thanks yall, lost maples

THANKS YALL

according to my historian brother 3 of the soldiers
in this picture were killed there

today use to be called armistice day
after the day ww1 ended
it was later changed to veterans day
to honor those americans who served in
the us military

in my family
my three older brothers served in the army air force and air force
all three served for 20 years
and served during the vietnam war era and later

my nephew served in the navy

my great nephew served in the marines in the
afghanistan/iraq war

my mothers brother was shot while serving in ww2 in
the marines in the pacific

my brotherinlaw served in the air force

my dads cousin was killed in ww2 at iwo jima

my brotherinlaws brother was killed in a plane crash while flying
missions in ww2

his other brother also flew missions in europe during ww2

his sister served in the military

thanks to all of them for serving our nation
and to those who made the ultimate sacrifice

stop today and be thankful to those who served for us
i know i do each year at this time

maybe we wont have wars for awhile

peace on earth please

LOST MAPLES

each year about this time we go to lost maples state park to hike
there and see the maple trees and red oaks change their leaves
just like the maples do in the northeast us

for some reason nature planted these big tooth maples in
the canyons along the sabinal river that runs through there
the micro climates were just right i guess
and theyve grown there for years and years and years

we try to guess which weekend each year and make our
reservations when the leaves will be just right

this year we missed by about 2-3 weeks
as weve had a lot of warm weather

we have been there enough that i actually have certain
trees in the park that i mentally use as markers for
how the leaf changes are that year
yes i remember them since thats not short term memory

many of these marker trees were green or just now
changing
these cold fronts coming through now should make for
a great show of leaves by thanksgiving

even without the great leaf change
the park as usual was beautiful and peaceful

its a weekend like this we need occasionally to
get recharged

the organicgreen doctor

zoooom zoooom

ZOOOOM ZOOOOM
thats the sound the car made this weekend
on the way back from lost maples

when i was growing up in southern arkansas
my younger brother the one with alzheimers and i went
together and bought a used ford fairlane two door
car that was two toned blue and white
it had one of those big engines in it that let you go faster
quicker than you really needed to be
a 350+- or a 457+-
whatever it was it was definitely more than we needed

around there we all knew where the good straight aways
were so we could zoom zoom and see how fast it could
go from a dead start

with some screeching tires

we didnt have to worry about police as there were never any
around
testosterone was really flowing high during this time

think the fastest we were ever able to go was 110+ on that
straightaway
move over nascar

(sad though that old car was destroyed one real foggy morning
while only going 30 miles an hour when i hit a large black angus
bull
at least i was not going fast)

so back to this weekend
ive been looking forward to this for several weeks
they put an extension to the toll road from austin to san antonio
you start out at 70 then 75 then 80 and then now
you can go 85 mph

yes thats 85 mph and its all legal
dang wish these things had been around when we had that old fairlane

so on the way back from lost maples we took our less scenic route
and went i10 to the new toll road extention near sequin texas
hopped on that road
pushed it to 5th gear
and zoooom zoooom
there i was up to the maximum speed limit

that felt so good
made me feel like a teenager again
my wife she sure kept an eye on me

(do you wonder how that picture of the speedometer was taken
you dont want to know)

know what route ill be going on from now on when i drive south
zoooom zoooom

the organicgreen doctor

rememberence, lost, romo gumbo

REMEMBERENCE

yesterday was veterans day
a day to remember those who have served in the military
especially those who lost their lives
these guys and gals are the ones that served to protect us
including protecting our right to vote last week

am thankful for the safe return of my nephew from his tour in
afghanistan
thankful for another nephew who served in the navy
thankful to my three brothers who served in the military
and retired after 20 years service
my rainwater brother my historian brother and my
older brother
thankful to my moms brother who served in the military
during world war 2
he was wounded while in the pacific war

thanks to my historian brother for reminding our family
members about our connection to this veterans day

