Weather, Texas Style

It's been a wet and wild spring here in the Lone Star State. Here's the latest weather headlines.

This one hit close to home. Our son returned to the Bryan area Thursday for summer school (Texas A&M) and his part-time job. Fortunately, he's okay.

Bryan hammered by tornado, flooding

The Bryan/College Station area was pounded by heavy rain, high winds and at least one tornado Thursday afternoon.

Dozens of homes were damaged in the Wheeler Ridge subdivision and at least three were destroyed, according to Bryan police.

Speaking of tornadoes:

Tornado Strikes Texas Prison

A tornado struck a state prison in Southeast Texas, damaging the roofs on a pair of watchtowers and an outbuilding but injuring no one.

A prison system spokesman says the tornado struck the Pack Unit in Navasota, about 65 miles northwest of Houston, about 4 p.m. Thursday. The spokesman says all staff members and 1,200 inmates have been accounted for.

We just had rain and hail in our part of the state.

More severe weather, hail possible for South Texas, S.A.

The National Weather Service has kept a flash flood watch in Bexar County and a few others ... severe thunderstorm watches have shifted north and northeast of San Antonio.

Flash Flooding Occurring Throughout Austin, Onion Creek Under Flood Warning

Multiple water rescues are under way throughout Austin as the area has again been hit hard with thunderstorms, this time dumping some six inches in two hours' time in some areas.

At Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the National Weather Service reported about eight inches had already fallen there close to midnight.

Matters were worse in Southeast Austin, where 10 inches had been reported in a three-hour period. Both Highway 71 and Toll Road 130 were closed by late Thursday as a result of raging waters across the road surface.

The Houston area, about 200 miles from here, also got hammered.

Parts of southeast Texas under water

...strong thunderstorms and heavy rain are redeveloping over the same areas that were flooded on Thursday, and now they're starting to move south, through the Houston area.

In Conroe and throughout Montgomery County, trees are down and water is covering roadways.

Highway 290 was shut down for hours on this morning by cattle that apparently got loose during the floods. While 100 were found and are now on higher ground, around 600 are still missing.  

To make matters worse, the snakes are getting active this time of the year.

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If snakes freak you out DO NOT watch this video. And whatever you do, for God's sake don't try this at home!


There's not enough beer in the world to get me to do that...

Another One Bites The Dust

I came of age in Austin during the 1970s. It was a magical time - before liberals ruined the place - a time of hippies and rednecks mingling freely and happily; the genesis of the long haired country boy. One of the things that made it such a special time was the music. A melding of folk, country, and rock, played in places like the Armadillo World Headquarters, Soap Creek Salon, and the Broken Spoke. The performers from those days aren't household names, with the exception of Willie Nelson. But we grooved to the sounds of Doug Sahm, Billy Joe Shaver, Jerry Jeff Walker, Marcia Ball, Alvin Crow, and many, many others.

One of my favorites was Guy Clark. Sadly, he died yesterday.

Guy Charles Clark,  the gravel-voiced troubadour who crafted a vast catalog of emotionally charged, intricately detailed works that illuminated and expanded the literary possibilities of popular song, died in Nashville Tuesday morning after a long illness.

Born in Monahans, Texas on Nov. 6, 1941, and raised in the Lone Star State, Mr. Clark was a Nashville songwriting fixture for more than 40 years.

His songs were recorded by Johnny Cash, Ricky Skaggs, Rodney Crowell, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Bobby Bare, Jimmy Buffett, Kenny Chesney, Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson and legions of others.

“The patron saint of an entire generation of bohemian pickers, Guy Clark has become an emblem of artistic integrity, quiet dignity and simple truth,” wrote Robert K. Oermann in the 1995 liner notes to Clark’s “Craftsman” collection.

“I’d play ‘The Red River Valley,’ and he’d sit in the kitchen and cry,” begins “Desperados Waiting for the Train,” a song about a young boy’s friendship with a grandfatherly old cuss. “Run his fingers through 70 years of living, and wonder, ‘Lord, has every well I’ve drilled run dry.’”

Another of his classics, “That Old Time Feeling,” opened with the lines, “That old time feeling goes sneaking down the hall, like an old grey cat in winter, keepin’ close to the wall.”

Both “Desperados” and “That Old Time Feeling” were featured on Mr. Clark’s debut album in 1975, “Old No. 1..."

Mr. Clark, the son of a lawyer, was raised in dusty west Texas and moved to the Gulf Coast town of Rockport, Texas, at 16.

In the late 1960s, he headed to Houston, where he played Bob Dylan-inspired folk music on a club circuit that included contemporaries Van Zandt and Eric Taylor as well as blues legends Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mance Lipscomb.

Mr. Clark spent time in San Francisco and Los Angeles, inspiring later songs “Madonna w/ Child ca. 1969” and “L.A. Freeway...”

Jerry Jeff Walker recorded “L.A. Freeway” for a 1972 album, and “Desperados Waiting for the Train” the following year, and Mr. Clark garnered a reputation for uncommon poetic perception.

By the time “Old No. 1” released, Mr. Clark was a local icon, an arbiter of taste and song sensibility, and a vodka-fueled sage. He maintained each of these reputations throughout the remainder of his life.

