Saturday in the park

Even after nearly six years of drought, there is still some water flowing.

I think it was the 17th of October. My apologies to Chicago, and to the 4th of July.

A couple weeks ago, my better half said, "We should go away for the weekend. It doesn't have to be far." Now this was a surprise, as she has, for more than 47 years, been adamant that we had to be home and in church on Sundays (and on the rare occasions we have been on travel, we have, at her urging, sought out an LDS congregation to attend church with). Planning relaxing and fun away-type events has been difficult as normal weekends are really short and Sunday falls smack in the middle of most three-day-weekends. I'm less devout and would gladly skip the meetings occasionally, but when Momma's not happy, nobody's happy.

So, with some trepidation, I began to plan a mini-vacation not far from our San Antonio, Texas home. In the fall, Lost Maples State Natural Area near Vanderpool, Texas can be beautiful. As the state's website (http://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/lost-maples/nature) tells us:

The park is an outstanding example of Edwards Plateau flora and fauna. It is a combination of steep, rugged limestone canyons; springs; plateau grasslands; wooded slopes; and clear streams. It features a large, isolated stand of uncommon Uvalde bigtooth maple, whose fall foliage can be spectacular. Generally, the foliage changes the last two weeks of October through the first two weeks of November...

Rare species of birds, such as the green kingfisher, can be seen year-round. The endangered black-capped vireo and golden-cheeked warbler nest and feed in the park in spring and early summer. Wild animals include gray fox, white-tailed deer, armadillo, raccoon, bobcat, rock squirrel and javelina.

Picnic and play area; river behind photographer.

The park also boasts a great tree-covered grassy picnic and play area with shaded picnic tables. Now I don't have a positive history when it comes to planning outdoor events. At MY outdoor events, the weather generally does not cooperate, and has, in the past, ranged from July snowstorms to January thaws and includes at least one family picnic event interrupted by a small Tornado that claimed our picnic and gear, lit charcoal grill and all, which is a rare event in San Antonio. Nevertheless, I invited family members in the San Antonio area to join us for a Saturday picnic and lawn games and just pretended that all would be well. 

Our original plan was to rent a cabin in the nearby Garner State Park, and do some civilized camping, but when I learned that the cabins cost $160 per night, I decided that "camping" in a reasonably priced hotel in the town of Kerrville would be just as much in the pioneer spirit for folks our age.  So two nights in a hotel less than 100 miles from home. That counts as a vacation doesn't it?

We met our son, his wife, and our grandson at the Cracker Barrel near our hotel at 9:00 AM on Saturday and after a hearty breakfast, we picked up some prepared chicken and salad then traveled south, with my eldest son at the wheel, on the famously twisty two-lane Texas Highway 16 (http://www.hillcountrycruising.com/highway16.html) to the town of Medina, where we turned West on the slightly more civilized route 337, thence to the park.

Most of the trail is shaded.

We were in the park just long enough to claim and set up a shaded table when our youngest daughter arrived with a friend. The picnic party was complete! It turns out the weather was fabulous, the food was tasty, we had great fun playing horseshoes, throwing a frisbee, hiking the park's trails, and just lazing in the shade while socializing. A few of us even got in a short nap on blankets spread on the lawn. A little after 4:00 PM we packed up and headed home (or headed hotel, as appropriate). Great family time, beautiful natural setting, and cooperative weather, sunny but not hot, fluffy clouds to excite the imagination. Everyone's travels home were safe and timely. My better half was in good spirits and happy, even knowing we would not be home Sunday morning for church. And, as it turns out, an old friend happened to be traveling through the area and we were able to meet for a great reunion brunch on Sunday morning. A truly blessed Saturday and Sunday. The motel was my kind of camping, clean and safe with running hot water, and for so very much, I give thanks!

The color change is slow this year due to warm weather, but it has begun!

Close counts in horseshoes!

Grandson at pirate play.

EZ Sunday brunch

My eternal companion and I enjoyed a great brunch with a dear friend of many years and her husband this Sunday at the Sunset Grill in Fredricksburg, Texas. They are in Texas from their Colorado home for the wedding of a niece and brought along a sister-in-law and brother-in-law (not a couple) to join us. Conversation ranged from ancient war stories to current concerns of aging families and medical concerns to the little-known German, Hungarian, Polish, and Italian history of the Texas Hill Country and much joyous laughter and heartfelt empathy occurred. The food and service were great and the early fall weather was pleasant. Sometimes simple things really are the best. We passed up church attendance for the opportunity to meet and eat with these special friends, and I am NOT sorry!

This is not an EZ discussion, but it is one we need to have.

The mass shootings are horrible, and I believe that we, as a society, have a moral responsibility to take preventative action. Now, what we need is to define a meaningful course of action.

Help me out here: considering recent history which includes mass shootings where the law forbids firearms, what do we do? 

