Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2022 i Texas Highways Magazine

It’s a typical Thursday at the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center, which means there’s a Cooper’s hawk being treated for severe burns, an injured falcon, and a vulture in need of X-rays. The hawk, a wild creature that would normally fight its way out of this tiny room, lies on a table, completely still. Its damaged talons are covered in thick white burn cream. A falconry hood covering its eyes lessens stress by reducing visual stimuli to keep the bird calm. It’s a strange sight: a stealth hunter in a rare moment of tranquility. “We will not turn one down,” says Hailey LeBaron, the center’s rehabilitation manager, after the phone rings again and a volunteer rushes out to pick up yet another injured raptor in North Texas. The Blackland Prairie Raptor…

More than 6 million Texas households—over half—have a furry (or scaly, or feathered, or gilled) friend to call their own. That number grew significantly during the pandemic with nearly one in five households in the U.S. adopting a new pet. Despite cautionary tales of owners abandoning their pets once workplaces opened back up, no such phenomenon has been recorded. It seems our four-legged, slithery, and winged friends are here to stay. While new owners may have grown comfortable sharing a house with their animals, many wonder how they’ll care for their pet while traveling. Boarding can cost a small fortune, and owners may be wary of leaving their animal with a stranger. Whether by car, camper van, or plane, people are increasingly opting to take their pets on the road.…

Soul food classics like fried chicken, collard greens, and mac and cheese are deeply rooted in African American history and culture, so it takes a daring individual to reinvent these beloved classics. At Soul Food Vegan in Houston’s Third Ward, chef Tramone “Taliek” Terry has done just that—modernizing the cuisine by making it entirely vegan and incorporating unconventional ingredients like spelt and moringa. On a bright October day, Terry sits in the tented patio of Soul Food Vegan. Behind the tent is the garden where he grows the collard greens the restaurant serves. Inside the restaurant, delightful smells and a smooth R&B soundtrack greet customers as they order at the counter. Reflecting on his journey to open the restaurant, Terry is enjoying the moment—taking it all in. “It’s crazy,” he…

Ornette Coleman, 1930-2015: alto saxophonist and composer regarded as a master for his unconventional approach to jazz melodies, timing, and ensemble playing. King Curtis, 1934-1971: versatile tenor saxophonist who helped define rock ’n’ roll playing with the likes of Aretha Franklin and the Coasters. John Carter, 1930-1991: clarinetist and composer who formed the influential New Art Jazz Ensemble in Los Angeles, where he also taught at USC. Julius Hemphill, 1938-1995: alto sax player who co-founded the World Saxophone Quartet, prominent in New York’s “loft-jazz” scene in the 1980s. Prince Lasha, 1929-2008: free jazz multi-instrumentalist best known for his alto saxophone on 1960s recordings by Eric Dolphy and Elvin Jones. Charles Moffett, 1929-1997: drummer who played on seven Ornette Coleman albums in the ’60s, when he’d pared down to a trio.…

About 20 miles north of downtown Houston, Spring is a charming suburban area with a remarkable history and culture. While not an official town but instead a “census designated place,” the unincorporated Spring area has a population that tops 60,000 and plenty to attract visitors for one great day trip. Old Town Spring Spring’s history dates to the 1800s when it was established as a trading post on nearby Spring Creek. Today, the small buildings in Old Town Spring are occupied by mom-and-pop businesses selling everything from crazy hats (The Hat People) to handmade bath salts (Connie’s Bath Shack). If you want to travel the world, check out Goodwoods British Market or The Little Dutch Girl for authentic food and gifts. And if you’re hungry, look no further than Trilogy…

Veronica Harris lives not far from Willie Melton Boulevard, the Kendleton road named in honor of her late grandfather. Melton, a farmer born in 1900, led a legal effort in the early 1950s to end Fort Bend County Democrats’ informal whites-only primary elections. Melton’s lawsuit went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Melton’s favor. The story is memorialized on a historical marker at the Kendleton Post Office and exemplifies the town’s rich African American history. Freed slaves founded Kendleton in the 1860s after buying land from a plantation owner named William Kendall. Kendleton grew as a farming community, and a railroad came through in 1882, linking the town to Rosenberg and Victoria. Harris has lived most of her life in her hometown even as the agricultural economy waned…

