Hunting Season in South Texas

Saturday, November 1, 2008 started this year's deer hunting season in South Texas. While hunting as a sport may be declining in the United States as a whole, it's part of the rhythm of normal life in Laredo. Boys, of course, but many girls also, are taught, before their teenage years, the skills of shooting and the joys of the sport. The best seasons of the year (fall and winter) reward those spending time out of doors, and enjoying the rituals of the hunting life.

First you have to learn the language of guns, ammo, trophy measurements. Next, the firearm skills, the proper setting of blinds, and the necessity of having the proper ranch vehicle--usually old and properly camouflaged. Enjoying campfires, the beautiful star filled night skies, and the listening to coyote howls come easily from earlier fishing expeditions.

Some are squeamish about feeding your deer prey for weeks before with carefully dropped corn. But at least we don't shoot them from helicopters as they apparently do in Alaska!

After the hunting season, Laredoans would gather for an annual "Fiesta Caseria" --a wild game dinner and dance. This event would raise money for the Santander Museum, and later the Children's Museum. Our overly protective "nanny" City Health Department decided, in the 1980's to shut the Fiesta down--for some esoteric health reasons. So now we can take our changes eating our own wild game and to heck with---. Well, real Texans still eat venison, quail, and some rattlesnake.

So, aim well, enjoy the South Texas Brush Country, and eat well afterwards.

Back To School

My favorite time of the year has always been the fall, especially September. Not for the change of leaves (not yet in Laredo), but because it is the season for change in daily life. A new "grade" or "school year" for students, a change in routine for parents, and a fresh start for many. I know it's mostly psychological, whatever that means for you, but this time of year has always represented to me a new start at something. It's another chance at a winning season for your football or hockey team, a chance to make your personal "dean's list", or to start a college class no matter what your age. So regardless of terrible hurricanes, personal disappointments, and the falling economy--it's September and that's good.

Vacation

Yes I did miss an entire month without posting a blog! As a good Laredoan I did "head out of Dodge" when the opportunity for visiting a colder clime arose. We, that's me and part of my family and some good friends, spent several weeks in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. People live in Laredo (when they could move elsewhere) for its' "small town" feel, and that great weather from September to May. It's difficult to go to a restaurant in Laredo without seeing someone you know enough to exchange more than "hello". Friends, relatives, acquaintances are always popping up in Laredo public venues. That said, it's great to be able to escape for a while to Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and other downright "cool" summer destinations.

While I've been gone we have had two election winning sheriffs--which one was the winner at any specific moment depended on their most recent election recount or court decision. Also, some four lane streets where turned into two lane chicanes(that's a road racing term for the part of the race a driver turns right then left then right again to avoid barriers). While some two lane avenues are widened to four lanes just in time to squeeze back to two? But then again this the Laredo summer season of avoiding heat exhaustion and other debilitating disorders.

It's good to be back, however, and hope to be in contact with you, or anyone out there, more often.

Summer is Here!

There are only three really dreadfully hot months in Laredo--June, July, and August. Even so, if you are going from your air conditioned house to your air conditioned pickup to your air conditioned place of work--well? You might also be fortunate enough to have a pool to enjoy; it's amazing how cool 90 degree water can be in 105 degree air temperature. Of course, there is also the constant daylight sun to keep your spirits up--no cloud induced "cabin fever" here.

Going to the beautiful South Texas gulf beach is, of course, out of the question. Too hot, leave that for May, September, and especially October before the hurricanes.

Why am I talking weather again? That's what the natives do here all summer; did I mention the drought?

On the other hand, the flowers somehow seem to endure the hot months, and except for maybe two weeks in December, flowers are always blooming.

School is out, the traffic is much less as a result, and as Porgy and Bess said: "summer time and the living is easy".

The Fat Time of the Year

The full moon is back, the temperature is going down to "cool" (at least for Laredoans) during the evening, and the night air is full of the aromas of newly opened spring flowers. To celebrate this glorious time of the year, the Texas environment will be the subject of a party next Friday night, April 25, 2008. GATORAIDE festivities will be back at the Laredo Community College Environmental Center. The Center is a jewel of the many historic sites on the L.C.C. campus. Though dating only to the early 1980's, the Center started as a historic U.S./Israel demonstration project to prove the applicability of "drip irrigation" techniques to farming in South Texas. The project also brought innovative buildings and Wind Power to the campus. The Environmental Center has developed into a show case for native animal and plant life, and features a nature trail through historic Fort McIntosh down to the Rio Grande and the border as it's been for centuries. By the way, there really are live "gators" also; so enjoy!

