Dear Gerry,
A few years ago I was drawn with a group of friends for a javelina hunt at Elephant Mountain Wildlife Management Area out in the Big Bend country.
At the hunt orientation I kidded area manager Dewey Stockbridge about his adoring family back in Mason. He took it good naturedly, assigned us a beautiful hunt area in the Del Norte mountains, and gave us specific tips on where to look for game there.
I was surprised to learn that only 38.6 % of the residents of Mason county have responded to the 2020 Census according to Mason County News last week! What is the matter with the other 62.4% of you? Do you drive on the roads? Do you use the library or the clinic?
It was hot. Mid-day, late-August, South-Central-Texas hot.
So hot the farmers and ranchers had come to town to sit under the cafe air conditioner and see who could tell the "hottest" story.
"It was so hot," said one ol' cattle rancher, "yesterday when I was in town I bought a bag of marshmallows, laid 'em up on the pickup dash, and by the time I drove back out to the ranch, they was roasted !"
"You think that's hot,"
While I must admit that neither of my grandmothers made these little cakes, my mother certainly did. It makes several dozen, but the rate at which they will disappear from the serving plates will make you glad you had a bunch to share.
Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons baking powder
5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Ground or freshly grated nutmeg
Process:
Beat sugar and butter until creamy
...
Americans have fallen into a crevice of sloppiness with usage of the word “hot,” and it has nothing to do with 100-plus degree days.
Indeed, “hot” has become a handy word for descriptions that don’t involve thermometers.
“Hot” describes fast cars, stolen property and well-sculpted bodies….
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Coming to light are precise procedures to measure “hotness” that may put the “quietus” on flippant use of the word.
This could be “bubble-bursting” for many curr ...
The cooler weather this week is a welcome relief, even if it does get up to 100 degrees for a bit before the week is over. It means the air conditioners will not have to work as hard as the previous couple of weeks, and the watering of our grass and landscape will be a bit more effective.
In December of 2004, I wrote what I was sure would be the most difficult column I'd ever composed -- my farewell to my niece, Lilly Joy Gamel. We lost her in a horrible accident; but, my heart was filled with love when we saw the outpouring of support and caring that the Mason community gave all of us while we navigated through those turbulent waters.
And then, this week showed me that we don't always get to experience such pain just once in our lives.
Last week the Emergency Management Team met again and with the new confirmed information that just came out, the statement of local Covid-19 cases was updated and has since been further updated. I am aware that there was concern within the community and on Facebook regarding the timeliness of these reports, but although the rumor mill has provided a good bit of conjecture on this issue, the local government group is expected to report verifiable and factual information and that sometimes limi ...
Wedged in my mind’s recesses are these eight simple words: “If you can make it there, go back.”
They’re easy enough to understand, but application is a whole ‘nuther thing.
These words captioned a cartoon a while back. It was drawn to warn folks relocating to New York City….
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Though probably not intended, the cartoon has a serious undertone that may apply to folks from anywhere--cities, towns or rural.
It suggests that grass probably isn’t any greener on their sid ...
I met recently with a new Mason County ranch owner to discuss his management efforts and his interest in increasing wildlife populations and biodiversity on his property. As we rode around his ranch, he showed me various plants that he had been working to control, and asked me what I thought about them.
