May 2009

Media Contact: Ben Schooley: 210-507-5250; ben@schooleymediaventures.com | Send materials to: Cordillera Ranch Living Magazine, 203 Shadywood, Boerne, TX 78006
Design/Prod.: 04/28/09

Hacienda Style, Old World Decorating &

From the Publisher
Dearest EXPLORE reader…
may issue
Welcome to May. Hopefully the cold weather is past us, and 04: calendar of events
Elegant Ranch Designs at Affordable Prices we can all break out our swim trunks and twinkle our toes in the
Guadalupe sometime soon. Nothing makes you feel younger 06: music
than sitting beneath a giant cypress tree, dangling your feet
in the water, and simply listening to the whispers of the trees.
Rocking The Town Square by Elmo Lincoln
They’ll tell you secrets if you listen closely.
But then, aren’t most secrets whispered? Isn’t the most profound knowledge found when we
12: interiors
listen closely, and stop talking? Whether children or adults, our ability to garner information Creating a Stimulus Package for your House
is only utilized when we are still. I’ve been learning a lot about this lately, and it can be a by Lee Anne Keim
tough lesson to learn.
If you’ve ever read any of the Publisher’s Letters, you know that this is my opportunity 14: change is coming
to discuss issues that affect me, but ultimately, I think they affect us all. One of the larger
themes of the Publisher’s corner is that, in the end, we’re all the same. We all like to think 16: different stuff
that our problems, situations, and dreams are uniquely ours, but for the most part, they’re
quite common. I don’t say that to diminish what you feel, but just to say that we’re all in this So You Want It To Rain?
together, and no matter how lost we might feel in our lives, somebody is close by that can by Bill Zaner
give you a helping hand.
And don’t we all need a helping hand sometimes? My helping hand came via a whisper 18: art and culture
not too long ago, and I’m still trying to understand the true significance of it. It’s Time for a Good Story
I’m a control freak. I know I shouldn’t be, but I am. I’ve had a few people fail me in life, by Paige Lasoya
and perhaps it’s a byproduct of that, but I’m pretty certain that nobody can do a better job
than me. That’s not an egotistical statement, but in my head nobody can do the job just the 22: dining
way I want it done. So I do the job. And that job. And another job. And take out the trash.
And then do another job. And then I’m very confused as to why each job was done less
Dodging Duck –
than perfect. So my wife was lying with me on the couch watching TV, and during a muted Good Food. Good Beer. Good Times
commercial whispered in my ear, “Just be still. You can’t do everything.” Instead of asking by Chris Jenkins
her what she meant, or laughing, I simply said “I know.”
And so that’s where I’ve been of late. For you, the reader, this is actually good news. I’ve 23: the escapist
tossed one publication, leaving me with more time. That time has equaled a renewed focus by Steve Ramirez
on the content that we provide to you here in EXPLORE. EXPLORE is so much fun to
create, and we are blessed to meet some of the most amazing people. I didn’t recognize it, 24: history
but in my haste to produce hundreds of pages of content across several magazines, I wasn’t by Marjorie Hagy
able to focus on any single publication the way I would like. I hope that you’ve enjoyed
EXPLORE, but I hope that you read it in the coming months and notice a significant rise in 34: spiritual
the quality, content, and depth that you will find. It’s my personal mission.
I hope that the coming summer blesses you with memories, sunshine, and smiles. While
Mad at Me by Kendall Aaron
we all may say that the weather in the Hill Country is perfect, we all truly enjoy summer
more than any other season. To be out on a picnic beneath some huge oak tree, watching the
kids splash in the river, and feeling the breeze is something that makes you feel alive. And
focused. And dreamy. And, if you’re lucky, somebody will whisper.
Publisher
Smiling, Benjamin D. Schooley
Benjamin D. Schooley ben@hillcountryexplore.com

3 1 3 0 0 I H - 1 0 W e s t ( e x i t 5 4 3 a c r o s s f r o m To y o t a ) • B o e r n e , Te x a s 7 8 0 0 6
Winner of the “Most Beautiful Display” Award at the 2009 San Antonio Alamodome Home & Garden Show
Winner of the 2008 Summit Award for Interior Design ($725,000 and up category)
Winner of “Best of the Best Furniture Store” Award in Kendall County
Winner of the “Best Furnishings”
Category at the Chateaux of the Dominion 2007 Parade of Homes
830.755.6355 | 210.535.3070
www.catrinasattheranch.com
Creative Director
laura@hillcountryexplore.com
advertising sales
210-507-5250 or sales@hillcountryexplore.com
PS - As always, drop me a line anytime – I read and respond to them all.
ben@hillcountryexplore.com EXPLORE magazine is published by Schooley Media Ventures in Boerne, Tx.
EXPLORE magazine and Schooley Media Ventures are not responsible for any
inaccuracies, erroneous information, or typographical errors contained in this
publication submitted by advertisers. Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect
the opinions of EXPLORE and/or Schooley Media Ventures. Copyright 2009

