by Phil Houseal | Nov 26, 2025 | All Articles, Events, History, Philosophy
Nov 26, 2025–One of our favorite family excursions while raising our combined DNA was attending the Texas Folklife Festival. Held every summer on the grounds of the Institute of Texan Cultures in downtown San Antonio, the event gave us three days of wallowing in the...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 19, 2025 | All Articles, Events, History, Philosophy
Nov 19, 2025–Just got word that one of our family reunions has been discontinued due to lack of interest. I am trying to decide how that makes me feel. Family reunions were an essential part of growing up. A reunion served as a benchmark that brought home the far...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 12, 2025 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Venue
In 2019, Lee Ann Whatley set off on a scavenger hunt to track down all the original paintings done by her grandfather, Lee Ethel. Like every good treasure hunter, she uncovered more than she originally sought. Lee Ethel was a successful graphic designer in Dallas for...
by Phil Houseal | Nov 5, 2025 | All Articles, History, Music, Philosophy
Nov 05, 2025–We recently returned from a cross-country car trip to an undisclosed location for an undisclosed family event. Prepping for this excursion caused me great anxiety. For someone who never deviated from his weekly routine for, oh, two decades, driving...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 29, 2025 | All Articles, History, Music, Philosophy, Venue
Oct 29, 2025–Recently I had to embark on something I haven’t done, nor had the desire to do, for three decades: Travel. More specifically, I had to undertake a cross-country car trip. In my youth, traveling coast to coast and border to border was in my blood. In fact,...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 22, 2025 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Oct 22, 2025–What single-purpose tools facilitate your daily living? That is, what is a tool that does only one thing, but does it extremely well. So well, that you couldn’t function without it. You probably don’t even notice them. But here are some examples I came up...
