Local Interest – Gardens of Oak Hollow

Lavender Festival

keta7598 — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:20:00 +0000

This past weekend, we were out exploring the Hill Country and I learned about the Lavender Fields and upcoming Festival. So I thought I would share it with you.

The Texas Hill Country is known for its rough landscape and winding rivers. But, alas, this rocky limestone land has not been highly sought after for its agricultural use.

French Connection

In the early 1990s, National Geographic photographer, Robb Kendrick, was shooting a story about the Lavender Fields in Provence, France. Robb noticed that the hilly terrain and the scorching hot summers there were similar to that found at his land near Blanco in the Texas Hill Country. He talked with the farmers and learned more more about the lavender fields.

Soon after Robb returned from that project, he began experimenting with different types of lavender. The dry weather and alkaline limestone soils around Blanco make the area particularly suitable for growing lavender.

New Hill Country Industry

In 1999, with advice from his farmer friends in France, Robb and his wife, Jeannie Ralston, planted two acres of lavender. They opened Hill Country Lavender, the first commercial lavender farm in Texas, pioneering the way for a new agricultural industry in the Texas Hill Country. After planting their lavender, the Kendricks gave seminars to others who wanted to grow the beautiful flowers.

The Blanco Lavender Growers Association has remained a united group, building upon the experiences of the Kendricks. These pioneers have endured periods of non-stop rain and periods of non-existent rain, each time more committed to this new agricultural crop. They readily share each new experience with each other and with guests to the Texas Hill Country who share their love of lavender.

Lavender Festival

In honor of this exciting regional crop, the Blanco Chamber of Commerce annually hosts the Blanco Lavender Festival, the 2nd weekend of June. The lavender blooming season generally runs the month of June.

The Lavender Market, on the grounds of the historic Blanco County Courthouse, is always a must-see highlight of the festival. Select artists and craftspeople from across Texas and beyond will offer the finest lavender-related pleasures and treasures.

June 7-9, 2024

Hours:

Friday: Noon to 6PM

Saturday: 9AM to 6PM

Sunday: 10AM to 4PM

Mineral Water Spas of Texas

keta7598 — Tue, 07 May 2024 16:20:00 +0000

Once again, while I was looking for something on the internet, I tripped over an article that caught my attention.

Long History

Texas’ many sources of fresh, sweet water have sustained human life for many thousands of years. Ancient Indian artifacts are clustered around freshwater springs in every region of the state and give mute evidence of camp sites used long before Anglo settlers arrived.

No one knows just when America’s Indians first began using mineral waters for bathing and drinking, but as early as the Roman Empire, Europeans indulged in hot mineral baths. The elaborate network of hot mineral-water bathing facilities built by first-century Romans at Bath, England, is one of those early spas.

The owners of a few of Texas’ mineral springs opened them to the public during the 1840s and 1850s; serious commercial development began about 1860. The facilities around Sour Lake in Hardin County, though, were still relatively crude when Sam Houston spent a month there in 1863 taking mineral baths.

Mineral Water in the Alamo City

In 1892 a well was drilled to supply water to the new San Antonio State Hospital on South Presa Street near the San Antonio River. The site was near the saline/fresh water interface of the Edwards Aquifer, where hot, sulfurous wells are common.

Instead of sweet potable Edwards water, the well instead produced 104 degree water with a strong sulfur odor that was unfit for domestic use at the Asylum. The volume was copious – about 180,000 gallons per day, and since many people believed in the healing powers of hot waters, the medicinal and recreational potential of the strong-flowing well was recognized immediately.

Although the San Antonio area had at least three popular mineral-water spas, neither of the others achieved the reputation for luxury of the Hot Wells Hotel and Bath House, which opened in 1900 near San José Mission.

Among the multitude of bathing facilities were three swimming pools, 45 private bathing areas and 200 individual dressing rooms, plus six different kinds of baths. “Taking the waters” was almost an afterthought in the three-story pleasure palace, which quickly became the place to be among San Antonio’s social set.

