Hurricanes are an awful display of nature’s power to crush our feeble claim on this planet. To a 10-year-old boy living near the Texas coast, they also can be a delightful adventure. (more…) Continue Reading →
To 10-year-old, Carla was a charmer
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Texas
Recent Posts
Stubborn but adaptable, Texas faces many challenges
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After spending the Republican National Convention in Texas, I can’t shake the feeling that the whole thing happened there. That is, of course, ridiculous. The convention was in Cleveland, Ohio, not Cleveland, Texas. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Texas
Letter from Texas, July 18, 2016
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In North Texas the temperatures are a degree or two cooler—Sunday topped out at 97—and the humidity is a couple of percentage points lower. Still, an hour’s walk through the Prairie Point Cemetery left us drenched in sweat, exhausted and almost queasy. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Bazette, Kerens, kolaches, Texas
Letter from Texas, July 16, 2016
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We’re off to Texas to settle my mother-in-law’s estate and to catch up with family. Anyone who has ever visited South Texas in July would understand why we wound up in Montana: Here we have relentless summer heat—a daily hundred degrees of heat, with humidity to match. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: News, huisache, Shiner beer, Spoetzl Brewery, Texas
‘If the states were bar patrons’—a hit and a miss
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You’ve probably all seen the latest list by now—”The 50 States of America if They Were Actually People in a Bar.” I know it’s been racing around the Internet. Based on my not particularly astute knowledge of this country, is seems fairly accurate. Two of my favorites were right next to each on the list:
“Texas is singing karaoke about how great Texas is.” “Utah is the designated driver, sipping on water and making sure nobody gets too crazy.” Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Montana, Texas, United States, Utah, Wyoming
Lancaster’s thoughts on rebel flag worth another read
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In light of all the attention being paid to the Confederate flag these days, I thought I should bring to your attention a fine op-ed piece that Craig Lancester wrote for Last Best News last August. In “The Confederate flag and the NDO,” Lancaster wrote about how, as a teenager, he and his classmates at Richland High School in North Richland Hills, Texas, rebuffed a request from the local chapter of the NAACP to remove that flag from the school’s letterhead, uniforms, etc. It is a good, timely piece, worth reading again. I should also update Craig’s bio at the end of the piece. It reads: Craig Lancaster, of Billings, is the author of the novels “600 Hours of Edward,” “Edward Adrift,” “The Summer Son” and the forthcoming “The Fallow Season of Hugo Hunter.”
Well, that forthcoming book has been out for a while, and his new forthcoming book is called “This Is What I Want.” Continue Reading →
Filed under: Last Best Blog, Confederate flag, Craig Lancaster, NAACP, Texas
Guest editorial: The Confederate flag and the NDO
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In 1986, when I was a junior at Richland High School in North Richland Hills, Texas, the local chapter of the NAACP came to my school with a request: It wanted us to drop the Confederate flag from our letterhead, our uniforms, the middle of our gym floor. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Billings, Confederate flag, Craig Lancaster, George Wallace, Jim Crow, NAACP, NDO, North Richland Hills
Mobile missionary ‘reaching many people’
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Dennis LaMotte’s Jeep, trailer, canoe and bicycle are all painted in camouflage green, but the paint wouldn’t hide it from the meter maids. That’s why he was looking to make change for a dollar when I ran into him Monday morning a couple of blocks east of the courthouse. He had to feed two meters to accommodate his mission on wheels. (more…) Continue Reading →