"a vodka-fueled sage" - That's one hell of an epitaph.

He influenced later generations of songwriters, as evidenced by this tribute from Robert Earl Keene.

I enjoyed so many of his songs it's hard to single out a favorite or two, but here's a couple I particularly enjoyed. The videos aren't much to look at, but the music is sublime. Crank up the volume, pay attention to the lyrics, and raise a glass to Guy Clark, singer/songwriter extraordinaire.




Guy Clark - RIP, brother...

In Local News

Randy posted something recently which prompted this post.

The Big City southeast of where I live is in the midst of its annual 10 day bacchanalia known as Fiesta.

Fiesta San Antonio started in 1891 as a one-parade event as a way to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. It has evolved into one of this nation’s premier festivals with an economic impact of more than $284 million for the Alamo City. Fiesta is the Party With a Purpose. and the funds raised by official Fiesta events provide services to San Antonio citizens throughout the year...

Some 3.5 million party-goers enjoy Fiesta San Antonio. More than 20 percent of Fiesta-goers travel from across the state, the nation, and even the world!

It's a model of community involvement - private sector firms, nonprofit organizations, and everyday people working together for the good of the community.

The (Fiesta) commission itself is funded entirely by the private sector and receives no governmental funding. Instead, it relies heavily on membership dues, retail sales and corporate participation to remain self-sustaining.

Every official Fiesta event that takes place during Fiesta each April is sponsored by a local nonprofit or military organization.

It's a great example of the way different people and organizations can focus on a common goal and come together, as opposed to letting their differences divide them.

Are you listening, political parties and special interest groups?

This year, however, there were some problems early in the celebration. The weather wasn't cooperating.

San Antonio hail storm called costliest in Texas history

Last week’s hail storm in the San Antonio area produced nearly $1.4 billion in estimated insured losses, making it the costliest hail storm in the state’s history.

Insured losses to automobiles from the April 12 storm are expected to reach $560 million, while damage to homes is expected to approach $800 million, the insurance trade association added. More than 110,000 vehicles were damaged, and thousands of homes suffered roof damage.

My nephew and his girl friend live in an apartment that was hit by the storm. They had three windows broken out, and both their cars had their rear windows shattered by the hail.

It wasn't just homes and cars that were damaged.

(A local solar power provider), San Antonio-based OCI Solar Power, lost at least 25 percent of its capacity at its Alamo 2 solar farm just east of San Antonio due to the April 12 hailstorm...

A timetable to restore Alamo 2 to full capacity was uncertain Wednesday. “We are working quickly to have everything replaced,” Waldrum said.

Fortunately, the city has adequate capacity in other fossil fueled plants to make up for the loss of power supplied by the solar farm. But if this had happened in summer, when everyone is running their air conditioners, then we'd probably have rolling blackouts.

In any event, here in the Heart of Texas we know what to do when it hails.

Along with Fiesta, the Spurs are making their annual run in the NBA playoffs.

It’s hard to think of a more exciting time to live in San Antonio than when Spurs Playoff Basketball collides with the city’s Fiesta celebration. Our city comes alive and we show our true colors, from the strength of Silver and Black to the bright doylies of Fiesta.

With the playoffs comes the basketball talking heads and their studio shows. In San Antonio's case, that means the return of Charles Barkley, who has a history of making fun of the women down here.

“There’s some big ol’ women down there. That’s a gold mine for Weight Watchers.”

"Victoria is definitely a secret.. they can't wear no Victoria's Secret down there."

This year, Chuckles took his humor to another level.

“They wear them big ol’ bloomers down there, they can’t get in them cute little panties, they wear bloomers,” Barkley said, failing to stifle laughter.

“Listen, you big ol’ women need to stop … ease up on them churros*,” Barkley said through spurts of uncontrollable chortling.

In his defense, San Antonio consistently ranks in the Top 10 fattest cities nationwide, so he's got a point.

Of course, the ladies of San Antonio didn't take kindly to Sir Charles' remarks.

* For the uninitiated, churros are a fried dough pastry, similar to crullers, often sprinkled with sugar (plain, powdered, or brown), cinnamon, and whatever else strikes the cook's fancy, and sometimes dipped in chocolate (or chocolate milk, or coffee, or whatever else is handy).

Aggie Ring Day

We're in College Station today - home of the Fightin' Texas Aggies.

We're here because today our son gets his Aggie Ring. Neither my wife nor I are Aggies, so this is all new to us. Aggies have a lot of traditions that non-Aggies don't always understand. This is one of them.

The Aggie Ring is the most visible symbol of the Aggie Network that connects Aggies around the world. Dating back over a hundred years, it is a tradition that is deep in symbolism. Every symbol represents values every Aggie should hold: Excellence, Integrity, Leadership, Loyalty, Respect and Selfless Service.

Those who have earned the right to wear the Aggie Ring have cleared some of the toughest requirements in the country for a class ring, thus making it one of the most treasured items an Aggie possesses.

There will be over 5000 students getting their rings this weekend, with approximately 25,000 guests in attendance. The rings are presented in 15 minute blocks, beginning at 9:00 a.m. Friday and continuing into Saturday. It's a logistically daunting challenge, getting all those rings and people organized and processed.