LOST
my wife she and i go to lost maples state park
in the hill country just southwest of san antonio every year

if we catch the leaves just right
if the cold has hit some and
if the weather is just right
then the leaves on those maples can be as beautiful as
those you see in maine and vermont

see they are the same trees those maples
they got lost in this canyon in the hill country
thus the name lost maples

we always meet my two brothers and their wives there
and have 3 days together

my wife and i usually hike the first day
this year we did a hike up the western side for 5-6 miles
its interesting to see the difference in the vegetation and leaves
each year and
to see how the terrain has changed

this year the leaves were much greener and since we have
not had a lot of cold weather yet there was not much of the
beautiful leaf changes that you usually see

if you are a newcomer to lost maples go to the maple trail
at the start of the east trail
its only about an half mile walk
then go to the west trail and walk to the ponds
you can usually see a good variety of leaf changes on these
two walks

for those who are ergonomically challenged these are the best
trails to walk

ROMO GUMBO
im a big cowboy fan
its been a rough 15 years

we have romo gumbo
if youve eaten gumbo you know they have a little of everything
in there
it can be too hot and spicey or it can be too greasy or it can
be too gooey or sometimes it just seems to be just right
thats the way romo and the cowboys were last night
just right

despite how bad theyve played this year they still have a
chance to make it to the playoffs

hope the cowboy cook saved the recipe from last nights game

shout out to those aggies
great game with the bama guys
guess im glad yur in the sec now

good job longhorns of honoring darrell k royal this weekend
with that first wishbone play
am sure dkr would have liked that
good game horns

the hogs well there is always next year with yur new coach

the organicgreen doctor

lost maples, article, football

LOST MAPLES
every fall my wife she and i and my rainwater brother and his wife
and my historian brother and his wife go to the lost maples area for
the weekend

we rent a cabin on the frio river and enjoy the weekend together
enjoying the rustic environment
no cell phone we have works there
had some withdrawals but made it ok

my wife she and i go up early on friday and do a lengthy walk at
the lost maples state park
(see the lost maples website)
there are very few people there when we get there so we usually
have the trails to ourselves
(on the weekends in november they actually have traffic jams at
the park entry)

its so nice to be outside walking on the isolated trails up the hills of
the canyon where the maple trees grow
up to the plateau on the top of the canyon walls and look down
over the trees and lake and river

the funniest part of the trip was when my wife she backed into
a cactus (wont tell you what she was doing-it was isolated up there)
and had to have cactus spines removed from that area
ouch
sorry dont have a picture of that
too bad we were only half way on our hike

the maple trees found there are like the ones found in new england
this years colors were better than what was expected because of
the drought
here are pictures from past visits there

we also had lunch saturday at the the laurel tree
a restaurant near utopia texas that is in the middle of
nowhere
but
the atmosphere and food was fantastic
there are grounds around the restaurant that has herb and
vegetable gardens that are used in the meals
5***** recommendation



overall it was a great weekend with bros and in a slow paced
environment with great scenery
will do it again next year

jr thanks for the walking stick


ARTICLE
the article on the interview with the organicgreendoctor was not
published this weekend
whenever it is published will post the date on this blog


FOOTBALL
well we did manage to squeeze in some games on saturday evening
helped with the withdrawals
horns didnt look good-didnt help that their first 3 running backs
were out with injuries
hogs got it done-what if they beat lsu
those cowboys why cant they play like that all the time
they have found themselves a new running back for sure

one of my favorite players to watch this year is robert griffin
the qb at baylor
hes called rg3
recruited by texas to be an athlete
he said nope i want to play qb so he went to baylor
bet texas wishes he had gone to their school now
they could use him

he also is a junior and is working on his masters
if he doesnt go pro next year he will be starting law school
his senior year
my advice is go pro
he is a running quarterback and a true pocket passer
he should do well in the pros
think vince young talent who can play the quarterback position
like it should be played

its nice to see a player like this in college football

the organicgreen doctor