Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2022 i Texas Highways Magazine

Like many Texans, John Erickson has strong ties to the land that reared him. Despite short stints in Denver and Boston during his college years, the beloved Texas author has lived in the Panhandle most of his life. In fact, if it weren’t for his affinity for the region, generations of Texans might never have had the chance to fall in love with Hank the Cowdog, the main character in Erickson’s popular book series. Hank’s first misadventure was part of a collection of short stories, The Devil in Texas and Other Cowboy Tales, self-published by Erickson in 1982 through his imprint, Maverick Books. Called “Confessions of a Cowdog,” the Hank story wasn’t even Erickson’s favorite of the bunch. But his former neighbors in his hometown of Perryton let him know…

Cat Person As much as I admire anyone who can successfully travel with a cat, I do take exception with the statement that “Any cat is adaptable with enough patience” [“The Ultimate Guide to Traveling With Pets in Texas,” February]. I traveled between Fredericksburg and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, for nine years, usually with three cats. Two of them have a total aversion to car travel and have never gotten over it. They have motion sickness and are sick before I can even get out of the driveway. I tried herbal remedies, prescription drugs, and CBD oil for cats. Nothing really worked. Patience is important, but my cats didn’t get the message. Sue Ford, Fredericksburg A Helping Paw It was so nice to see the article about Guide Dogs of Texas…

Clothing designer Vera Vasiley’s Instagram feed boasts a photo of pop star Gwen Stefani sparkling in a rhinestone bra and hot pants. Hugging Stefani’s shoulders is one of Vasiley’s bespoke creations—a pink Western-style shirt embroidered with bright blue cacti, a cascade of silver fringe tumbling from the sleeves. Though some might be intimidated working with superstars, Vasiley knows her own worth. “People don’t understand,” she says, “I’m the biggest celebrity in my world.” Vasiley hails from the Russian city of Astrakhan, just north of the Caspian Sea, where she studied art and theater design in the late 1970s. Marriage to an American brought her to Fort Worth in the ’80s. When she arrived, she didn’t speak English or drive a car, but she knew her way around a cut of…

The Texas Legislature declared Navasota the “Blues Capital of Texas” in 2005 in recognition of blues musician and native son Mance Lipscomb (1895-1976). Tributes to Lipscomb exist around town: Mance Lipscomb Park features a life-size bronze statue of the bluesman playing guitar on a park bench; and the Classic Rock Coffee Company & Kitchen displays concert bills and an electric guitar once owned by the musician, plus a large mural on the side of its building pays tribute to Lipscomb and other musical talents who have made an impact on the region. Located about 10 miles south-east of downtown Navasota, 7D Ranch Texas offers cabins and tent and RV camping on its 1,600 scenic acres, where visitors can also participate in trail rides, roping and riding lessons, and other…

Trevor Nearburg is foraging for evening primrose just steps away from Beerburg Brewing in Austin on a sunny spring morning. The familiar pink blooms that carpet the Hill Country at this time of year have been used as a medicine for hundreds of years, and Nearburg, who is an herbalist as well as a brewer, is developing a beer made with the flower. Oil from the seeds contains gamma-linolenic fatty acids, which aid brain function and are believed to ease anxiety and depression. “Our first year, everything was a crisis, and I’m just now really able to focus entirely on the foraging,” Nearburg says of his brewery’s pandemic-era launch in January 2020. “It was always meant to be a meaningful experience, not a chore. In herbalism, one of the guiding…

Photographer Theresa DiMenno roams Texas’ backroads every spring in search of wildflowers to document. Staying closer to home in March 2020, she found this field of firewheel blooms near a South Austin retention pond. On a rainy and overcast day, the evening sun eventually broke through the clouds. “The landscape was extraordinary in its brilliance,” DiMenno recalls. This year, she is hoping for colorful blooms in the Hill Country, which received decent October rainfall. “I’ve got my eye on a little cabin west of Fredericksburg I’d like to stay in for a few days as a home base,” she says.…

March may be wildflower month here at Texas Highways, but one month is hardly enough to celebrate our opulent blooms. Luckily, wildflowers can be found nearly year-round across the state, provided you know where and when to look. Blooms are already popping in early January in the Rio Grande Valley and the Big Bend, while up in the Panhandle, wildflowers put on their show of colors from April to late fall. In the southern half of the state, wildflowers can bloom year-round. In the Chihuahuan Desert, wildflowers aren’t so much seasonal as opportunistic, waiting for rain to sprout. Mexican tulip poppies typically peak in February, and their only U.S. population blossoms in Mesa de Anguila and the valley between Mesa de Anguila and the Rio Grande in Big Bend National…