It's also a very meaningful event.

One of the greatest moments in the life of any Aggie is the day that they receive their Aggie Ring...

The Aggie Ring is one of the most symbolic of our traditions. Everything seen on the ring represents a value that an Aggie should hold. On the top is a large shield, which symbolizes the desire to protect the reputation of the university. The 13 stripes on the shield represent the 13 original states of America. The five stars on the shield refer to the phases of development of any Aggie: mind or intellect; body; spiritual attainment; emotional poise; and integrity of character. The eagle symbolizes agility and power, and the ability to reach great heights.

The large star on the side of the ring symbolizes the Seal of Texas. The five-pointed star is encircled with a wreath of olive and laurel leaves symbolizing achievement and a desire for peace. The live oak leaves symbolize the strength to fight for our country and our state. The leaves are joined at the bottom by an encircling ribbon to show the necessity of joining these two traits to accomplish one's ambition to serve.

An ancient cannon, a saber, and a rifle are on the other side of the ring and symbolize how citizens of Texas fought for their land and are determined to defend it. The saber stands for valor and confidence, while the rifle and cannon stand for a preparedness and defense. The crossed flags of the United States and Texas recognize an Aggie's dual allegiance to both nation and state.

Pretty impressive stuff. However, keep in mind that this is a college, after all, filled with young people. And they have another Ring tradition that is not sanctioned by the university, but is one that you might expect from a bunch of college kids.

Hours before the big moment, Meagan Petter mentally prepped herself for what thousands had done before her: Christen a new Aggie ring in a pitcher of beer and chug the 60 ounces.

Okay, stop right there. I'm a seasoned beer drinker, but I have never even considered chugging an entire pitcher. I guess I'm a wimp by Aggie standards.

This underbelly of the Aggie ring tradition -- which isn't supported by the university -- was spawned apparently in the late 1970s inside the Dixie Chicken bar when a Corps of Cadets member accidentally dropped his new ring in a pitcher and decided drinking it all was the easiest way to get to it.

The Dixie Chicken is a local dive that's been around for decades. Great place for cold beer and a burger.

"It's sort of a rite of passage," (a Dixie Chicken spokesman) said. "Most people get their rings right about the time they are turning 21. I think it probably just goes hand in hand."

There are alternatives to gulping a pitcher. One of the students...downed 12 shots of a mix of Vodka and Kool-Aid.

12 vodka shots?!? Holy crap - they'd have to carry me out the door.

"I don't chug," she said. Another alternative Jackson and others have heard of is eating about a pitcher's worth of ice cream.

Well, the home of Blue Bell Ice Cream is just down the road from College Station. I can see how that one got started.

On Friday, at 8:12 p.m. -- in military time, that's 20:12, as in Class of 2012...

Aggies are nothing if not symbolic.

... Petter and four friends stood behind a table in her College Station backyard, the moment for which she had been awaiting.

The previous night, she poured Natural Light into her pitcher and whisked it for a few minutes every time she passed by the kitchen. The purpose was to eliminate carbonation and get it to room temperature, the theory being that makes it go down easier.

One accepted ring dunk law of nature is that what goes down usually comes up. That's why Petter stayed away from her favorite, Lone Star Beer, so she wouldn't associate it with vomit.

You've got to admire a gal that plans ahead to such an extent.

The crowd of about 40 family and friends began a countdown from 10 as the Aggie War Hymn blared and sparklers and icicle lights lit the darkness. The chugging and cheering began. One person called a "party foul" on Petter for spilling much of her pitcher on her shirt, but there was no referee, not at this event.

All finished. All the beer drinkers -- except Petter -- hurled, some forcefully.

"It was Exorcist-style," said Danny Degollado as a glassy-eyed Alex Martinez, a technology management major, emerged from a dark, grassy corner of the yard that dunkers used to throw up in privacy from the gaggle of cell-phone-weilding amateur videographers.

Petter admits that she spilled at least a beer's worth on purpose. "The beer got in my nose, and I was like, I need to spill a little while I catch my breath and regroup."

She said she's glad she'll never have to do that again. Her time was 1:48.

"I never felt drunk. I just felt extremely bloated and was like, 'Why did I do that?'" she said. She answered her question: "I did it because it's the tradition."

A&M System Chancellor John Sharp, a Class of 1972 die-hard Aggie, was a student before rings were dunked in beer. But he had an explanation for why the tradition endures.

"I like any tradition that involves drinkin' beer," the former student body president said in a text message. "We drank it for no reason at all. It's nice to have an excuse."

And there you have it, boys and girls. A&M in a nutshell.

Gig 'em.

Local News And Views

For those of you not fortunate enough to live in The Great State of Texas, here's a few stories from today's paper that will give you some insight into what you're missing.

Pricey Potty En Route to San Antonio

It may not befit royalty, but there’s a stainless-steel throne headed to downtown San Antone.

On Thursday, the City Council unanimously approved a contract to purchase a “durable, low-maintenance public restroom kiosk,” known as the Portland Loo, to be located at a site to be determined, somewhere downtown.