2 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 3
Design Firm: JASON ROBERTS & ASSOCIATES, Inc.
 may
The most comprehensive events calendar you’ll find anywhere.
submissions – info@hillcountryexplore.com
April 18 – May 10
KERRVILLE: “Thunderbox Road”. Traveling
exhibit of 12 outhouses (thunderboxes) showcasing
the artistic talents of 12 of the top artists in the
Hill Country is displayed. The Thunderboxes will
be auctioned May 9. Museum of Western Art’s
pavilion. For more information please visit the
website at www.ThunderboxRoad.com.
May 1, 8, 15, 22
BANDERA: Rodeo. Enjoy the thrill of bull
riding and favorite rodeo events. Includes a calf
scramble and mutton busting for children. Twin
Elm Guest Ranch. For more information please
call (830) 796-3628 or visit the website at
www.twinelmranch.com
May 2
BANDERA: Market Day. Arts & crafts show is
held on the Courthouse Square. Downtown Main
Street. For more information please call (800) 364-
3833, email growthresource@indian-creek.net , or
visit the website at www.banderacowboycapital.
com.
BOERNE: Cibolo Songs and Stories. Concert
under the stars at the Cibolo Nature Center
featuring John Focke. For more information
please call (830) 249-4616.
May 2 – 3
FREDERICKSBURG: Texas Outdoor Family
Workshop. Teaches families all the basic outdoor
skills they’ll need to enjoy a great overnight
camping experience. Learn basic outdoor skills
such as camping and outdoor cooking and get
basic instruction on fishing skills, kayaking and
how to use a GPS unit. Reservations required.
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. For more info
please call (512) 389-8903 or (830) 685-3636.
May 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
BANDERA: Cowboys on Main. Includes a
Western display in front of the Bandera County
Courthouse with strolling musicians on Bandera’s
Main Street. 1 – 4 pm. Downtown Main Street.
For more information please call (800) 364-3833,
4 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it.
calendar
of events
email growthr@texas.net , or visit the website at
www.banderacowboycapital.com.
May 2, 9, 23, 30
SPRING BRANCH: Nature Adventures 101.
Explore the wonders of the natural world found in
the park, from the bugs flying above the fields to
the critters that reside in the beautiful Guadalupe
River. Guadalupe River State Park. For more
information please call (830) 438-2656 or visit the
website at www.honeycreekfriends.com.
May 3
BANDERA: St. Stanislaus Parish Festival.
Includes a meal, children’s activities, music,
auction, entertainment and more. Mansfield Park.
For more information please call (830) 460-4712
or visit the website at www.stanislausfest.com.
May 4 – 5
KERRVILLE: The 5 Browns. Five brothers
and sisters, all piano virtuosos who are products
of the prestigious Julliard School, take the stage
with their five Steinways. Kathleen C. Cailloux
Theater, 901 Main Street. For more information
please call (830) 896-9393 or visit the website at
www.symphonyofthehills.org.
May 7 – 9, 14 – 17, 21 – 24
BULVERDE: Features compelling memories of
the grand matriarch of an old Southern family
and the profound influence she had on her oldest
grandson’s life. S.T.A.G.E., 1300 Bulverde Rd.
For more information please call (830) 438-2339
or email stage@gvtc.com.
May 8
SPRING BRANCH: Full Moon Meander. Join
the Park Interpreter for a walk along the river and
trails of the park guided by the light of the full
moon. Guadalupe River State Park. For more
information please call (830) 438-2656 or visit the
website at www.honeycreekfriends.com.
May 9
BOERNE: Historic Homes Tour. Enjoy a self-
guided tour of six beautifully restored historic
homes in and around Boerne. For more information
please call (830) 249-7277 or visit the website at
www.visitboerne.org.
FREDERICKSBURG: Founders Day. Celebrates
the 163rd anniversary of Fredericksburg’s
founding. Includes a wreath laying, live music
and refreshments. Vereins, Kirche, Marktplatz
& Pioneer Museum, 325 W. Main. For more
information please call (830) 997-2835 or visit the
website at www.pioneermuseum.com .
May 9
BOERNE: 2nd Saturday Art & Wine. On Second
Saturdays the galleries of Boerne host joint
openings from 5 – 8 pm. Come out and enjoy
a glass of wine and the latest offerings on the
Boerne Art Scene.
KERRVILLE: Original Team Roping. Enjoy
watching cowboys competing in this popular
event. Hill Country Youth Exhibit Center, 3705
Hwy. 27 E. For more information please call (806)
499-3584 or visit the website at www.otrc.net .
May 9 – 10
BOERNE: Market Days. Includes dozens of
vendors from all over Texas, arts & crafts, antiques,
collectibles, unusual items and great food. Main
Plaza. For more information please call (830)
249-5530 or (210) 844-8193, or visit the website
at www.mainstreetinboerne.com.
May 12
BOERNE: “Live at the Library”. Featuring Hot
Sauce. 6 – 8 pm. Refreshments will be served.
For more information please call (830) 249-3053.
May 15
KERRVILLE: Bowfire. This talented group of
string players takes the audience on a musical
journey that moves through jazz, classical,
bluegrass, Celtic, rock, Gypsy, world, Texas swing,
and Ottawa Valley/Cape Breton styles. Cailloux
Theater, 910 Main Street. For more information
please call (830) 896-9393, email info@kpas.org
or visit the website at www.kpas.org.
May 15 – 17
FREDERICKSBURG: Trade Days. For more
information please call (830) 990-4900 or visit
the website at www.fbgtradedays.com.
May 16
BOERNE: Art in the Park. Focuses on immersion
in art and nature. For more information please
visit the website at www.ciboloarts.org.
BOERNE: Cibolo Songs and Stories. Concert
under the stars at the Cibolo Nature Center
featuring Living History Festival: Boerne Village
Band; Luevano Mariachis: Jalapeno Heaven
Conjunto Band. For more information please call
(830) 249-4616.
BOERNE: Living History Festival - Along the
Cibolo. Come take part in the Living History
Festival with events such as Local Story Telling
& Oral History, Vintage Baseball, Re-enactors,
