Created Sunday, 20 March 2011 15:07

By the Rivers' Edge

The rivers that run through Texas were not historically reliable enough to facilitate heavy transport in the way that the Mississippi and its various tributaries were and still are. The various rivers - Rio Grande, Nueces, Guadalupe, San Antonio, Sabine, Brazos and Trinity - were at times and in places navigable by shallow-draft boats and steamships - it all rather depended on how recently it had rained. They were slightly more useful at providing small-scale power for mills, at those points where they could be built. But the most important use for Texas rivers though, especially the western-most of them - was simply that they were there, providing water in an otherwise arid land.

San Antonio

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Created Thursday, 10 March 2011 15:42

Daylight Savings Time Begins  Spring Forward 1 Hour It's that time of year again, when we turn the clocks forward. Don't forget this Sunday, March 13, 2011, officially at 2:00am to Spring Forward your clocks by 1 hour. For many of us, that means we should turn the clocks forward 1 hour before we go to bed.   Benjamin Franklin invented the idea of Daylight Saving Time in 1784. Why? I'll not ever understand, myself, but those smarter than me figure it's a good thing.   Move the clock ahead in the Spring, losing one hour of sleep when DST begins, and falls back one

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Created Tuesday, 08 March 2011 02:27

Open Air History - The Alamo

   

Click photos to enlarge

I'm not alone in this mad love of history, in being so besotted by events and eras to the point of studying certain aspects down to the sub-atomic level. I only write about it, which is the traditional venue for those like Miniver Cheevy, who wistfully believe they were born too late. There have been writers who have done very well by antiquarian enthusiasms; Sir Walter Scott almost single handedly popularizing the sport of jousting in mid-19th century England and America, as well as a passion for plaid. Indeed, the 19th century went on a Gothic bender for decades. Anyway, this kind of enthusiasm is not confined any more to scribblers of genre

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Created Tuesday, 08 March 2011 02:04

Blue Star and South Town

So, after we scoped out the elaborate series of reenactor events on Alamo Plaza last weekend - uniforms and long rifles and cannon -oh-my! - we decided to venture into South Townand check out anything interesting going on at the Blue Star Arts Complex . . . which since it was the day after First Friday - not very much. It had been simply years since I had reason to go to the Blue Star. I don't recall what took me there that time; either responding to an advertisement for a job opening (possible) or trying to sell someone advertising space in a little arts publication that I was working for at the time (also possible).

Anyway, it's been a while, and the whole South Town and Blue Star scene

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Created Wednesday, 02 March 2011 14:57

The Old Spanish Mission at the Edge of Town

And that's what it was - a hundred and seventy-five years ago this spring - when the Alamo achieved fame immortal, just before sunrise in the spring of 1836. Visitors are usually taken back to discover that it is so small. I was, the first time I visited it as an AF trainee on town-pass in 1978; a little Spanish colonial style chapel, in limestone weathered to the color of dark ivory.

The church and the ‘Long Barracks' are the only buildings remaining of Mission San Antonio de Valero; the northernmost of a linked chain of five missions complexes, threaded like baroque pearls on a green ribbon, and originally established to tend to the spiritual needs and the

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Created Monday, 21 February 2011 19:31

Winter Doldrums

For all your San Antonio real estate needs contact Randy Watson of Mission Realty Call 210-744-4514 Free online homesearch Now you may see in my own San Antonio home those aspects of winter which always made this part of the year - late winter, early spring - positively the dreariest of seasons in those places which ostentatiously boast the benefits of having four of them, and all distinct. That point where winter and spring meet - right at the very point where the snow has all melted long since, and it still isn't quite warm enough for things to start growing again - is enough to make you want to curl up under the comforter and hibernate for another couple of months. The gorgeous…

Created Monday, 21 February 2011 17:11

Presidents Day Greeting!

Written by Randy Watson

Many Americans are enjoying having today off of work as we celebrate President\'s Day. Today is the day that we honor George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and all past Presidents of the United States. We look back to remember the courage and character of the great men who have preserved our nation and our freedom. Today is also a good day to think our Armed Forces Veterans.

Most US Government offices are closed today, including the US Post Office. However, it is up to Texas and your local governments to decide for themselves whether to honor the day with an day off or not.

 

This message brought to you by:
Randy Watson of Mission Realty
Your San Antonio…

Created Sunday, 20 February 2011 15:43

Addition to the Catalog

If it's covered in fur or feathers, my daughter is immediately taken. She has one dog and a cat-a-log and by dint of saying "no!" in an increasingly firmer tone of voice I have kept the numbers down to a manageable level. Sammy, the three-legged, cross-eyed flame-point Siamese was full-grown, and belonged to some neighbors when he met and fell deeply in love with my daughter when she came home on leave. He took one look and fell in love, deeply, hopelessly, and abjectly in love. He parked himself in her lap, looked deep into her eyes, while purring like a distant motor-boat, and could hardly be pried away. When her leave ended, Sammy was heartbroken, although he kept returning to our back

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Created Sunday, 20 February 2011 15:16

Essential Dog

My daughter's dog, better known as the Lesser Weevil, lives for walkies every day . . . and for a special treat, a trip to the McAlister Park Dog Park. She's a social creature, and rather outgoing; every human she has ever met has been instantly and utterly her bestest BFF. I do so hope that I would never have to depend upon the Weevil for personal protection in the case of a dangerous psychopath breaking into our house . . . since the Weevil will probably be cowering behind me. With other dogs, it's a matter of all things being more or less equal. A friendly and playful romp with a dog or dogs more or less of her same size and degree of playfulness; too much larger than her and a bit too

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Created Sunday, 20 February 2011 15:01

Land of the Lotus - Eaters

By Julia Hayden

I've been back for three or four days in the place which - if you bend down and squint sideways at it - is the place that I came from. That is, back-country Southern California; not the glitzy, glittery and glam 90210/Hollywierd/Sunset Boulevard So-Cal, but the other part of it. This is the hills and horse-country part, of steep hills and seasonal creeks, of black sage, monkey-flower, and shaggy-barked eucalyptus, of citrus and avocado groves, where granite out-croppings stick out of the thin soil like half-buried bones, and hawks wheel overhead.

The people who live there have horses, goats and cows the way ordinary suburbanites have cats, dogs and parakeets. In a

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