The prefabricated unit — boasting graffiti-resistant quarter-inch stainless steel construction, replaceable wall panels, motion-activated LED lighting and an exterior hand-washing station — set back taxpayers nearly $100,000. And that doesn’t include the expected $30,000 to $60,000 for installation. But as public urination has apparently reached epic proportions, city leaders decided to take action.

So San Antonio taxpayers are forking over 100 grand - plus another $50K or so for installation - so homeless people won't take a leak in the streets. You can build a perfectly fine house for $150,000. Alternatively, you can buy an awful lot of bus tickets (one way, of course) to places like Portland, Denver, or Austin. Or, depending on your inclination, you could use that same money (a) to fund programs that help the homeless find places to live, or (b) to enforce laws against public urination. Either way, you're treating the disease, not the symptom. But I guess it makes more sense to the politicos to spend a chunk of someone else's money to hide the problem, rather than fix it.

Some peons had the nerve to question the wisdom of our betters.

“The issue of the cost has come up, and I want to mention that this is an industrial grade product. It’s well built. It’s built like a tank,” Treviño said. “We went to a site in a not-so-good neighborhood (in Portland) and couldn’t find one ding in the product, it’s so stout. That’s an important message. We’re buying something of value here, something that’s durable.”

“When I start getting the phone calls because of my ‘yes’ vote, I’m going to say that the reason we’re doing this is because we’re investing in our future,” (city councilman Mike Gallagher) said.

He certainly has an interesting interpretation of "investing in our future." Is he planning on more people becoming homeless?

The current plan calls for an attendant to visit the loo at least twice daily, perhaps more...

Oh, I see. It's a job-creation project. Now it all makes sense.

The whole thing sounds like something our neighbor to the north, Austin, might do. (For those of you not familiar with Texas, Austin is the state capital. It's also a notoriously liberal enclave in our otherwise mostly conservative state.)

Speaking of Austin:

Austin, San Antonio mayors call taco truce

With an exchange of tacos and the signing of the Interstate 35 Taco Accord, the mayors of San Antonio and Austin proclaimed an end to the Texas Taco War of 2016 this morning.

The hostilities began with an unprovoked skirmish against the pride of South Texas in the form of an amateurish story on the Eater Austin website (austin.eater.com) claiming the state capital as the home of the breakfast taco.

This sparked outrage (in San Antonio), that took the form of a Change.org petition demanding the expulsion of the writer of that piece from Austin, an op-ed in the Austin America-Statesman from San Antonio Councilman Joe Krier and then (Austin mayor Steve) Adler’s corresponding declaration of “taco war” on San Antonio.

(San Antonio mayor Ivy) Taylor’s response to the declaration of war: This aggression will not stand!

This morning’s event was supposed to witness the official, epic taco throwdown led by San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor and Austin Mayor Adler.

Instead, they abandoned the competition ... and announced they were jointly hosting a Taco Summit.

For her peace offering, Taylor brought a 50-taco assortment from her favorite East Side taco joint, Mittman Fine Foods: bacon and egg on corn, chorizo and egg on flour, carne guisada on flour and carne guisada with cheese on flour.

For the uninitiated: chorizo is a spicy pork sausage that is fundamental to Tex-Mex cuisine ("there's also nothing like a spicy, beautifully greasy-in-the-best-way chorizo taco"); carne guisada is slow-simmered stewed meat with vegetables in a rich, spicy gravy (carne = meat, guisada = gravy) - sort of a Tex-Mex version of beef stew, but better (South Texas version here). There is also a long-standing difference of opinion among breakfast taco aficionados as to whether corn or flour tortillas are preferable. And just to further confuse things, what we in South Texas call 'breakfast tacos' are referred to as 'breakfast burritos' in other parts of the state.

And she came prepared with music: six members of Mariachi Los Galleros made the drive from San Antonio and began the press conference with a flourish.

Adler brought 50 from Juan in a Million, the winner of (an Austin) taco contest...

Juan in a Million - great name, okay tacos.

The verdict about the Austin tacos from a San Antonio food critic? Well, the filling was nice, with the bacon diced and mixed together with the egg, and a red salsa had a nice touch of heat and plenty of flavor.

But it used a store-bought corn tortilla. That wouldn’t fly in San Antonio; it would lead to immediate disqualification.

Store-bought tortillas? That tells you everything you need to know about Austin tacos, and by extension, Austin itself. Hell, you may as well use a round piece of cardboard.

At the Austin event, assembled journalists quickly devoured 10 carne guisada tacos from Mittman’s.

Journalists scarfing up free food - what a surprise.

“Oh man,” one was overheard saying. “There’s no more carne guisada!”

He probably wanted free beer to wash it all down.

Now tying both of the previous stories together - crap, and Austin tacos - we close with this piece.

President Barack Obama snagged at least three tacos from the Austin-based chain Torchy's Tacos while he was in Austin to make his keynote address at the South By Southwest festival on Friday.

Tacos from a chain restaurant? Really? Even in Austin one can find delicious homemade tacos at local taquerias, as opposed to chain food. But what else can you expect from a loser who chooses to attend a music festival and street party (SXSW) instead of going to former First Lady Nancy Reagan's funeral?

