Gardens of Oak Hollow

The Boy Who Designed the U.S. Flag

keta7598 — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:30:00 +0000

Flag Day

June 14, 2024

History

No country has changed its flag as frequently as the United States.

The current flag law was enacted in 1817 and permanently limited the number of stripes to 13. The stars were to correspond to the number of states, with new stars added to the flag the following Fourth of July. Star arrangement is not specified.

Throughout the 19th century a variety of exuberant star designs—“great luminaries,” rings, ovals, and diamonds—were actually used. Finally, in 1912, President Taft set forth exact regulations for all flag details.

The original, sometimes dubbed “The Betsy Ross”—though few researchers express confidence that Ross created the first flag—displayed 13 stars and 13 stripes, with the stars arranged in a circle.

High School Junior

In the late 1950s, as Alaska and Hawaii were being considered for statehood, then-president Dwight Eisenhower asked for design proposals for a new flag.

Young Bob Heft was a junior in Lancaster (Ohio) High School when his American History teacher gave the class the assignment to create a project that illustrated their interest in history. The 17 year-old Heft knew the new states would join the union, so he planned to design an American flag with 50 stars.

Bob took an old flag stored in a closet in his grandparents’ home and cut out its star-covered blue field and replaced it with $2 worth of blue cotton fabric. Using a cardboard pattern as a guide, he traced the stars on white iron-on tape and arranged them on the flag – five rows of six stars with four alternation rows of five stars.

Despite Bob’s hardwork on the project, his teacher gave him a B-minus for his effort. When Bob protested the teacher said he would change the grade if Congress accepted the flag design. Not easily daunted, Bob hopped on his bike and rode to the nearby home of Congressman Walter Moeller, who promised to take the flag to Washington.

Among the hundreds of submissions received, there were reportedly at least three for the current flag. Most famously, one of those had been sent by then-high school junior Bob Heft of Ohio, who had designed the 50-star flag for a class assignment. Heft, who died in 2009, received a B- from an unimpressed teacher, who reportedly called the design unoriginal.

Alaska and Hawaii joined the nation in 1959, and Bob received a phone call from President Dwight Eisenhower who told him his design had been accepted to replace the 49-star flag. It is estimated that more than 1500 people offered designs, and several produced the same star pattern. Yet, he was given credit for the design, which became our nation’s official banner on July 4, 1960.

Bob’s high school history teacher made good on his promise. Bob returned to Lancaster High School shortly after his design was accepted and his former teacher symbolically changed his B-minus grade to an A in honor of his accomplishment.

Heft’s design had earned its rightful “A” from his teacher—and he earned himself a visit to the White House.

Source: OhioMagazine.com

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

What Does “Bimonthly” Mean?

keta7598 — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 16:10:25 +0000

Twice a Month or Every Two Months?

According to Dictionary.com, Both!

Bimonthly can refer to something happening “every two months” or “twice a month.” Yep, bimonthly has, fittingly enough, two meanings.

You can always just be specific: “I’m setting up meetings twice a week” or “Let’s meet every other week.”

Or, you can take a page from British English’s playbook and use fortnightly. A fortnight is a period of two weeks. Fun fact: the fort in fortnight has nothing to do with Fort McHenry or the pillow forts you built as a kid. The word is smushed down from the Middle English fourtennight, from Old English fēowertēne niht—the span of fourteen nights (days).

Home Delivery is Back

keta7598 — Tue, 21 May 2024 16:30:00 +0000

I was delighted when James Balboa contacted me to let me know he is beginning his home delivery service again. Here is the information he provided.

About Our Delivery Service

We offer a weekly delivery service of fresh seasonal produce from our farm and locally sourced fruit. Each week, we will provide a list of produce to choose from.

Each delivery bag is $25 8 items varying slightly from week to week as the season progresses, as well as any extras that you may want at that time.

The list will be sent out via email every Sunday, and all orders placed by Wednesday at 7pm, and delivered on Friday.

How To Join

You can contact us in a number of ways, and we will get back to you as soon as possible:

Email: balboajames890@gmail.com
Facebook: Balboa Farms
Phone: (210) 467-8547

Extras You Can Order

$3 – Additional Produce
$6 – Farm fresh eggs
$15 – Pure Honey
$8 – Seasoning Blends (with or without salt)

o Season All

o Italian

o Mexican

o Chimichurri

Memorial Day

keta7598 — Tue, 21 May 2024 16:20:00 +0000

Next Sunday is Memorial Day and our Flags are posted throughout our Community. As I reflect about the meaning of Memorial Day as we honor those who have paid the ultimate price in defense of our Nation, I decided to share just a few items.

