics, floats, and excitement. It's one big holiday in New Orleans! Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany and culminating on the day before Lent starts.

The clever and ever-so-simple message Julie Andrews conveyed in Mary Poppins--a classic if there ever was one--provided encouragement that thrilled a nation. We often chose to believe the obvious--that “just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down”--but it would have taken sugar fields much bigger than the “old cotton fields back home” to sweeten Super Bowl LV.

An important part of the homebuying process that you may never have heard of could help you land the home of your dreams. Here’s an explanation of how earnest money works in a real estate transaction. What is Earnest Money? Earnest money is an amount agreed to in the real estate contract that you will pay soon after entering into a contract as a show of “good faith” that you intend to purchase the property.

A young reporter was sent out to interview a man celebrating his 100th birthday. When he ar­rived, he found the elderly gentleman sitting on his front porch in his rocking chair smoking a cigar. After introductions and small talk, the reporter began his interview. "I see you're smoking a cigar. Is that to celebrate this special day?" "Nope.

As a semi-recovered chocoholic, I'm always on the lookout for recipes that tickle my longing for at least a bit of the Demon Chocolate. This one fills the bill quite nicely. I've got 6-8 brownie recipes in my cook book, and I think this is the best one so far.

The Second Chance Mason Animal Rescue (SCMAR) purchased 2.76 acres near the city landfill in 2015 to build a no-kill animal shelter and dog park. The dream is still alive, albeit, a bit slower than hoped. According to Nancy Wooldridge, fund-raising has been slower than expected, but the Board of Directors of the SCMAR, has resolved to begin construction of the dog park in 2021.

Have you ever stopped to think about what goes on inside a tree? We know that the roots of a tree take up water and minerals from the soil and transport them to the leaves where some of the water is used in photosynthesis to combine with carbon dioxide from the air to make sugars, starches and cellulose. But the roots are 30 feet below the top of the average Hill Country tree, and there are many trees that are several times that tall.

New to the Library: DVDs: Cliffhanger Let Him Go Peppa Pig: Best of Peppa Pig Tesla The West Wing Season 3 Wild Mountain Thyme Van Damme 4 Film Collection Fiction: Before She Disappeared by Lisa Gardner “Frankie Elkin is an average middle-aged woman who spends her life searching for missing people the world has stopped looking for. A new case brings Frankie to Mattapan, a Boston neighborhood with a rough reputation.

Our unusual, prolonged cold snap this week has readers wondering about freeze damage to plants, and also about how trees sense that the time is right to leaf out and bloom in the spring. Native trees and plants rarely experience any trouble with our winter freezes, because they are adapted to our local climate.