Meanwhile, in San Antonio:

Cowboys on horseback at a Whataburger drive-thru

Again, for you non-Texans, "Whataburger is a privately held, American regional fast food restaurant chain, based in San Antonio, Texas, that specializes in hamburgers."

Actually, that's a bit of an understatement. Saying Whataburger 'specializes in hamburgers' is like saying Ferrari specializes in automobiles. They make a bacon cheeseburger that's so good you'll think you died and went to Heaven...

... and a Patty Melt (two all-beef patties, two slices of cheese, bacon, grilled onions, and a creamy pepper sauce, served between two slices of Texas Toast - yummm!) that's so good you'll slap yo' mama.

Gotta go now. All of a sudden I'm hungry...

This Place Is For The Birds

Warning - legal BS ahead.

Disclaimer: I have no connection - financial, personal, or otherwise - with the following company or its products. Neither do I make any express or implied guarantees concerning them.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way...

We live out in the country. One of the nice aspects of that is the wide variety of birds that live here (or migrate through). We enjoy their company. (Well, most of them. The buzzards are a pain in the ass.)

But like I said, we enjoy having birds around. Hence we've put up several bird feeders. Some are mesh socks for the finches.

Mesh provides a perfect clinging surface while discouraging other birds from stealing seed. Provides maximum airflow so seeds stay fresh and dry.

Some are suet cages for bluebirds and woodpeckers.

But most of our feeders are just plain old seed holders for a wide variety of birds.

The biggest problem with those types of feeders is keeping the damn squirrels from eating all the seed (and raccoons and possums as well, but mostly squirrels). Those tree rats will empty a feeder in an hour or two. They're also amazingly athletic and determined. We were going crazy trying to keep them away from the feeders.

Squirrel acrobat going after bird seed.

We finally found something called the Squirrel Buster.

The patented Squirrel Buster technology is truly squirrel proof. Thousands of delighted bird lovers have confirmed it. The Squirrel Buster Classic has openings in the wire grid that align with the seed ports and provide birds access to the seed. When a squirrel climbs onto the feeder, its weight automatically forces the grid down, closing access to the seed ports. Squirrels and many large birds are foiled but not harmed in any way.

It works. It was great fun to watch the squirrels going bonkers trying to get at the seed. They quickly learned that the best way to get some bird seed is to hang around on the ground under the feeders and scarf up what the birds drop.

Which puts them where the dogs can get at them... heh heh.

So everyone's happy. The birds get plenty to eat. The dogs have a great time chasing squirrels around. We have fun watching the Wild Kingdom show going on outside our back porch windows.

Of course, it's not as much fun as watching squirrels get flung across the yard...


... but it is nonetheless enjoyable.

As an added bonus, the company that makes them is a pleasure to do business with. We had one feeder that was damaged when some really determined squirrel chewed almost all the way through the wire that the feeder hangs from. We contacted the company to see if we could order a replacement part. They sent us a brand new feeder free of charge! So if you're in the market for a bird feeder, we highly recommend Brome products. They perform as advertised, and the company is fantastic. A big "Thumbs Up" to Brome!

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Gold Buckles

A 'sort of' follow up to yesterday's post about folks from our home town of Boerne TX.

Gold buckles come to town

In early December, two young Boerne residents realized the highest honors offered in the professional rodeo world...

At the National Rodeo Finals in Las Vegas, Callie duPerier won the 2015 Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World Champion Barrel Racer competition, and Jacobs Crawley came away with the 2015 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider gold buckle.

For those of you not familiar with the world of rodeo, here's some basic info about barrel racing and saddle bronc riding.

And here's videos of Callie and Jacobs.








FWIW,I have a few gold buckles of my own. They're for Team Roping.

No, I'm not a roper. I won the buckles in a Calcutta - an auction where you bid on the roping teams, and whichever team wins the event also wins the pool of auction funds for the winning bidder. In our case, we get a big gaudy western belt buckle to go along with the $$$.

Yee-haw, y'all!

The Wonderful Topperweins

Time for another Texas history lesson.

The Wonderful Topperweins: Sharpshooters traveled Texas and the world with their amazing antics

The Toepperweins, Adolph and Elizabeth, were the trigger-happiest couple in Texas history. After tying the knot in 1903, the “Wonderful Topperweins, World’s Greatest Shooting Team” (the first “e” dropped to make the name more readable) traveled the country for nearly half a century. Along the way, they presented exhibitions of marksmanship, sponsored by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

Although Elizabeth Servaty was working at the Winchester factory in New Haven, Connecticut, when she first met Adolph, she had never fired a gun. After instruction from her new husband (she called him “Ad”), she was expert enough to perform for crowds. Adolph described her as “a natural.” She also acquired the nickname “Plinky.” When she first began shooting tin cans, she described the sound of a strike by saying, “I plinked it!” The word “plink” is found today in many dictionaries.

Adolph, on the other hand, had marksmanship in his blood. Born in Boerne in 1869, he grew up shooting under the tutelage of his gunsmith father in Leon Springs. After observing some fancy trigger work in a Wild West show that starred Dr. W.F. Carver, “the shooting dentist,” Adolph began to dream about a career as a showman and practiced target shooting intensely.