Besides dances, bowling, swimming, concerts, lectures, tea on the verandah, and domino parties, diversions included an ostrich farm, a small zoo and gambling at the Hot Wells Jockey Club, complete with full-time bookie.

The visiting celebrity list was long and included the likes of Teddy Roosevelt, Mexican dictator Porfirio Díaz, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, Sarah Bernhardt, Will Rogers, Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix.

The Hot Wells’ popularity died off by the early 1920s. The burned ruins of the grand resort still can be seen in southeast San Antonio.

Today

Though the hotel may be gone and the well has been capped, visitors can now stroll through the historic grounds and experience the park – available to the public since its grand opening April 30, 2019.

PARK HOURS

Summer: Open from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Winter: Open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Closed: Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day.

PARK LOCATION

5503 S Presa St
San Antonio, TX 78223

Sources: Texas Almanac.com ... and ... EdwardsAquifer.net … and … Bexar.org

Fiesta Jazz

keta7598 — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:10:00 +0000

Free Admission

April 26-27 at St Mary's University

Gold & Blue Note Jazz Club

University Center

I found a Fiesta event that has free admission, so I thought I would highlight it for you. This has nothing to do with the fact that my great nephew is performing at 2PM.

For more than 50 years, St. Mary’s has hosted the annual Fiesta Jazz Festival Band Concert and Band Festival on campus. Renowned local, regional and national jazz musicians come to the University, where they perform for the St. Mary’s and San Antonio communities.

Friday, April 26

University Invitational

11 AM, Northwest Vista Jazz Combo
Noon, Northwest Vista Jazz Ensemble
1 PM, UTSA Jazz Ensemble
2 PM, University of the Incarnate Word Jazz Combo
3 PM, Trinity University Jazz Ensemble
4 PM, St. Mary’s University Jazz Combo
5 PM, St. Mary’s University Jazz Orchestra

World Class Jazz Concert

Alyssa Allgood is a Chicago-based jazz vocalist, composer, arranger and educator who has been described as “assured and daring” by DownBeat Magazine and a “model of sophisticated song interpretation” by the Chicago Tribune. She brings a modern approach to the jazz tradition with her original compositions, captivating arrangements and lyrical focus of self-love and human connection.

Saturday, April 27

Area high schools and middle school students are critiqued and compete for trophies. Honor Band recipients are selected from these groups. Clinics and the chance to see award-winning musicians are enjoyed by all in attendance.

Fiesta Time

keta7598 — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:22:42 +0000

April 18-28, 2024

Once again, it is time for the annual 11 day Fiesta celebration. This has been a long standing tradition. In 1891 a group of citizens decided to honor the heroes of the Alamo and Battle of San Jacinto with a Battle of Flowers. The first parade had horse-drawn carriages, bicycles decorated with fresh flowers and floats carrying children dressed as flowers. The Belknap Rifles represented the military. The participants pelted each other with blossoms.

Pooch Parade

Want something a bit different and support a good cause?

Check out the Fiesta Pooch Parade along the beautiful tree lined streets of Alamo Heights.

8 -12 AM, Saturday, April 27

The costume contest has to be seen to be believed as San Antonio shows off its creative side and pups walk the runway in all their fiesta finest. Many owners try to match their dog’s costume.

Food trucks provide food and drinks throughout the morning. Many sponsors give away and sell dog related items, information and
opportunities at their booth. Dog related demonstrations and events will be held before and after the parade.

Family Tickets

For a family (up to 6) tickets in advance are $35 and individual tickets are $30 in advance. On the day of at the gate sales, adds another $5 to each ticket. Free Fiesta Pooch Parade t-shirt with each registration.

Proceeds from this event support therapy animal teams as they visit the greater San Antonio area bringing the many benefits of human animal interactions to our vulnerable community members.

Fire Safety Tips

keta7598 — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:43:59 +0000

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Rare Opportunity

keta7598 — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:20:20 +0000

Do You Have Your Glasses?

The total solar eclipse on April 8, will occur when the Moon moves between the Earth and Sun completely obscuring the Sun. During totality, you may view the Sun without proper eye protection, such as solar glasses. But during all other phases of the eclipse, you should only look at the Sun when your eyes are protected.