Cultural Music, Food and Art! For more
information please call (830) 249-4616.
BOERNE: Audrey Auld in concert. Doors open
at 6 pm, concert begins at 7 pm. Pot luck at 6:30
pm. Alamo Fiesta RV Resort on IH-10. For more
information please visit the website at www.
houseconcertshillcountry.com.
May 16 – 17
GRUENE: Old Gruene Market Days. More
than 100 vendors offer uniquely crafted items,
collectibles and packaged Texas foods. 10
am – 5 pm. For more information please call
(830) 832-1721 or visit the website at www.
gruenemarketdays.com.
FREDERICKSBURG: Roots Music Concert.
Features bluegrass/newgrass. 6 – 10 pm.
Pioneer Museum, 309 W. Main Street. For more
information please call (830) 997-2835.
May 17
BOERNE: Blazing Bohemian Guitar Concert.
Master guitarist/teacher Cy Torgerson of The
Bohemian Guitar Player will showcase his most
advanced students plus guest artists at this open-
air concert at the Main Plaza Gazebo. For more
information please call (830) 249-3053.
GRUENE: 12th Annual KNBT Americana
Music Jam. Celebrates Americana music and
features exceptional artists of the genre. Benefits
a different local charity each year. Gruene Hall.
For more information please call (830) 629-5077
or (830) 606-1601 or visit the website at www.
gruenehall.com.
May 21
KERRVILLE: Heroes All. Salutes all those who
have served to gain and preserve our freedom.
Celebration commences with an F-16 fly-by
followed by an all-American meal of hot dogs,
lemonade and ice cream. Includes an outdoor
May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 5
concert and fireworks. Bank of the Hills, 1075
Junction Hwy. For more information please
call (830) 895-2265 or visit the website at www.
bankofthehills.com.
May 21 – June 7
KERRVILLE: Kerrville Folk Festival. This Texas
Hill Country based international songwriter’s
festival features more than 100 songwriters and
their bands. Includes concerts, arts & crafts, kid’s
concerts, food and camping. Quiet Valley Ranch.
For more information please call (830) 257-3600
or (800) 435-8429 or visit the website at www.
kerrvillefolkfestival.com.
May 21 – June 28
KERRVILLE: A reflection of area camp history
featuring the 2009 Hall of Fame inductees. Kerr
Arts & Cultural Center, 228 Earl Garrett. For
more information please call (830) 895-2911 or
visit the website at www.kacckerrville.com.
May 22
KERRVILLE: Wine & Beer Tasting. Includes
tastings, food, music and dancing. Begins at 6 pm.
River Star Arts & Events Center, 4000 Riverside
Drive. For more information please call (830)
896-5711 or visit the website at www.tacef.com.
May 22 – 23
FREDERICKSBURG: Crawfish Festival. Enjoy
Louisiana style music and food – crawfish,
jambalaya, boudin, red beans and rice, of course,
some Texas favorites too. Includes the second
annual gumbo cook-off, horseshoe and washer
pitching, arts & crafts, fun children’s area with
jumping castles, face painting and rock wall. 6
pm – Midnight on Friday and 11 am – Midnight
on Saturday. Downtown – Market Square. For
more information please call (866) 839-3378 or
visit the website at www.tex-fest.com/crawfish.
May 22 – 24
KERRVILLE: Texas Masters of Fine Art & Craft.
Exhibits work by 20 professional artists and
craftspeople from across Texas. Noon – 8 pm on
Friday, 10 am – 8 pm on Saturday, and 10 am – 6
pm on Sunday. Y.O. Ranch Resort Hotel, 2033
Sidney Baker. For more information please call
(214) 328-6382.
KERRVILLE: Hill Country Quilt Guild’s Show
“A Pigment of My Imagination”. More than 200
quilts are displayed along with wearable and
fiber arts displays, boutique of handmade items,
opportunity quilt, and fabric and notion vendors.
10 am – 6 pm on Friday and Saturday and Noon –
4 pm on Sunday. Edington Gymnasium, Schreiner
University, 2100 Memorial Blvd. For more
information please call (830) 257-2752 or (830)
896-6522, email info@hillcountryquiltguild.com
, or visit the website at www.hillcountryquiltguild.
com.
May 23
BLANCO: Learn to Fish Family Fishing Day.
Children become certified Junior Anglers by
learning basic fishing skills and safety at the river
through games, booths and help from fishing
experts. 2 – 4 pm. Blanco State Park. For more
information please call (830) 833-4333.
May 23 – 25
KERRVILLE: Official Texas State Arts & Crafts
Fair. Features the work of 200 Texas artists, Texas
culinary arts exhibitors, exciting art demonstrations
and exhibitions, art activities for youth, continuous
live entertainment on three stages, and great food
in a beautiful Texas Hill Country setting. River
Star Arts & Events Park, 4000 Riverside Drive.
For more information please call (830) 896-5711,
email fair@tacef.org , or visit the website at www.
theartoftexas.com.
May 25
BOERNE: Boerne Concert Band Memorial
Day Performance. 7 pm. Main Plaza. For more
information please call (830) 249-9511, ext. 1181,
option 5, 3, or visit the website at www.ci.boerne.
tx.us/parks.
May 26
BOERNE: Life after Oak Wilt. Mark Duff from
the Texas Forest Service will visit the Boerne
Public Library to give an informational program on
Oak Wilt. 6 pm. Refreshments will be served.
May 29
BOERNE: Movie in the Park. Madagascar II.
After Dark. For more information please call
(830) 249-9511, ext. 1181, option 5, 3, or visit the
website at www.ci.boerne.tx.us/parks.
May 30
BANDERA: Funtier Day Parade. Features rodeo
cowboys, trail ride groups, antique cars and gaily
decorated floats. Begins at 11 am. Main Street
Bandera. For more information please call (800)
364-3833, email cowboy@banderatex.com, or
visit the website at www.banderatex.com.
May 30 – 31
BLANCO: Texas Outdoor Family Workshop.
Teaches families all the basic outdoor skills
they’ll need to enjoy a great overnight camping
experience. Learn basic outdoor skills such
as camping and outdoor cooking and get basic
instruction on fishing skills, kayaking and how to
use a GPS unit. Reservations required. Blanco
State Park. For more information please call
(512) 389-8903 or (830) 833-4333.
 o c k i
R Square n g
music