Ancient Roots

The practice of honoring those who have fallen in battle dates back thousands of years. One of the first known public tributes to war dead was in 431 B.C., when the Athenian general and statesman Pericles delivered a funeral oration praising the sacrifice and valor of those killed in the Peloponnesian War—a speech that some have compared in tone to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Early Commemoration

On May 1 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina, three weeks after the Confederate surrender, more than 1,000 people recently freed from enslavement, accompanied by regiments of the U.S. Colored Troops (including the Massachusetts 54th Infantry) and a handful of white Charlestonians, gathered in the camp to consecrate a new, proper burial site for the Union dead. The group sang hymns, gave readings and distributed flowers around the cemetery, which they dedicated to the “Martyrs of the Race Course.”

Decoation Day

In May 1868, General John A. Logan issued a decree that May 30 should become a nationwide Decoration Day to honor the more than 620,000 soldiers killed in the recently ended Civil War. Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of the war dead “whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land.” According to legend, Logan chose May 30 because it was a rare day that didn’t fall on the anniversary of a Civil War battle.

Why Is Flag Flying Half-Staff

keta7598 — Tue, 21 May 2024 16:10:00 +0000

Last Wednesday, May 15, I saw the Flag flying at half staff and I did not know why. So, I searched the internet to find out “why”. I learned that May 15 is Peace Officers Memorial Day.

As Far Back As 17th Century

The half-staff flag tradition dates back at least as far as the 17th century. The first documented instance was in 1612, when the crew of the British ship “Heart’s Ease” lowered its flag to half-mast after the captain, James Hall, was killed during an expedition to Greenland. It is believed that the gesture was meant to accommodate the invisible “flag of death” flying above the Union Jack.

Among the early references to flag lowering as a sign of mourning in the U.S. was upon the death of President George Washington in December 1799. The Navy Department issued issued an order that ships would express national mourning “by wearing their Colours half-mast high.”

U.S. Flag Code

The U.S. Flag Code grew from the concerns of Civil War veterans in the late 19th century that the national symbol was being misappropriated for commercial and advertising purposes. In 1923, in the wake of the First World War, the National Americanism Commission convened the first National Flag Conference to establish a set of rules for the civilian use of flags.

Eisenhower's Proclamation

But the rules for lowering flags to half-staff were loose until 1954, when President Dwight Eisenhower signed a presidential proclamation that standardized the dates and time periods for flying the U.S. flag at half-staff from federal buildings, grounds and naval vessels.

Eisenhower’s proclamation also provided that the president could order flags to half-staff in the event of the death of other officials, former officials or foreign dignitaries, or “in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law.”

In addition to Memorial Day, Congress has added additional annual observances over the years:

Peace Officers Memorial Day

May 15, sunrise to sunset. In 1994, Congress amended a 1962 law establishing Peace Officers’ Memorial Day and, ordering that flags fly at half-staff, unless the date fell on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May, in which case flags should fly at full staff. Pays tribute to the local, state, and federal peace officers who have died, or who have been disabled, in the line of duty

Memorial Day

Last Monday in May, sunrise to noon. Day of remembering the men and women who died while serving our country.

NOTE: Flags fly at half-staff only until noon on Memorial Day, and at full-staff on Veterans Day, which is meant to honor living veterans.

Patriot Day

September 11, sunrise to sunset. In December 2001, Congress designated September 11 as Patriot Day and ordered that flags fly at half-staff. In memory of the people killed in the September 11 Al Qaeda terrorist attacks of 2001.

Fallen Firefighters Memorial Day

First Sunday in October sunrise to sunset. In 2001, Congress passed a resolution ordering flags to half-staff in honor of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service, as part of National Fire Prevention Week.

Under a state law passed in 2011, Wisconsin Firefighters Memorial Day is observed on the Saturday at the end of Fire Prevention Week. National Memorial to career and volunteer fallen firefighters.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

December 7, sunrise to sunset. Established in 1994 to honor those who died as a result of the a941 attack on U.S. military forces in Hawaii.