1 Minute 12 Seconds of Totality

Here in the Gardens, we are fortunate to be within the edge of the totality viewing area.

Safety is the most important thing to consider during any solar eclipse.

Looking directly at the Sun is unsafe except during the brief total phase of a solar eclipse (“totality”), when the Moon entirely blocks the Sun’s bright face, which will happen only within the narrow path of totality (1 minute, 12 seconds here in the Gardens). Before and after totality, the only safe way to look directly at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as “eclipse glasses” or hand-held solar viewers. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe for looking at the Sun.

Solar Eclipse Map

The National Solar Observatory (NSO) is the national center for ground-based solar physics in the United States (www.nso.edu). Below is a link to their website with a GREAT solar eclipse map. You can zoom into any area and find the precise times that the totality of the eclipse will be visible.

As you can see, this may be a good time to plan a visit to your friends or relatives in the Hill Country.

Time Change

keta7598 — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 18:10:00 +0000

I don’t know about you, but every time we have to change our clocks, I grumble to myself (OK, not always just to myself!) about why can’t we just leave it on the REAL time.

When I ran across this article in the Saratoga Today Newspaper, it put a new light on “real” time for me. So, I thought I would share it with you.

High Noon

Local time once was set by the noon mark. Noon was defined to be the time at which the sun was directly overhead. This meant, for every approximately 69 miles travelled west, the moment of noon differed by four minutes. For example, the clocks in Boston were set about three minutes ahead of clocks in Worcester, MA.

For example, the clocks in Boston were set about three minutes ahead of clocks in Worcester, MA. This was all well and good, so long as one never left home, or only travelled north and south. When the idea of long-distance travel became more accessible with the advent of the railroads, defining time by “high noon” became problematic.

Railroads

On May 10, 1869, the era of trans-continental rail travel across the United States officially began. But did the trains run on time then? And if they did, who was to say, because whose time did they run on?

By 1879, there were about 500 railroad companies through the country. These companies defined their own time system, based on the local time of one of the cities in their region. To travel just from Portland, Maine, to Buffalo, New York, took passengers through four different time systems. Something had to change.

Father Time (Zones)

In 1868, Charles Ferdinand Dowd, a Yale graduate from Madison, Connecticut, together with his wife, Harriet Miriam North, moved from North Granville to Saratoga Springs where they established the Temple Grove Ladies Seminary. He put his mind to the problem of trains and timetables.

He did consider the uniform national time, as adopted in England, but studying solar times for 8,000 locations across the United States revealed time differences of up to 4 hours, so this was impractical.

National Time

In October 1869, Dowd presented a plan to the Convention of Railroad Superintendents. Following their approval, in 1870, Dowd published a pamphlet entitled “System of National Time for Rail-Roads”. In it he proposed 4 regions across the country, with “Washington Time” the standard time for Atlantic States. (He later modified this to start at the 75th meridian west of Greenwich, to stop arguments over Washington or New York). Similarly, the Mississippi Valley States would be one hour behind Washington Time, Rocky Mountain States two hours behind and Pacific States three hours behind. These divisions were based on approximately 15 degrees of longitude, and within each division, the time would be uniform.

Resistance

Unsurprisingly, there was reluctance to adopt the suggestion. Railway companies and their associated cities were unwilling to cooperate. Albany, New York City and Montreal were only different by a minute, but all insisted on keeping their own times.

13 Years To Implement

Dowd persisted with promoting his ideas. On November 18th, 1883, at 9am, the regulator clock at the Western Union Telegraph System building in New York City was stopped. After precisely three minutes and 58.38 seconds the clock was restarted, and this was the birth of Eastern Standard Time. During the day, a similar event happened at three other locations across the country to start Central, Mountain Standard and Pacific Times.

Let’s Rodeo, San Antonio

keta7598 — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:20:57 +0000

Western Heritage Weekend

February 2-4, 2024

Every year the kick- off the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo includes the Western Heritage Parade and Cattle Drive.