the T o w n by Elmo Lincoln

I recently opened a magazine that is published in San them hone their skills. Utilizing several
Antonio, but delivered sporadically to Boerne. It’s a lifestyle/ teachers, Torgerson and his team have built one of the
arts type magazine. Well, they had an article that made me more unique guitar instruction studios in the Hill Country.
chuckle. It was about Boerne and its live music scene. That Other teachers include Jorge Palomo who spent two years at
wasn’t the funny part, it was the title of the article: “Boerne Berkley in Boston, working on a music degree and is currently
Doesn’t Close at Dark” and teaching guitar/bass and playing professionally as a performer
had a subtitle about how in several bands and as a solo artist. He is from a musical
Boerne’s live music scene family as his dad was a musician. Sam Snavely, bass teacher,
is just rocking. Now, along is in a gifted and talented program of the North East School
with anyone that has ever of Arts and is also a member of the NESA orchestra. He also
lived in this area, I know performs regularly with a number of live bands. Finally,
that Boerne’s live music Samantha Givens, vocal coach, sings and helps students with
scene is downright lousy. vocals for the performance shows. She started out as first chair
We do have some live in the Texas All State Women’s Choir and then went on to
music played, but it’s not spend 2 years in Webster University in St. Louis studying at
a scene that has much of the music theater conservatory as well as being in the vocal
a following. However, Jazz performance program. Since she has been back, she has
every once in a while, performed in a number of musical theater productions as well
we are blessed with an as performing with various live bands.
event that reminds us of The future of our live music scene will be sculpted by our
the potential for our local younger musicians. Without them, and the change they will
music scene. bring, Boerne’s live music scene will continue to be subpar.
Cy Torgerson, owner of Boerne’s Bohemian Guitar Player, Come out in May and encourage the budding artists to follow
is hosting his annual “Summer Kickoff Show” on May 17 from their dreams.
3-5pm at, aptly, Boerne’s Town Square. Torgerson, a lifelong
musician with the heart of a teacher, uses the opportunity to
encourage his students to get on stage and experience true live
music. “With my students I wanted to not only teach guitar
but emphasize on ‘live’ performance. It is also as important
to learn how to act in a band setting. A band is a group effort.
It teaches how to work with others and builds self esteem and
confidence. With emphasis on group effort, a band is not just
about one person.”
From his humble shop right behind the Boerne Public
Library, Torgerson takes a student at any skill level and helps