When writer John Steinbeck set off with his poodle, Charley, on a 10,000-mile road trip around the United States in 1960, it was to rediscover a country he believed he had lost touch with in his years as a high-flying literary mega-celebrity. When I set off with my poodle mix, Cleo, to recreate the Texas leg of Steinbeck’s trip—in honor of the 60th anniversary of his bestselling book Travels With Charley: In Search of America—it was to better acquaint myself with the state I had moved to only a year earlier. To honor both Texas and Steinbeck, I intended to greet every step of the journey with the warm heart, open mind, and sturdy stomach of a seasoned traveler. Still, I didn't expect to find myself in the middle of…

Red velvet cake makes a fitting treat for Valentine’s Day, with its traditional white frosting and brilliant red interior. But the cake didn’t used to be so vibrant—not until one Texas company, Adams Extract, gave it its signature crimson hue. John A. Adams launched his namesake food flavoring company in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1888. He initially produced a sarsaparilla extract and eventually expanded his product line to satisfy his wife’s desire for flavoring that could endure baking or freezing. He formulated Adams Best, a potent vanilla flavor, to do just that. Seeking a better climate, he moved his family and operations to Beeville in 1905, at first selling his wares door to door. Eventually, his son Fred Adams took over the business and relocated it to Austin in 1922.…

I.M. TERRELL HIGH SCHOOL was the pride of Fort Worth’s African American community for almost 90 years before its closure in 1973. In the revitalized Near Southside neighborhood, Evans Avenue Plaza remembers Terrell students and teachers. Sidewalk plaques convey stories of those who made a difference, including legendary teacher and administrator Hazel Harvey Peace, known as “Mama Hazel” during her 48 years at Terrell; and Isaiah Milligan Terrell, an influential educator and the school’s namesake. Plaques also honor musicians Ornette Coleman, King Curtis, Dewey Redman, and Ray Sharpe (“Linda Lu”). Last summer, 95-year-old Terrell alum Opal Lee, class of 1943, celebrated Juneteenth by leading a 2.5-mile march from Evans Plaza to the Tarrant County Courthouse on June 19, 2021—the day “Juneteenth” was declared a federal holiday. Evans Avenue Plaza is…

My parents raised my sister and me in a small town about 40 miles outside of Houston. But to say that I grew up in a small town isn’t exactly accurate. My childhood home was in the country, on 10 acres of trees and pastures without another house in sight. I loved that land. I loved the Brazos River, the constant noise of it whenever we opened one of the doors to our house. I loved the sound of the gravel road under my sneakers, the fences and trees eaten up by mustang grapevines. Though 15 minutes away from our home, Sealy was where I went to school from kindergarten through high school. It was where my family picked up our mail, where we went to the library, and where…

Brian Dalton did not want to go into the family business. By the time he was a teenager, he’d had enough pickle talk. “I don’t think there was a single Thanksgiving or family meal where there wasn’t a discussion about trucks or cucumbers or customers,” says Brian, CFO and president of Best Maid Pickles. Besides, his aspirations were musical. A star trumpet player who made the McDonald’s All American band his senior year, Dalton headed south from Mansfield to Waco to pursue a music degree at Baylor University. He thought his road might lead to the great performance halls of New York City, but after graduation, he decided a career in music might not provide enough financial support. So, he returned home to find a stable job. The pull of…

While saxophonist Ornette Coleman’s pioneering style won him a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2007, the early iterations of his “free jazz” didn’t fly when he was in the band at Fort Worth’s I.M. Terrell High School. The Panther Band’s loud volume usually masked his mischief, but one day during John Philip Sousa’s “Washington Post March,” band director Gilbert A. Baxter heard Coleman peppering the arrangement with sax riffs of his own invention. Baxter responded by sending Coleman to the principal’s office. “All of us who were into jazz probably got put out a few times,” Coleman’s cousin and manager, James Jordan, also a sax player at Terrell, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2003. “Coleman, more.” Baxter was known for his stern and steady direction of the Terrell band, a…