Help me to define a law or an action that would have prevented this most recent shooting, or one of the earlier ones. *How* do we make sure the crazy, sick, angry and lost people don't get a gun (or a knife, or a bat, or a rock -- FBI statistics show that more people are murdered with a knife in the U.S. than with a gun)? 

Norway has some of the world's most strict firearm laws, yet Anders Behring Breivik was able to bypass them all, obtain weapons, and kill many youngsters. There have been mass shootings in Finland and other non-U.S. lands. In fact, when corrected for population density, The top 5 countries for mass shootings per capita all have “restrictive” gun policies--the U.S. is seventh in that list when corrected for population density. 

Perhaps it is a culture of violence (movies, games, music) and a lack of respect for human life (capital punishment, easy abortions) that is to blame?

Apple vs Google -- EZ? No.

I am very frustrated and angry this morning and I need to vent somewhere, so here it is - ignore if you wish:

I have had a habit of starting my morning with some simple yoga-like stretches and exercises. To help with motivation and avoid distraction, I've played a yoga-meditation music video from YouTube through my Apple TV device through the TV in my den. As of this morning, I can't do that. Why? Because YouTube has changed their API interface and Apple is not going to support the new standard unless you have a NEW Apple device. My Apple TV device is a couple of years old. While it can still play Netflix and a bunch of other free and pay stuff, the only regular use this one got was my Yoga music video. Here is the downside to the "Cloud." The vendors can change the rules, remove functionality, at any time they choose to do so, and we, the paying consumer are....well, let me just say helpless. I am perfectly happy to buy new devices when I NEED to upgrade or choose to add new functionality. I'm not happy to have functionality taken away from a device I paid for because of the calculated decision of the vendor. Imagine Google saying, "Oh, that self-driving car you paid $50,000 for--it will no longer drive on county highways. State and Federal roads only. I think I'm done with new technology. I'm definitely done with You Tube (Google) and Apple. The next devices I buy, if any, won't have any relationship to either company. Google has had a lot of my life--including this Blogspot. Apple has gotten a lot of my money. I'll respect my current contracts, but I won't be renewing any Apple or Google contracts. I'll do without Email or pay someone for the service before I'll continue my association with them.

TL;DR: Money ain't everything

I wish we had a truly fair and equitable way to fund public education in Texas and all states -- a good (and safe) educational opportunity should be available to all -- and high completion rates should be a goal we can all support. Having said that, I don't think that funding is the only issue to address. The U.S. outspends nearly all countries of the world on education per student (only Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Norway spend more per student). TEXAS, for Pete's sake, outspends Sweden, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, France and most of the other countries. Yet in Texas and most of the US our educational outcomes are comparatively dismal. Some of the states with better results spend less per student, some of the highest-spending states have poor results. (SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2014). The Condition of Education 2014 (NCES 2014-083), Public School Expenditures.) 

Dare I say that some of the responsibility must lie at the feet of the family (or, more accurately, at the lack of familial support and guidance)? The U.S. Office of Special Education Programs says, " “When parents become involved, children do better in school, and they go to better schools." 

I think this is key. We need social policy that promotes family involvement (and the ability to be involved) in the raising of children. And "family" can be very broadly and liberally defined. Maybe the ONLY place I fully agree with Ms. Hillary Clinton is in the statement that, "It takes a village." We need parents who will (and are allowed to) hold our schools (public or private) to high standards. And, on a side note, I believe that standardized testing should only be an indicator of where work is needed and certainly not the be-all and end-all of school and student evaluation. 

Well, that's my essay for the day.

The circle of life

Today, in church, the funeral schedule was announced for the remembrance of a dear older sister who recently passed after a decades-long struggle with cancer. The birth of a new baby to another family was announced, and another baby girl, the grand-daughter of the sister who passed, was blessed. Her grandfather, husband of the recently departed, stood in the blessing circle. Life, with its pain and joy, is affirmed, the rituals strengthen and comfort, the hand of friendship is offered, and life goes on.

I am. And that's not even EZ!

Note the power in the phrase, “I am.” As in Je suis Charlie.

A friend who is a practitioner of Wicca tells me that, in her opinion, all incantations and spells should begin with the phrase, “I am,” as the intent is to work change on and within the spell-caster and not others.

The Bible tells us that Christ was the great “I am.” John 8:24 (KJV)

Over the past week, I’ve been watching the Netflix series Cosmos narrated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. In the most recent episode I viewed, he stated that a great differentiating factor between human intelligence and that of other life forms is our advanced capability to recognize patterns and connect those patterns to other (possibly) related patterns or events.

Je suis Charlie.

Jesus. I am.

I don’t know the linguistic connection between the modern French Je suis and the American English name for the Biblical Son of God, Jesus, but it does appear that there is a pattern there!