6 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 7
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8 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 9
 BILL ZANER’S G A L L E RY
Continues Gallery Closing • Discounts Possible
After April – Over at MY STUDIO – 107 Brackenridge (4 blocks away)
(Across the creek from the Kendall Inn off San Antonio St.)
Ya gotta call first 830-249-3700

Country Home
Learning Center
Come See Our Beautiful, New
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• Country Home Waterpark and Splashdeck
• Adventure Jungle Indoor Playground
• Large Indoor Gym and Basketball Court
• Putt-Putt Golf Course
• 1950’s Style Soda Shop
My Studio is not exactly a high class gallery
• Country Home Movie Theater
facility – the decor is sort of “Artistic Grungy”. I’ve been painting
• Computer Lab
there for almost 30 years, so it has that messy, “well-worn” look...there’s FUN to be had
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though: a LITTLE WINE PORCH; some walls to READ; some paint to SMELL. All
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Fu l l a nd Pa r t Ti m e C h i l d c a re f o r I n fants to Age 13
10 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 11
 Create a Stimulus Package for your Home!
The 5 Best things you can do for your home:
3 The Master Bedroom/Bath Suite
# ideas alone begins to create a healthy focus uniting the heart, the eye and all of
interiors
12 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it.
by LeeAnne Keim
part 1 of 2
The Master Bedroom and Master Bath together
are often referred to as the Master Suite. This is
one of the most important and most overlooked
areas of the home.
It always amazes me how much you can tell
about a relationship just by the appearance of the
Master Suite. These two rooms are considered
the most intimate areas of the home and therefore
reflect our appreciation or non-appreciation of our
most personal relationships – those being with our
spouses or partners.
I know it is a sensitive subject, so I’ll do my best
to dance around it with grace. As usual we are
going to begin by asking ourselves a few questions
in order to really make a realistic and unemotional
observation of how best to stimulate a positive
change in our environment.
Questions: Do you feel like you are being taken
for granted in your relationship? Do you collapse
into your bed at night, exhausted, with no energy left
to give to your spouse? Yet somehow you both find
the strength to turn on the TV and search through
hundreds of programs to watch mindless, violent or
controversial television shows? Does your nightly
routine include a final show of affection toward your
significant other, or are you setting yourselves up for
a restless night of sleep by not even acknowledging
the person who is sleeping beside you as your
turn the light off and roll away from each other
to sleep on opposite sides of the bed?
As I said these are complicated areas to deal
with and they can be full of invisible elephants
in your room that continue to affect you through
your sleeping and waking hours. They must be
confronted and addressed in order to facilitate
any significant healing and balance
of energy.
As your decorating environmental
therapist I suggest that you and your
partner list the following questions,
answer them separately on a piece
of paper and also elaborate on each
question to further clarify your needs
and desires. Then get together and
talk about each answer and form a
plan to create a more stimulating yet soothing environment.
In the next issue I’ll discuss how you can implement solutions and remedy
any challenge in ways that will meet both of your wants and needs. You will
find that just the very act of sincerely appreciating each other’s viewpoint
improves your relationship and balances your energies. This exchange of
your senses moving you toward a new physical and emotional state of health
and communication.
So, before the next issue of Explorer comes out take the time to answer the
questions and be ready to take action to create a better bedroom and bathroom
based on your mutual desires. Until then, give each other a kiss goodnight
and don’t turn on the TV in your bedroom!
Bon Decoration!
LA
LeeAnne Keim is a builder, designer
and home remodeler. You can visit her
site at keimmartin.com
Questions Regarding the Bedroom:
• What are the 3 colors that you find the most soothing?
• What 3 colors do you find the most irritating?
Lee Anne Keim has owned her own interior design firm for over 20 years, in 3 different states. She has clients
• What would you rather have on your windows: nothing, shades, draperies nationally and is the President of Keim & Martin, Ltd. Located at 703B South Main Street in Boerne, TX.
or shutters? 830-249-1552. Keim & Martin, Ltd. Won the 2007 Summit award for Best Interior Design in the category
• When you are sleeping do you need the room to be completely dark? $750K and up, and she also won the 1st Place Award in the National F. Schummacher Dream Bedroom Design
Are there any particular lights that bother you? Contest. She and her company offer complete design services in addition to custom building new homes. The
company’s expertise ranges from blueprint analysis, new construction and remodeling to full scale interior design.
• Where do you want to have the alarm clock placed? Where is the TV in
You can email any design, remodeling, or building questions you would like to ask her at: lakeimid@gvtc.com.
relationship to the bed? Where is the phone?
• Do pet animals sleep with you? Do you have plants or flowers in your
bedroom? Do either of you have allergies?
Questions Regarding the Bathroom:
• Does it bother you if the toilet seat is left up or put down?
• What size would you like your bed to be, and why?
• How old is your toilet? Are your plumbing fixtures worn or dated?
• What material would you like your bed to be made out of? Wood? Iron?
• Is your shower tile dated? Does it have dirty or moldy looking grout?
Four-poster? Platform? Leather or fabric upholstery?
• What kind of shower door do you have? Do you want a shower door?
• What kind of finish would you like on your bed?
• Would you like a hand shower, rain shower, steam shower, sauna?
• What kind of mattress do you have? Does it sag in the middle? Do you
• What kind of lighting do you have over your sink(s)?
find yourself always rolling to the middle of the bed? How is the firmness
• What kind of mirrors do you have?
of your mattress? What do you prefer? What kind of blanket or comforter
• Do you have or want a whirlpool or air bubble bath?
do you have on your bed? How heavy is it? How many pillows do you
• What kind of flooring is on your floor?
have? What kind of pillows do you sleep on? Are they down filled, foam
rubber, combo, other?
• Do you have enough light to shave? Do you have the right kind of light to put
• Would you rather have carpet on the floor or hardwood?
your make-up on? Do you have the ability to sit down while you put your make-
• Do you like to have the ceiling fan on at night? Do you like to sleep with
up on?
the windows open, or do you like to keep them closed and crank up the AC?
• Do you want a TV in your bathroom?
• Do you want a FP in your bathroom?
• Do you like to read in bed? If so, what kind of lighting do you have to
• Do you want music in your bathroom?
read by? What kind of books do you read in bed? Do you do computer
• Would you like a place to sit down in your bathroom?
work in bed? Do you eat in bed? Do you play video games in bed? What
• Would you like a ceiling fan?
kind of television shows do you watch before bed? What time do you go
• Where do you put dirty clothes? Towels? Disposable trash?
to bed?
May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 13
 Change is Good. Cibolo Nature Center
Art In The Park

