Tag Archives: Texas

In Memoriam

Posted on November 7, 2009 | Comments Off on In Memoriam

Fort-hood.jpg

Via Lone Star Times.

Want to help?

Chaplain’s Fund Office
Bldg 44, 761st Tank Battalion Ave.
Fort Hood, TX 76544-5000
Checks should be made payable to COTF (Chapel’s Tithes and Offerings Fund) with a note on the memo line stating "Nov. 5 Tragedy."

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Posted in Obituaries, Texana, The War, Troops

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The Come and Take It cannon

Posted on October 3, 2009 | Comments Off on The Come and Take It cannon

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I knew there was a lot of disagreement about this cannon from the Texas Revolution. Apparently this is the very one. Unless you believe the versions that say it was lost long ago and never found. The Gonzales version, seen here in the Gonzales Memorial Museum, supposedly was made by a local blacksmith. He must have been expert, indeed. The version I always heard was that the Mexican army loaned the little popgun to the American colonists to help fight off Indian attacks. Who else would something that small impress? The “Come and Take It” slogan of the time, referring to the Mexican demand for the cannon back, is from the ancient Greek, Molon labe.

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Posted in Texana

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Armadillo claims X Prize

Posted on September 13, 2009 | Comments Off on Armadillo claims X Prize

The rain cleared off long enough earlier this evening, at Caddo Mills northeast of Dallas, for Armadillo Aerospace to claim the X Prize Foundation’s million dollar award for a private rocket capable of taking off, flying for a hundred eighty seconds and landing precisely on a simulated lunar surface. Two videos here show the vertical takeoff and vertical landing rocket doing the trick.

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space, Texana

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Pretty country

Posted on August 6, 2009 | Comments Off on Pretty country

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Pasture near Bledsoe, Texas, west of Lubbock, in the Panhandle. From this realtor’s site. Probably taken one spring, long before the current drought. Or drouth, as the oldtimers used to say.

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Posted in Texana

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Texas: Pre-flood

Posted on July 19, 2009 | Comments Off on Texas: Pre-flood

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How bad is our drought? This bad. But I feel sure there’ll be major flooding by late fall.

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Posted in Scribbles, Texana, Weather/Climate

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Fort Mason

Posted on June 18, 2009 | Comments Off on Fort Mason

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The federal infantry and cavalry forts of Texas were not the palisaded stockades of the movies.

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Posted in Texana

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Polar bear club

Posted on February 21, 2009 | Comments Off on Polar bear club

We made the Cub Scout topaz hunt in Mason County this afternoon out in the western Hill Country (didn’t find any but it was fun digging for them in a dry creek bed) but skipped the overnight campout. Stopped in Fredericksburg for supper then came on back to find the weather service out there pegging the temp at this hour at thirty-four degrees. Their forecast low will be twenty-three, cold enough to freeze their water bottles. The pack leader said all who stayed would be eligible for the "polar bear" belt loop. Most of them are in tents. Our den leader brought his Airstream trailer. We’re glad we’re missing it.

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Posted in Mr. Boy, Texana

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