If you do nothing else this month, go outside after dark to enjoy the spectacular spring South Texas sky. The big dipper constellation does point to the Northern Star--in the direction of the snow still falling in Colorado.

Aldo Tatangelo--We Remember!

The last time I saw the "Mayor" was on a beautifully sunny day in September, 2007. I was leaving a meeting at the Laredo Medical Center and there he was sitting in a wheel chair, by himself, on the sidewalk of the hospital entrance. I was very happy that he instantly recognized me, and I walked a few steps to talk to him. I did not know his condition, but the strength of his "Sherwood" greeting, and the smile on his face relieved my apprehensions. Now the "Mayor", over a 26 year acquaintance, never called me "Ed", Mr. Sherwood, or anything other than just "Sherwood." Yet the way my last name was pronounced in his distinctive Italian American accent, it seemed perfectly fitting and agreeable to me.

"Mr. Mayor it is so good to see you", I said. He took my extended right hand in both of his, and his eyes seemed to light up. He was dressed, as he always was in public, in a suit and tie. A brown suit that conveyed authority--even at 94 years of age while in a wheel chair. Then to my utter surprise he said: "Ed, what I miss is not being involved".

I first met Aldo Tatangelo in the early '80's in Laredo. I had moved to Laredo with General Motors, and had been asked to serve on the Laredo Development Foundation's Board of Directors--probably since GM was one of the few national corporations with a "maquiladora" in Nuevo Laredo at that time. Aldo regularly attended the board meetings, and was never at a lost for suggestions as to how to bring industry to Laredo. He also frequently voiced the concern that Laredo needed to promote technical education to achieve his goal of economic development. It was not long before he said to me, and David Leyendecker at the Chamber of Commerce, that he had a job for us. Aldo wanted a "Laredo Manufacturers Association" to welcome industrial prospects (kind of an industrial "Welcome Wagon") and to promote engineering and technical careers for Laredo students. With Aldo's strong direction, Dave and I did as we were told by the Mayor, and the LMA was born in May, 1984.

After winning re-election, Aldo then focused on "beautifying the city." He especially concentrated on making the downtown into a tourist center. My wife, Carol, and her then 700 + member student Youth Council were pressed into service, along with many others, to picking up trash, holding various events, and whatever our energetic Mayor might think of. It was a fun, optimistic, heady time. Laredo National Bank held street parties, the Jalapeno Festival has held by the old City Hall, and tourists flocked to the La Posada Hotel and San Augustin Square. Every Saturday, buses from other parts of Texas would park downtown, discharging there out-of -town passengers to cross into Mexico to shop. In 1985, a race track opened in Nuevo Laredo, adding to available tourist activities, and giving name to the "Tack Room" restaurant at the La Posada.

We miss Aldo, he died this March. I know though, that if only in his mind, and in our hearts, he never stopped being involved.

Elections--Blasts from the Past

Laredo and South Texas take a bad rap for having deceased folks able to vote. Now that would be quite an attraction, if true, for people and their factories or businesses to move here! The potential for economic development would be huge. Every politician would claim it was his support of "second chance" voting that resulted in all those new jobs, more sales at the Mall, and just a bigger economy. Unfortunately, our departed may still appear on voter registrations from time to time, but I have not had one claim to have voted lately. Still, Lyndon Johnson owed his first election to Washington from such a voter turnout.

Laredo does have a deserved reputation for having the country's, or perhaps the world's, greatest political Pachangas. For Yankees, and other strangers to Laredo, a Pachanga is like going to your friend's ranch--shooting guns and drinking beer. Except a political Pachanga omits, mostly, the guns, and substitutes the pols' speeches and pleads for votes.

Election time in Laredo is now through the early summer, so enjoy and let me know if any "old" names do seem to vote one more time.

Laredo & Presidential Campaigns

In 1991, Bill and Hillary Clinton came to Laredo to meet the local folks; they stayed several hours and charged nothing for their presence. Bill Clinton had just started his campaign, and was little known outside of the south. At a morning breakfast, with about 40 Laredoans in attendance, he gave a 20 minute campaign speech, then turned the mike over to his wife, Hillary, who proceeded to give a slightly better 20 minute discourse. Back then you really did get "2 for 1".