Happy Mother’s Day!

Change is Good.
change is coming

May 16, 2009

10 am - 2 pm

Change is Good.
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here!!!do
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Bring the family for
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14 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 15
 Different Stuff
So You Want Rain?
We at Different Stuff World Headquarters always keep some of our the community, such folks defined as anybody who can bury a dime in
promises*, e.g., last month we told you faithful and somewhat intrepid
readers, just before you nodded off, that we would reveal the
different stuff
long-hidden secrets of the ancient and revered Rain
Dance, and we will do that. As we all found out in
mid-March, the mere MENTION of the Dance
caused 2” of the wet stuff to fall in a couple
of days after not seeing hardly any moisture
around here for a year and a half. So you
can easily sense the potency of the Rain
Dance, can’t you?
The rainmaker ritual originated in the
farthest reaches of the southern oceans
on a little-known island chain called the
Inundates, a barely visible group of coral
atolls inhabited by the tattooed Moldy-armpit
Tribe, Chief Kalvamalva Fortissimo, aka Big Al
the Drencher, being El Jefe. Big Al has agreed, after
some months of tedious negotiations, during which you may
want to know, we Struffers got well soaked, to describe for us exactly
how to complete the ritualistic dance.
“Keep ya umbrella handy”, he advises, “it gonna be much wet on you
head!” I not gonna show you de much more powerful FLOOD DANCE
– It way too much! Da Rain step be OK fa you! (Big Al always talks
in exclamation pointed sentences!)
The steps, illustrated here, must be executed with vigor by 23 elders of
Goodbye Old Friend...
I hate change. I’m comfy with things staying the same forever. I think
back on Boerne Main Street of 1987 (when I arrived), and see all the
change, and I don’t like it. I know that it’s a fact of life, but it doesn’t
make it any easier to swallow. Change happens, but sometimes, it feels
like we lose pieces of our history.
Case in point – Bill Zaner’s Art Haus. He’s closing his gallery, and I’m
none too pleased about it. Zaner is “original” in every sense of the word.
From his humble gallery next to Olde Towne, Zaner has been cranking
out some of the beautiful landscape paintings the world has ever seen.
Adorning walls around the world, Zaner quietly built a reputation that
made him one of the most successful landscape artists around. Refusing
the “easy sells” like bluebonnet paintings, cowboys, and longhorns,
Zaner stuck to his favorite – the landscape. Refusing to change, Zaner
chose his medium and went with it.
16 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it.
by Bill Zaner
a forehead wrinkle with no silver showing, by the light of a full moon
in the downtown plaza which has been lightly sprinkled with not-
too-fresh duck doots. Men and women alike, the dancers
must perform the exact steps, slowly at first, building to a
crescendo of feverish wild-eyed jiggling and bouncing
to the rhythm of the City Hall noon alarm siren. In
addition to the 23 dancers, 86 clappers must form
a circle around and pound out an accompanying
beat in time with the bare feet of the elders. There
will no doubt be some slipping and sliding around
on the not-too-fresh duck stuff, but “dat’s all to de
good!” says Big Al.
The records show that a properly performed Rain
Dance will get you some rain sooner or later.**
Some examples of successful dancing are, to go back
a ways, the South Texas floods of 1998 and 2002, or,
even farther back, the deluge in the Hill Country in 1978 –
definitely an over enthusiastic performance. (The Elders weren’t as
elderly in 1978 – they are now extremely so.)
We really need to give it a try, don’t you think? Nothing else is
working.
*Or, sometimes keep all of our promises.
**This Easter Sunday morning, ½ inch of the lovely we stuff fell on
my own yard here in Boerne as I was having my green tea, while merely
CHECKING my notes on the steps of the Dance.
Your One Stop Bead and Jewelry Shop
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characters of our scene
begin to close the curtains. Located at The Rim
I spent many a Tuesday afternoon 17711 IH10 West
in Zaner’s gallery, sipping wine, talking politics (of which Building 700, Suite 104
we disagree), and basically watching the world go by. San Antonio, Texas 78257
Time goes on, and change happens, but sometimes change