Pipes Don’t Lie

keta7598 — Tue, 07 May 2024 16:30:00 +0000

For this Newsletter, I checked in with the San Antonio Water System and found some useful information and reminders.

Challenges to Our Sewer System

One of the biggest challenges to our sewer system is pre-moistened personal use and cleaning wipes.

Even though most claim to be flushable, in reality, these wipes don’t disintegrate like traditional toilet paper. Wipes bunch together with grease and debris, creating long, mop-like clumps that then clog our pipes and damage the sewer system.

We know wipes can be convenient and handy, but never flush them down the toilet.

The toilet is not a trash can.

What Not to Put Down the Drain

In addition to fats, oils and grease found in your favorite foods, products such as wipes can also cause our pipes to clog. Below are examples of what not to put down the drain.

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

Washington’s Mother

keta7598 — Tue, 07 May 2024 16:10:00 +0000

Mother's Day

Sunday, May 12, 2024

As we look forward to celebrating Mother’s Day next Sunday, I thought I would share some background about the mother of our country’s first President, George Washington.

In the history books, Mary Ball Washington has been cast as a villain and a saint—or written out entirely. In reality, she was an independent woman at a time when few others were.

“She has been the object of both meaningless praise and more often antagonism from writers who dreamed of a different mother for their hero George,” historian Martha Saxton writes in “The Widow Washington”, a biography of our first president’s deeply misunderstood mother.

Mary's Childhood

When Mary was 12, her mother died, and she moved in with her half-sister. Her religious education deepened at this time. She read devotional books, and was moved by many of their teachings. In time, Mary’s religious conviction gave way to a profound and long-lasting sense of inner strength—a contrast to the traits of submissiveness once associated with pious women.

Mary was 22 when she married Augustine Washington, a 36-year-old widower. They moved to a spacious plantation and had George in 1732. Over the next ten years they would have five more children (one, Mildred, died shortly after childbirth).

George's Childhood

In 1743, George was 11 years old when his father died. Mary was left to raise their five children and run Ferry Farm. While her property holdings (including roughly 20 enslaved workers) made her an eligible option for re-marriage, she chose not to do so. Rather than risk marrying someone unsavory and putting her children at risk, she decided to shoulder the burden of raising them on her own—another testament to her independent streak.

Despite her modest means, she did the best she could to provide her children with an improvised education. Although she could barely afford it, she loaned George money for dancing lessons, which she knew were essential for entrance into elite Virginia society. (He ended up paying her back.) Mary loved tea, and she trained all her children in the genteel art of tea serving and drinking, something George would carry with him his whole life.

Historians Weigh In

As the years went on and her children grew up or died, money became increasingly tight for Mary. Money soon became a contentious issue between her and her oldest son. For the rest of her life, she would occasionally write to him asking for small sums of money.

At one point, in a letter George complained to his brother “It is too much while I am suffering in every other way (and hardly able to keep my own estate from sale) to be saddled with all the expenses of hers“.

Historians point to this as evidence of Mary’s avarice or ineptitude, while ignoring that George was famously penny-pinching, even though he was worth an estimated $525 million in today’s dollars.

“The problem with some of the material about her is that it can make both people look bad,” Saxton says. “For example, if you start to use evidence about George not wanting to give his mother any money, you run the risk of making him look awful. So you have to spin a story in which she’s the villain.”

Mother's Day

Once a year, countries around the world celebrate Mother’s Day – a day dedicated to all mothers, so that we can show our appreciation. Mothers and mother-figures are indispensable. They’re likely the first people we ever know when we enter the world, and they love and care for us as we grow up.

While Mary was not without short-comings (as we all are), she raised a son who became an exceptional leader for our Country. So this year, in addition to giving thanks for my own mother, I want to gives thanks to Mary for raising her son, George.

Pony Tails & Bobby Socks

keta7598 — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 18:30:00 +0000

SPRING FLING 2024

Return to the 50s

4 to 6 PM, Sunday, April 28

Shadow Park South Commons

This is going to be a POT LUCK gathering, so bring a favorite dish to share. Plates, forks, and knives will be provided. Grab your lawn chair and favorite beverage and join your neighbors for a fun Spring Fling gathering.

There will be wonderful 50s music to bring back fond memories. If you want to dress in 50s clothes that would be fun, but totally optional.