Before that, in 1987, a Senator from Tennessee, Al Gore, came to the La Posada on a cold winter morning for breakfast with about 20 Laredoans. He was making his first unsuccessful campaign for President. About a month later, Al Gore held a campaign rally in Cotulla, with better attendance at the school house where Lyndon Johnson had taught.

In the 90's we also saw in Laredo, Jesse Jackson, among some other more forgotten Presidential Candidates.

This past year, prominent national politicians came to Laredo to raise money, and not to meet the folks who did not, or could not, pay to hear them speak. Times change, but they are about to change again! Now the Texas Primary on March 4, 2008 has suddenly become important--especially to the Clinton and Obama campaigns. These Demoncrats are virtually tied for convention delegates, and they now need to win votes in Texas. I have heard they will spend a lot of time in South Texas (maybe Laredo too) as that's were most of the Democrats are. So, we may again be able to have some free contact with our next President if he or she is a Democrat. Who knows, maybe Mike Huckabee, Republican, might come too.

Look up at the sky for those campaign planes.

Birds, Butterflies, and Beautiful Weather

Coming back from San Antonio, I noticed a billboard at the Laredo City Limits. Normally it would say: "Laredo--Home of the Championship Bucks", or advertise some local hotel. Going by at the legal speed of 70 mph, I saw, instead, an invitation to see birds! Not only that, but there are specific dates to do this. So, for those of you not planning to drive into Laredo on IH35 any time soon, let me advise you that you are invited to look at Laredo birds during the first two week of February.

Laredo is geographically neither part of the Rio Grande Valley, nor West Texas. It's not too hilly, but definitely not flat as is, say Mc Allen. Left to nature, birds would be few and far between, except flying over to get somewhere else. However with a large man-made lake (Lake Casa Blanca), and tons of trees planted by the residents over many years, we actually have gracious plenty of birds. Two years ago, some folks with a lot of time on their hands, went out to Lake Casa Blanca and counted over 350 species! That's right, all those different birds right here in Laredo.

So while the Rio Grande Valley has hosted "bird watchers" for years, we are open for the business in February. On a recent visit to the Texas A&M International University's campus, I can attest to the presence there of cardinals, some beautiful yellow breasted and headed species, and some escaped parrots.

If you need more information, I am sure there is more information on the City's or Chamber of Commerce Web Sites. To facilitate your watching, and soon the migrating butterfies from Mexico will be here also, the weather is perfectly mild and sunny--what-a-town.

The Streets of Laredo--Traditional Song

As I walked out on the streets of Laredo.
As I walked out on Laredo one day,
I spied a poor cowboy wrapped in white linen,
Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay.

"I can see by your outfit that you are a cowboy."
These words he did say as I boldly walked by.
" Come an' sit down beside me an' hear my sad story.
" I'm shot in the breast an' I know I must die."

"It was once in the saddle, I used to go dashing.
" Once in the saddle, I used to go gay.
" First to the card-house and then down to Rose's.
" But I'm shot in the breast and I'm dying today."

"Get six jolly cowboys to carry my coffin.
" Six dance-hall maidens to bear up my pall.
" Throw bunches of roses all over my coffin.
" Roses to deaden the clods as they fall."

"Then beat the drum slowly, play the Fife lowly.
" Play the dead march as you carry me along.
" Take me to the green valley, lay the sod o'er me,
" I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

"Then go write a letter to my grey-haired mother,
" An' tell her the cowboy that she loved has gone.
" But please not one word of the man who had killed me.
" Don't mention his name and his name will pass on."

When thus he had spoken, the hot sun was setting.
The streets of Laredo grew cold as the clay.
We took the young cowboy down to the green valley,
And there stands his marker, we made, to this day.

We beat the drum slowly and played the Fife lowly,
Played the dead march as we carried him along.
Down in the green valley, laid the sod o'er him.
He was a young cowboy and he said he'd done wrong.


A sad song from the old west in Laredo, Texas.

Comanche Moon

This past week featured at least two nights of "Comanche Moon". These evenings are almost bright enough to convince you there are some invisible floodlights in the hazy night sky, creating an eerie, yet well lighted landscape. These nights are legendary in novels by the famous Texas writer, Larry Mc Murtry. In his "Lonesome Dove" series of novels, he explains that these noctural events were perfect raiding opportunities for the Comanche war parties that crossed the Rio Grande at Laredo. Ranchers, especially, needed to keep careful watch on Comanche Moon nights, and often they or their cattle might still not survive until dawn. The nature trail at the LCC Environmental Center leads down to the river at one of the most used historic crossing sites.