is NOT for the better. (210) 558-0559
Good luck Bill – we’ll miss ya. www.bittercreekdesigns.com
May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 17
 It’s Time for a Good Story by Paige Losoya
Three Bedroom, Two Bath
in Beautiful Boerne!
Americans, and Irish Americans. Period costumes add authenticity that transfers us to
an age of pioneers, Buffalo Soldiers, Civil War soldiers and trappers.
A stop at the historically recreated Texas Ranger camp will capture the imagination
of the young and old alike. Storytelling circles will provide an informal setting to
$163,900
share stories and be entertained. There will be food, animals, games, and contests. The This very roomy 3/2 is being offered for sale right in the heart of Boerne. Available for $163,900,
White Sox, Boerne’s vintage base ball team will play a game that will entertain and
amuse with 19th century terminology, rules and customs. Watch to see if the Umpire this 2080 sq/ft home features a newly renovated kitchen, new carpet, freshly painted, new
asks the players and spectators for assistance in making calls. Tours of the old Herff
home will be conducted and all may venture out to explore the vastness of the farm-
decks, and a completely remodeled living room. Very nice laminate flooring throughout living
land and wander to the nearby Cibolo Creek for a dipping of toes. areas. Also features a 4th room that could easily be converted to a bedroom (currently a home
The Living History Festival will be held on Saturday, May 16 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
art & culture

at 33 Herff Road in Boerne. For more information about events and times, storytelling office). Located just off Blanco Rd, this home is convenient to shopping, dining, and I-10. There
opportunities, to participate as a vendor or to volunteer, visit www.cibolo.org or call
830-249-4616. As we look to the future and imagine the possibilities, let us reflect on
are many homes for sale in Boerne, but none have been offered at such an amazing price!
our multicultural heritage and the lifestyles and landscapes of the pioneers, settlers and
ancestors along the Cibolo Creek. It truly is a great story!

Several weeks ago while waiting for a community event to begin, my husband and I
greeted an elderly man as he took his seat. After ex-
changing pleasantries, the man remarked that it was his
88th birthday and my husband took that as an invitation
to begin an incisive conversation. As we learned about
his life in and around Boerne, and travels from serving
his country, the frailness of the man disappeared and
“Family stories
he sat straighter to recount details that had been tucked
away in his memory. In those shared moments we were
given a small glimpse of a great story. Later that day I
are strong links
wondered how many great stories are within our reach
that we ignore or simply miss because we are unaware
between
generations,..”
or too busy living our lives.
Stories lie at the core of human nature and I believe This home is not a
most people enjoy being able to soak up the details that
create a visual experience bridging them to a particular “fixer-upper”...it is
place and time in the past, present and future. Family stories are strong links between gen-
erations, have supported decade old disagreements and set the stage for many legends and a beautiful home
traditions.
Over time families and their stories grow and weave into a community with a strong and ready for a quick
diverse history creating a foundation for future generations. On May 16, our community has
a great opportunity to experience and connect with the heritage that has made Boerne what it
sale!! Buyer’s Agent
is today. The Living History Festival will be a fun and interactive event that will take place
at the historic Herff farm and is sponsored by the Cibolo Nature Center, the City of Boerne,
commission paid.
the Boerne Public Library, the Hill Country Pan American Chamber of Commerce, Frost
Bank and the Agricultural Heritage Museum.
The 62 acre Herff farm holds one of the most historic homes in the Boerne area and is
the perfect setting to introduce and reacquaint our community to a blend of cultures through
music, storytelling and demonstrations of Native Americans, Hispanic Americans, German Please call: 210-777-2075 for showing
18 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 19
 Join us for
“Music Together”
A great way to introduce and
explore music with your child.
Please call for details.

