THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER

First freeze of the year for us out there at the moment, which will probably blacken the nice green elephant ears in the rancho’s front flower bed. But this is mild (only 30 degrees) compared to the one that walloped Tulia, Texas this morning back in 1899. Forty thousand cattle dying overnight? Yipes.

…is that it gradually induces honorable behavior, even if it takes the better part of a lifetime. Thus it did not surprise me when Mr. Boy returned from his latest camping trip—to a beautiful, watered ranch in the hills near Driftwood—and his stint as patrol grubmaster, with a bunch of squishy, black bananas, two of [...]

These wildflowers on the Golan Heights this time of year remind me how much alike the Texas hill country and Israel are, because we’re approximately on the same latitude and our climates are similar. Our wildflowers also are coming out all over, and although it’s getting steadily warmer, an occasional cold front  still blows through [...]

“That’s the question my father often asks me on our way home from the airport in Texas. ‘So what do people think about what’s going on…..about Prime Minister Netanyahu…..about the revolution in Egypt?’” Humor with bite from Benji Lovitt in Jerusalem. My friend, Snoopy-the-Goon, for one, says many Israelis have given up on the idea [...]

And, in addition to the similarity of their national (oops, make that state and national) flags, Texas has plenty of business relations with the Jewish State—especially when it comes to drilling for natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean that may replace Israel’s dependence on a now-uncertain Egypt.

We have a thin covering of ice and snow at the rancho where it’s 22 degrees F.

Mr. B. left a short while ago with two chums and one of their fathers for an overnight camping trip with the Boy Scouts on a private ranch near Bastrop, their final Cub Scout Webelos II requirement. S’posed to be in the 40s out there tonight with a good chance of showers. Mrs. C., of [...]

That’s Aurora, Texas, son, also styled “the town that almost was,” population just 1,144 as of two years ago. Northwest of Fort Worth. The truth of the, uh, space alien depends on to whom you speak. The chamber of commerce, if there is one, will have its confirmation, too, I’m sure. If only by word-of-mouth. [...]

The permitting, via the executive branch’s EPA, beginning Jan. 2 that is, “on greenhouse-gas permits for companies seeking to build or upgrade power plants and oil refineries…” Goodbye strong economy and high employment, hello increases in electric bills and the cost of gasoline—all to “stop” alleged global warming. The state will go to court, of [...]

The hero of Cinco de Mayo, i.e. the unlikely defeat of the French at Puebla, a wonderful story (the frogs were taking a coffee break when the Mexicans attacked) never better told than here. The general was born near Goliad, where his statue is today. His father was a soldier at the nearby Precidio La [...]