“I Texans who won’t plant, prune, or pick am just an average gardener,” says Neil Sperry, the McKinney resident who’s anything but average to generations of until he says it’s time. An accidental broadcaster and bestselling author, Sperry is Texas’ guru of greenery thanks to his syndicated Plant Talk Texas radio show carried daily by more than 30 stations across the state. Even if you’ve never pressed seed into soil, you’ve likely heard Sperry’s name or voice, so ubiquitous is the man who maintains he is just “blessed to have made my career writing and talking about my favorite hobby.” For 40 years, Neil Sperry’s Complete Guide to Texas Gardening has been a must-have resource for amateurs and experts alike. If you want to know what to plant—and where, when,…

Everett Gee Jackson didn’t plan to become an artist. Born in Mexia in 1900, Jackson enrolled at Texas A&M University in 1918 to study architecture. A professor recognized his artistic talent and urged him to become a painter, prompting Jackson to attend the Art Institute of Chicago. Jackson originally embraced impressionism, the popular style of the day, but on a 1923 trip to Mexico he befriended modernist muralists including Diego Rivera, who influenced Jackson’s approach. Back in Texas in 1927, Jackson painted Texas Bluebonnets for a Houston contest. The judges dismissed the piece’s modernist interpretation of the state flower, fellow artist Katherine Morrison Kahle told the San Diego Sun newspaper in 1934. Nevertheless, a crowd gathered to see the painting when it was displayed in Houston. Jackson moved to California…

CAJUN CAPITAL OF TEXAS GATOR COUNTRY Beaumont’s Gator Country is the place to visit to get to know all about scaly reptiles - and even hold a baby gator. The park is home to nearly 600 alligators but the headliners are Big Al and Big Tex, the largest alligators in captivity in Texas - certified by the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Both gators weigh in at 1,000 pounds and almost 14 feet in length. PUBLIC GARDENS Take in the beauty of Beaumont, Texas with a visit to our beautiful Botanical Gardens. A public garden located within Tyrrell Park, which includes the Warren Loose Conservatory - the second largest public garden in Texas. See camellias, modern and antique roses, bromeliads, and native plants connected by a paved walkway offering plenty…

Set among the East Texas plains and prairies, Navasota bills itself as the gateway to Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site—where Texas settlers declared independence from Mexico—and beckons visitors for springtime bluebonnet vistas. The Union Pacific laid tracks through Navasota in 1902, invigorating the farming community with new businesses and merchants while also attracting drifters on the hunt for an easy dollar. Downtown grew into a bustling district of bars and brothels; shootouts were not uncommon. In 1908, Frank Hamer—the Texas Ranger who later gained fame for tracking down Bonnie and Clyde—became city marshal and restored order. Navasota has come a long way since then. Historical buildings along Railroad Street and Washington Avenue have been refurbished as storefronts that blend contemporary tastes with authentic heritage. Houston 70 minutes Austin 2 hours San…

Good artists entertain. Great artists show us what we’re missing. They crack open our perspectives to reveal the details, angles, and colors we hadn’t noticed before. One could spend their whole life in Texas, for example, and never spot the false dayflower, which thrives in wooded and shady areas in Central Texas. But seen through the eyes of Austin photographer Chris Carson, the false dayflower’s translucent lavender petals gaze back alertly, almost human. Through photography, painting, collage, textiles, and sculpture, artists from across the state reveal floral wonders we might otherwise miss. And when we see these treasures with fresh eyes, the natural response is joy. ConsiderAustinite Elizabeth Chapin’s outrageous mega magnolia sconces. Many of us have admired the magnolia tree bloom’s soft white petals and sweet perfume. But Chapin’s…

A few yards down the gravel road from the Peeler Farms entrance, Ginger lies in the grass, swatting her tail under the South Texas sun. Guarded by a pack of fluffy Great Pyrenees, the amber-colored Akaushi—a breed of wagyu cattle—makes a fitting brand ambassador for the Peelers, a family dedicated to ranching with an experimental edge. Marianna Peeler, the owner of Peeler Farms, has become one of Texas’ premier purveyors of wagyu, a type of cattle originally from Japan that’s coveted for its tender, marbled beef. When she married Jason Peeler in 1990, she joined a family that’s been ranching in South Texas for more than a century. But Marianna initially kept her job as a kindergarten teacher in El Campo. As Marianna and Jason’s family grew and they moved…

FREE EVENTS GUIDE Want even more events delivered to your mailbox? Get a free subscription to the quarterly Texas Highways Events Calendar at texashighways.com/eventsubscription Every March, when Texas oysters are in their prime season, the Fulton Volunteer Fire Department celebrates the local bivalve with Oysterfest. The four-day event includes carnival rides, games, live music, and tens of thousands of oysters. The main draw is the oyster-eating contest, where contestants are given bags full of raw oysters The main draw is the oyster-eating contest, where contestants are given bags full of raw oysters to gulp down in 10 minutes. “Some people sit there and put their oysters on crackers as they eat them,” says Sharron Loflin, president of the Fulton Oysterfest Organization. “They don’t win.” The record for the men’s contest…