Today, we can just enjoy these special evenings, especially in the cool, but not cold, Laredo evenings.

Historic Preservation on the Border

There are "Laredo" versions of Jeeps, "Laredo" branded tires, and "The Streets of Laredo" funeral dirge. The town was born in 1755, about the same time as George Washington was running his Virginia Plantation, Mount Vernon, and buying up wilderness land across the West Virginia mountains. George was a shrewd buyer, as well as becoming our first President, and the indispensible Founder of the United States. It is fitting, perhaps, that Laredo holds an almost continuous party from January through February--in honor of our First President. It's the "Washington's Birthday Celebration Association's bash.

One of the earliest WBCA events is the "Jamboozie", coming up on the night of January 26, 2008. This particular party is a Madi Gras, fun-and-festive attire splash of bands and food in the historic center of Laredo. The
buildings of the downtown area range from modest Spanish Colonial homes, to up-scale Victorian Houses, with some nice squares here and there. A bit further to the west of center city, is Fort Mc Intosh, now housing a campus of Laredo Community College. The Fort contains many original Army Post Buildings, as well as a unique Environmental Center--first established as an Israeli "drip irrigation" project in the 1980's. Fort Mc Intosh is also know for having Robert E. Lee and JEB Stuart pass through it's walls, as well as one of the first U.S. combat airplanes to land on it's grounds. Unfortunately, the plane crashed after leaving Laredo.

But back to happier thoughts, the Jamboozie draws folks into the historic parts of Laredo to enjoy music from Mexican to Jazzz, and celebrate George's birthday at the same time.

Menudo, Music, and the Pols

It's 10 days to the first big event of the new year in Laredo--The 13th Annual Menudo Bowl on Jan. 19! Menudo, a soup dish found in both Ecuador and Mexico, is a special dish for many on the weekends(it is also rumored to be an almost cure for the occasional handover). The culinary basis for the dish is tripe--you don't need to know what that is if you don't already know. The Menudo Bowl is a fund raiser for the Laredo Crime Stoppers and features, not only great menudo "cookoffs", but music and politicians massing about the grounds.



Ten years ago, on a bright but chilly day, the Menudo Bowl featured a then unknow country group--Lonestar." If you had been there, you could have stood on the fairgrounds listening to this group play what later became a #1 hit on the Country Charts--"You Walked In". At the time, however, there were only about 30 in the cold audience. Another musical connection is the famous "Menudo" Boy Band from Puerto Rico, who's most favorite former member, Ricky Martin, finally performed in Laredo in 2007.



The musical performance by Ricky Martin had been promised to Laredoans by our then Mayor, Betty Flores, in 2000, to help convince voters to build a new entertainment complex. Even if Ricky had never come, the Laredo Entertainment Center brought us our championship hockey team--the Laredo Bucks!



So get on a plane, train, or bus and get to Laredo for the Menudo Bowl; see you there.

Weather and Distance

In Laredo you never cease to talk about the weather. It is the 5th of January and we are already getting ready for at least spring, if not summer! During the Christmas holidays we actually experenced temperatures below 32* F, at least for two hours; tomorrow it's back to the 80's. I know folks in alot of places talk constantly about the weather, but in Laredo, we talk alot about weather that hardly ever changes. We do have 4 seasons, but summer usually accounts for most of the year. However, we either never have enough rain, or too much--usually 4 or more inches at a time. The great news is that we have sunshine for at least 300 days a year, and that makes for a great climate.



Before Texas became like so much of the rest of the country, I was told travel distance (via motor vehicles) was measured by how many "Lone Stars" you had to put in your travel cooler. Governor Ann Richards, bless her heart, ended that in the early 90's. Still distance in Texas is a much different frame of mind than back east. One hundred and fifty miles to San Antonio for lunch and back, the same to Corpus Christi for a dip in the Gulf of Mexico, or the same to Monterrey to be in the mountains is not though a long trek. For easterners, going an hour and half from New York City to Philadelphia is considered cause for checking tires, battery, and anti-freeze before attempting the trip. By the way, that makes Laredo close to everything.