(Note: One reason I find this interesting is because we live about 15 miles outside the small Texas town of Boerne where Adolph Topperwein was born. It was founded by Germans back around 1850. Topperwein is an old German name/family that settled in these parts back then. Leon Springs, where Adolph grew up, is just a few miles away from Boerne.)

Adolph exhibited his shooting skills for hometown crowds. A local promoter took him to New York, where Adolph recalled years later, trick shooters were “a dime a dozen.” All shooters had vaudeville booking agents, but they rated, at least in Adolph’s mind, somewhere “below banjo players and buck-and-wing dancers and only a mite above the trained dog acts.”

The promoter convinced a New York agent to accompany Adolph to Coney Island. Adolph said, “We breezed through those gaudy shooting galleries, with me bustin’ every clay pipe, duck and glass ball.” The impressed agent signed Adolph to a contract, and soon he was starring on the vaudeville circuit.

The first public appearance of the “Wonderful Topperweins” was at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904, according to Dick Baldwin, former director of the Trapshooting Hall of Fame in Vandalia, Ohio. There, Elizabeth bagged her first women’s trapshooting world record by breaking 967 out of 1,000 clay disks thrown into the air. A few years later, in San Antonio, Adolph spent 10 days shooting 72,491 of 72,500 flying targets to establish one of his own 14 world records.

If I hit half of the 'clay pigeons' I shoot at it's a good day for me. The Topperwein's accuracy is staggering.

“Seeing the Topperwein shooting exhibition,” promised a Winchester brochure, “is like going to a circus—a rapid succession of thrills and exciting feats, each more unbelievable than the one before, presented to you by this marvelous pair of shooters with rifle, pistol and shotgun.”

So beloved was the couple in the Lone Star State that during a tour of East Texas, a murder trial was postponed so that the community could witness Adolph and Elizabeth’s shooting exhibition.

When storied sure-shot Annie Oakley caught Elizabeth’s act, she reportedly exclaimed, “Mrs. Topp, you’re the greatest shooter I’ve ever seen!”

The Topperweins are remembered today for the “unstudied grace and ease” of their shooting styles. And Elizabeth was proud to say that, in spite of her proven marksmanship, she never shot an animal. The Buckhorn Saloon & Museum on Alamo Plaza in San Antonio displays a gallery of Topperwein photos, guns and other artifacts from the couple’s shooting career.

San Antonio newsman Fred Mosebach reported in 1930 that one of Adolph’s stunts even made President Calvin Coolidge laugh. The marksman placed his rifle on the ground, threw two eggs into the air, ran and somersaulted, then grabbed his rifle and shot the eggs before they hit the ground. “The president not only laughed,” Adolph told Mosebach, “he threw up his arms, clapped his hands and roared.”

Ad and Plinky Topperwein

A more detailed story on the Topperweins can be found here. Check it out if you have a few spare minutes.

Weather Update

We're getting hammered here in Central Texas. Between 3:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. we received 4 1/2 inches of rain. It's serious, but not as bad as this headline would lead you to believe.

Catastrophic & Historic Flooding Underway in Parts of Central Texas

It has been an incredibly busy morning across Central and South-Central Texas. Several tornadoes and catastrophic flash flooding are underway across Hays county (30 miles NE of us)... Some locations across Comal and Hays counties have recorded a foot of rain this morning. This is an extremely life-threatening situation comparable to the historic flooding we saw in May. Many roads are closed and its only going to get worse.

A level 2 possible severe weather risk remains in effect through the late afternoon hours across South Texas, Central Texas, and Southeast Texas... The primary severe weather risk will be isolated tornadoes... As a warm front makes slow progress north we could see the severe weather threat also spread into more of Central Texas... For the past hour the front has stalled out around Austin which is helping to create extreme rainfall rates.

... additional thunderstorms will form this afternoon and evening across the Big Country and Concho Valley. That activity will move east towards Interstate 35 from D/FW south through the San Antonio Metro area. Some of these storms could be severe with the possibility of damaging wind gusts and a couple tornadoes. By far the most significant threat will be flash flooding. Parts of South Austin into San Marcos and Wimberly are receiving six inches of rain an HOUR. This has been going on for a while now. This is truly going to be a catastrophic and probably historic event...

More:

Several reported tornadoes left damage in small towns near San Antonio, Texas, on Friday morning. In those areas, as well as near Austin, a flood emergency forced people to evacuate their homes.

The flash flood emergency was in effect for much of Comal County, as well as parts of Hays and Bexar counties, according to the National Weather Service. This includes areas like northern San Antonio and New Braunfels.

Near (South Austin), Onion Creek quickly rose to a new record level. Before noon Friday, water levels at that part of the creek were already above the previous record of 25.1 feet, and the waterway was expected to continue its rise.

More than 10 inches of rain fell in a two-hour span near the creek Friday morning. Multiple people were rescued from floodwaters in Travis County earlier Friday morning.

South Austin (US 183 from the TX 71 overpass for those of you familiar with the area)

The rainfall became so extreme that the airfield of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport had to be closed late Friday morning, the airport announced.

Evacuations were ongoing in the Wimberley area Friday morning, as a bridge over Cypress Creek may be threatened by rising floodwaters. Rain was falling at rates of up to 6 inches per hour Friday morning in Texas, storm reports showed.