Along with the cattle drive, the parade features mounted infantry groups, authentic wagons, and heritage organizations to celebrate the western heritage and local culture of San Antonio and Texas.

Parade Route

On Saturday, February 3, the parade starts at 10:50. It begins he staging area at I-35 and Houston Street in downtown San Antonio and ends on Avenue E at the Alamo.

SA Stock Show and Rodeo

February 8-25, 2024

When I was growing up, my brother and I raised rabbits. We looked forward to the fall when the Fair came to town and we could enter one of our rabbits into the Stock Show at the Fair.

So, for me, the SA Stock Show and Rodeo is all about strolling the fairgrounds and barns, visiting with the youth who have brought their livestock in to compete. I also like to catch some of the action in the Youth Rodeo and marvel at the skill of these young contestants.

Fairground Admission

Fairground tickets for adults are $15, for kids and seniors $5. There is also a special $2 Thursdays offer. Of course, parking is additional. Maps and further details are on the website SARoder.com.

Family Entertainment

Throughout the day, around the Fairgrounds are a number of performances you can stop by and enjoy. Such as “Bustin’ in the Barn”, “Dan Dan the Farmer Man”, “Swifty Swine Pig Races”, and the “Purina Incredible Dog Team”.

Youth Rodeo

Events include Pole Bending, Goat Tying, Barrel Racing, Tie-Down Roping, Breakaway Roping, Ribbon Roping and Team Roping. In 2018, we began offering Saddle Bronc Riding, Bareback Riding, Bull Riding and Steer Wrestling.

Feb. 19 | 8 & Under/9-12 Age Group | Start Time: 2 PM

Feb. 20 | 13-15 Age Group | Start Time: 10 AM

Feb. 21 | 16-18 Age Group | Start Time: 9 AM

Feb. 21 | Youth Rodeo Finals (Includes Roughstock) | Start Time: Approx. 7 PM

Horse Events

Of course, the Horse Events are the real highlights: cutting, barrel race, breakaway roping, and team roping.

There is also an Escaramuza Charra, the only female equestrian event. The escaramuza means “skirmish” and consists of a team (8 riders) riding horses in choreographed synchronized maneuvers to music. Escaramuza blends equestrian skills, handcrafted tack, and beautiful costumes that help showcase the rich heritage and tradition of the mexican culture.

Analyses of Proposed Constitutional Amendments

keta7598 — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 17:30:00 +0000

Early Voting --- October 23 to November 3

As you are aware, the 88th Texas Legislature passed a total of 14 proposed amendments that are now on the ballot. Since the adoption of our current Texas Constitution in 1876, the legislature has proposed 700 amendments and we, the people, have approved 74% of them.

With 14 proposals on the current ballot, I have been looking for some sort of reference to help me make an informed decision. Here is what I have found.

Texas Legislative Council Analyses

“The mission of the Texas Legislative Council is
to provide professional, nonpartisan service and support
to the Texas Legislature and legislative agencies.”

For each proposed amendment, this publication contains the ballot language, an analysis, and the text of the joint resolution proposing the amendment.

For each proposition, the analysis includes:

Summary Analysis
Background
Detailed Analysis
Summary of Comments
– Comments by Supporters
– Comments by Opponents
Wording to be added to the Constitution if amendment is passed.

14 Constitutional Amendments

keta7598 — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 06:10:39 +0000

Early Voting

October 23 to November 3

14 Constitutional Amendments on Ballot

This year’s November election isn’t a presidential election and it does not include any federal offices, but there are 14 state constitutional amendments that voters must either approve or deny.

The propositions were sent to the ballot by state lawmakers and many will either create or alter state funds or affect taxes.

What changes do you want in our State Constitution?

Time to do a bit of homework so you can decide which of these 14 amendments you think should be approved.

As always, there are numerous websites on the internet to find discussions of each of these items. Unfortunately, in today’s world, they seem to either lean “right” or “left”. So find one of each and see which makes good rational sense to you.

To get you started, I found this PDF with the actual wording that should be on the ballot. (source: Texas Secretary of State)

Your vote really does matter!