by Phil Houseal | Feb 10, 2021 | All Articles, Food, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Feb 10, 2021–A cousin compiling a family cookbook has been soliciting recipes. It got me thinking about the ways as kids we hacked food. The mother of most of our food inventions was literally our mother. Parents were forever trying to get us to eat nasty green...
by Phil Houseal | Jan 20, 2021 | All Articles, Events, People of the Hill Country
Jan 20, 2021–It’s a serious sport with a silly name. And it’s finally arrived in Fredericksburg. “I couldn’t believe a town like Fredericksburg didn’t have anyone playing pickleball,” said Marcy Guion, a retired teacher and coach who moved here with her husband,...
by Phil Houseal | Oct 14, 2020 | All Articles, Education, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Oct 14, 2020–As a marketing gimmick, I once tried to come up with a clever mascot for a university’s fictional athletic program. I couldn’t do it. I brainstormed the most insignificant or annoying animals and plants that would make a tongue-in-cheek T-shirt that...
by Phil Houseal | Sep 2, 2020 | All Articles, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
9/2/2020–You can’t keep a good dancer down. Recently I heard there was a gang of dancing rebels operating a “dance easy” in Fredericksburg. Apparently this loosely connected group of five or six couples gather on a weekly basis to… wait for it… dance in...
by Phil Houseal | Aug 5, 2020 | All Articles, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Aug 5, 2020–“Bro. Why is there a pencil on your tree.” Because. Because I recently built a pencil. An 8-foot yellow pencil. It’s hanging on a tree above my mailbox. Why did I feel the need to do that? Isolation does weird things to you. When work is caught up, and...
by Phil Houseal | Jul 8, 2020 | All Articles, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
July 8, 2020–We have a quarter-mile drive I’ve tried to repair for 25 years. When dry, it’s dusty and bumpy; when wet, it’s a muddy obstacle course. I’m convinced it has ruined the suspension on all my vehicles. Over the years we’ve patched it, bringing in loads of...