In Austin, boats were being deployed by the Austin Fire Department to help with water rescues.

Areas near the Blanco River were also being evacuated Friday morning, and the bridge over the river at RR 12 in Wimberley was closed.

San Antonio officials reported more than a dozen road closures Friday morning as heavy rain caused flooding. In eastern Bexar County, a school bus with children inside got stuck in high water, and crews were able to successfully remove everyone inside, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said via Twitter.

New Braunfels officials warned residents to take flooding seriously and get to safety. A civil emergency message was issued for Comal County, warning residents that river flooding along the Comal and Guadalupe rivers was imminent, and residents in low-lying areas should evacuate...

The towns of D'Hanis and Floresville took the hardest hit from the early Friday suspected tornadoes. There were also reports of damage near San Marcos as the severe weather pushed northeast.

I truly feel for the poor folks living along the Blanco River in Blanco and Wimberly. They're still dealing with the aftermath of the Memorial Day flood that killed at least nine people (nine bodies have been recovered - two people are still missing). Now they're facing that same nightmare again.

We're located approximately 25 miles NW of San Antonio, and about 70 miles SW of Austin, so we're pretty much in the middle of all that stuff. Our property slopes from front to back. When I got up this morning the runoff had pooled in front of the house and was about 6 inches from our front door. We have drains in place to channel the runoff around the house, but they were clogged with debris, so I had the pleasure of cleaning them out while being pelted with rain. On the bright side, I didn't need to take a shower this morning.  :-)

The back of our property slopes down to a dry wash. In the 15 years we've lived here it's only had running water a handful of times. This morning there was a good-sized stream running down the wash, complete with whitecaps.

The heavy rain stopped a couple of hours ago, but we're still getting off-and-on showers. The forecast is for continued rain through today and tonight, with it tapering off tomorrow.

Overall, however, we're in good shape. It'll take rain of Biblical proportions to flood us out. We may get isolated by high water and road closures, but we've got enough food and adult beverages stockpiled to last us for quite a while.

Of course, all this rain comes on the heels of a historic multi-year drought. But that's Texas weather for you. Kind of like life in general, you either get too much of something, or not enough.

UPDATED TO ADD:

The Comal River flooding under the IH 35 bridge in New Braunfels.

The Comal River in New Braunfels as seen from my son's back yard. The rock walkway extends for several more feet (now underwater) before what is usually a five foot dropoff to the river. In other words, the water level is approximately ten feet above normal.

Enemy Action

In the classic James Bond movie Goldfinger, the villain warns Our Hero that "Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time it's enemy action."

Well, in the unending war of man vs. beast, the armadillos are perilously close to moving into 'enemy action' territory.

A small Texas town ... 3:00 a.m. ... a man with a gun ... an armadillo.

What could go wrong?

A Texas man was wounded after he fired a gun at an armadillo in his yard and the bullet ricocheted back to hit him in his face, the county sheriff said Friday.

Cass County Sheriff Larry Rowe said the man, who was not identified, went outside his home in Marietta, Texas, at around 3 a.m. local time Thursday morning. He spotted the armadillo on his property and opened fire.

"...He went outside and took his .38 revolver and shot three times at the armadillo," Rowe said.

The animal's hard shell deflected at least one of three bullets, which then struck the man's jaw, he said.

The man was airlifted to a nearby hospital, where his jaw was wired shut, according to Rowe.

The status of the animal is unknown.

"We didn't find the armadillo," the sheriff said.

If that story sounds familiar it's because only a few short months ago this occurred.

A Georgia man wounded his 74-year-old mother-in-law in April after his 9mm bullet careened off an armadillo, hit a fence, went through the back door of mom's mobile home and penetrated the recliner she was sitting in. The bullet struck her in the back.

She suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the armadillo went to heaven. No word if the man's headed to divorce court.

That's two times those sneaky little 'dillos have jiu-jitsued armed humans. The next time is a declaration of war.

Side note: I am somewhat surprised that either a .38 or a 9mm couldn't penetrate a dillo shell. I've dispatched a few with both a .22LR and a 12-gauge loaded with #6 shot. However, I'm getting soft in my old age. I've switched to live-trapping them instead of killing them. This despite the fact that we're suffering through a dillo infestation right now. The little buggers are rooting around searching for grubs, and in the process just destroying our yard. But, unlike politicians and extremists, they're not being evil or malicious. They're just doing what armadillos do...

Our yard after a visit from those cute little armadillos.

All Is Well

If you're not from Texas you probably won't get why this is such a big deal, but it is.

A Very Big Deal!!!

Blue Bell Ice Cream Returns to Store Shelves

Four months after announcing one of the food industry’s most sweeping recalls, ice-cream maker Blue Bell Creameries is embarking on one of the industry’s most-ambitious recovery attempts.

The Texas company’s ice-cream cartons began reappearing in grocery stores in several cities on Monday, a major step after Blue Bell yanked all its products following a deadly listeria outbreak...>

Blue Bell faces an arduous effort to regain the trust of large retailers and persuade consumers its products are safe, branding consultants say. The 108-year-old company...is expected to draw significant support from its many fans in Texas, but one of its main hurdles will be to win over consumers outside its home state and other strongholds in the southern U.S., they say.

