by Phil Houseal | Apr 19, 2023 | All Articles, Events, Music, Philosophy
April 19, 2023–Music stands have always bothered me, but I couldn’t pinpoint the reason. I remember buying my first one as a 5th-grade snare drummer. It was a clever contraption that folded up to fit in a backpack. Handy. But it was also flimsy when set up. Even a...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 12, 2023 | All Articles, History, People of the Hill Country
April 12, 2023–Texas has a knack for producing more than its share of memorable public figures. There is no denying one of those was Ann Richards, regardless of your political bent. The former governor’s aura was larger than the Lone Star State itself, and by the end...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 5, 2023 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
April 5, 2023–Who else hates board games that take longer to set up than to play? The only ones worse are games that take longer to play than to set up. I was thinking of this because we’ve been pulling out all those boxes of games to play with our grands. You know,...
by Phil Houseal | Apr 3, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, Music, People of the Hill Country, Venue
April 3, 2023–After eight years at its helm, and more than three decades as one of its biggest fans, Mary Muse is stepping down as Executive Director of the Kerrville Folk Festival (KFF) following this year’s event, effective June 30, 2023. “For Bill and me both, we...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 29, 2023 | All Articles, Education, History, Philosophy
Mar 29, 2023–Here’s a modest proposal for hyperactivity in pre-teens: let them be kidnapped by Comanches 150 years ago. Hear me out before howling. I’ve been reading the stories of the Hill Country children who were taken into the Comanche and Apache tribes in the...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 22, 2023 | All Articles, Education, Events, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy, Venue
Mar 22, 2023–One Wednesday every month I have a date with a special lady. Since last fall, “Pearl” and I have programmed robots, designed circuits, studied bugs, and built structures. You see, Pearl is my 7-year-old granddaughter, and our dates are to the Science Mill...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 15, 2023 | All Articles, Education
March 15, 2023–When I first came to Texas, I almost got sent back over the Red River. It was at a club in San Antonio when I asked a native Texan where I might attend the ballet. What followed was awkward silence and a stare that made me feel like I was in a saloon in...
by Phil Houseal | Mar 9, 2023 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Mar 8, 2023–I hate old memories; I prefer making new ones while I’m able. What’s wrong with memories? Three things: 1) They are never true. 2) They are embarrassing 3) They don’t help create the future. 1) Memories are never true I was raised in a litter of nine....
by Phil Houseal | Mar 1, 2023 | All Articles, History, Philosophy
Mar 1, 2023–Attending an event recently, I discovered I’d forgotten my phone. So I actually kept my head tilted up and gazed over the crowd seated around me. You know what I noticed? The hair. I was bobbing amidst a sea of white-topped heads. They looked like inverted...
by Phil Houseal | Feb 22, 2023 | All Articles, Food, History, People of the Hill Country, Philosophy
Feb 22, 2023–A native Texan who worked one summer for a farmer in Iowa was describing the experience: “I’d help during the soybean harvest. At noon, his wife would drive out into the field in the family station wagon, open the tailgate, and there would be a full...