One advantage for Blue Bell is many Texans display an obsession with its ice cream...

In the immediate aftermath of the recall, Blue Bell fans took to Facebook and Twitter to express their dismay. “It’s been raining in Texas since Blue Bell closed,” one Facebook post said earlier this year as torrential downpours flooded parts of the state. “Because God is crying.”

“Texas is a gimme,” said Gene Grabowski, a consultant who managed Blue Bell’s crisis communications for about three months following the recall. “People there eat Blue Bell like it’s a duty..."

I wish I enjoyed all my duties half as much as I do eating Blue Bell.

You Know It's Hot

Yesterday's high was 104. Please God send us rain - or at least clouds...

Wild Kingdom

We live in close proximity to a number of critters. Some are cute and cuddly.

Some are cute and annoying.

Some are not fun to be around - especially for the dogs. They've been sprayed and quilled more than once. They just don't learn.

Some look scary, but are harmless.

And some look scary - and are dangerous.

We've had up close and personal encounters with a couple of rattlers, one coral snake, many scorpions, and more than one of these.

Even centipedes are bigger in Texas -- bigger and a lot more terrifying...

The massive centipede, commonly called a Texas or giant redhead, preys upon lizards and toads. They've been observed to sometimes catch and eat rodents and snakes.

Boasting between 21 and 23 pairs of legs, the centipede typically measures 6.5 inches in length, but can stretch up to 8 inches. The redhead doesn't always have a red head; being aposematically colored, the body and head can take on a variety of red and black patterns.

According the Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine, there's a story that a Civil War soldier died after being bitten on the chest by a Texas redhead while sleeping. The story is a tall tale, but the centipede does possess poisonous fangs.

Its fangs are actually a modified pair of legs, able to pierce the skin and deliver a painful toxin. In fact, all of the centipede legs are capable (to some degree) of "biting" and delivering toxin.

As frightening as they sound and appear, the centipede's bite is typically accompanied by only momentary pain and swelling. Occasionally, nausea and headaches follows -- and more rarely necrosis and cardiac arrest.

"While caution is certainly warranted when dealing with the giant redheaded centipede," the magazine explains, "downright terror is probably an overreaction."

Maybe so, but they are a truly terrifying sight. They're also aggressive. The ones we've encountered have all scurried towards us, not away from us. They're also like the broom in The Sorcerer's Apprentice - when chopped in half, each part stays alive and continues the attack.

We usually see one per year, usually in the garage or on the back porch, although we've killed a few in the house. So far no one (or no dog) has been bitten (knock on wood).

Life in God's Country...

Snakes Alive

It was a pretty warm day here yesterday. High temp was around 93, but the humidity was tolerable. It cooled off nicely in the evening, so my wife and I went outside to sit on the back porch and enjoy an adult beverage or two.

Imagine the shock and awe we experienced when we turned around and noticed this fellow joining us.

As you can see, he's right next to the back porch door. We walked right past him and sat down just below him before my wife noticed him. Needless to say, excitement ensued.

As near as we can tell it was a harmless variety, although my heart might beg to disagree. There's something about a 5 foot long snake hovering over your head that gets the pulse rate up.

Anyway, we fled one way, he went another, and the consumption of adult beverages went up.

Great way to start the weekend...

You Might Be A Texan If...

Here's a few telltale signs that you've spent more time in Texas than most people. Symptoms can include unique vocabulary phrases ("I'm fixin' to leave, y'all!") and interesting food preferences ("Who's up for a kolache?").

Other indicators include: (adapted from here)

1. You expect chips and queso, not bread, at the start of every restaurant meal.

Chips and queso, along with salsa and guacamole. No better way to start a meal.

2. There is a bottle of Whataburger ketchup in your fridge.

3. You feel relieved when the temperature "dips" to 100.

4. You consider breakfast tacos a nutritional morning meal.

Serve with a little salsa on the side. That'll get your day off to a great start.

5. You truly appreciate the beautiful wonder that is a Buc-ee's restroom.

This would be a better world if all public restrooms were up to the same high standards as Buc-ees.

A new, super-service station a half hour northeast of San Antonio is making a national splash regarding its amenities.

The bathroom at the Buc-ee’s in New Braunfels was voted the best in the country, beating out restrooms at the Hollywood Bowl and even a swank Chicago Hotel.

6."Y'all" has become the only pronoun necessary.

7. When it's hot out, all you want is THIS:

Tubin' down the Guadalupe.

8. Cinnamon rolls, cheeseburgers and donuts the size of your hand are totally normal.

9. Cowboy boots are the official Friday night footwear.

10. You've waited more than three hours in line for a plate of ribs. (Franklin BBQ in Austin)

Lengthy lines are a daily occurrence here, but it's well worth it.

11. Shiner is your beer of choice ... and you've actually been to Shiner.

12. Jumping into the bed of pickup trucks is no big deal.

13. You understand the UT-OU rivalry is NOT to be taken lightly.

14. South Padre Island is now your idea of an "exotic island escape."

Oops.

15. Big Tex from the State Fair is one of your all-time BFFs.