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20 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 21
 The Dodging Duck The Escapist
Brewhaus
Good Food, Good Beer, and Good Times
If you’ve visited Boerne, odds are you’ve been to
the Dodging Duck Brewhaus. Overlooking the scenic
Cibolo Creek, the “Duck” is a staple of local cuisine
for citizens and visitors alike. The visitors are drawn
to the location, with its great deck and ambiance, and
where to eat
the locals return time and again for some good food and
even better beer. As we enter the warmer months, what
better time to re-acquaint ourselves with an old friend
over a hand-crafted brew at the Duck?
I have been to the Duck at least 100 times. Whether
it’s for a quick drink after work, or for a special night
out, the Duck has always delivered. Heck, my first date
with my wife was at the Duck. I kissed her for the first
time on the patio. The sun blinded her briefly and I went
in for the kill. Mission accomplished. But I digress.
Whatever your reason for a visit, you won’t be
disappointed. Because of the many trips I’ve made, I’ve
had almost every dish available. However, I will speak
to some of my favorites, and of course, the BEER.
It’s hard for me to review the beer, because by the
time you read this, they will have a new offering. Beer
selections change frequently, and nearly every visit will
bring a new beer. Under the watchful eye of owner
Keith Moore, the Duck produces some of the finest
beers you’ll find anywhere. With fun names like “Duck-
toberfest” and “Lonesome Duck Pale Ale”, the variety
is wide-ranging. For me, I’m normally in the mood
for a lighter beer or a more stout beer, and make my
decision accordingly. Beneath each beer offering is a
nice description so you’ll know what you’re choosing.
THE DODGING DUCK
Restaurant & Brewery
featuring an
eclectic wine list
and delicious,
freshly-prepared
food
Open Daily at 11am
Sun-Thurs ‘til 9pm Fri-Sat ‘til 10pm
402 River Road Boerne, Texas (4 blocks from Main St.)
www.dodgingduck.com
22 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it.
by Chris Jenkins
Truthfully, you can’t go wrong. I’ve never had a beer
and thought “This is awful!”. Some are more suited
to me than others, but each has its own nuances and
flavors that make each a treat.
While sipping your suds, order up the pretzel/
sausage/cheese plate. It’s light enough that you can still
have dinner later, but enough to give you something to
munch on. Or, for something a bit heavier, order up the
Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms. Pure decadence.
For your main course, you can’t go wrong with the
Brewhaus Burger. The burger is as good as you’d
expect, but the BREAD is phenomenal. It’s this strange
jalapeno-stuffed bun that creates such a great flavor and
that goes just perfect with a great swallow of your beer.
As an alternative, try the Bitter Batter Shrimp Platter.
Tiger shrimp, breaded and fried. Delicioso.
Regardless of what you go with, take your time. The
Duck is a sort of time warp in many ways. You show
up at 4:30 for a beer with friends, you talk, you people-
watch, dine, and drink some more. The next thing you
know it’s past your bedtime. It’s so much fun to sit out
on the deck and watch all the bikers (who always look
tough and grungy until they walk in and order a glass
of white wine), the little kids chasing ducks along the
river, and the families picnicking.
Enjoy yourself. You’re in the Hill Country.
by Steve Ramirez
I read once, that there are three kinds of people: conformist,
activist, and escapist. I will never be a conformist; the very
word is offensive to my ears. I have always been an activist,
and someday; a day that seems very close, I will be an escapist.
In all honesty, I guess I have spent a great deal of my life
betraying myself. The mere mention of conformity can send
me into night sweats and dry heaves. I often envision the
mass of humanity as one endless herd of lemmings marching
mindlessly toward a cliff and into the sea. If I could stop one
of the lemmings in their tracks and ask them, “Hey, why are
you marching toward that cliff?’ I know that it would give
me an angry herrumph, and say, “Because, that’s what we do,
and why aren’t you?” But, I don’t try to stop the lemmings
anymore. Instead, I sit on my rock and watch them pass me
by on the way toward oblivion.
Oblivion- that is a great word. It sounds like what it means.
So if the lemmings, which include many of my dear readers,
are marching toward oblivion, toward what is it that they are
marching? In fact, I do not think that the cliff or the sea are
the oblivion. It is the mindless journey; their very lives or
lack there of that constitutes the oblivion. It is moments in
time, wasted, lost, and missed, never to return. It is a walk
in the forest looking only at their feet. It is the illusion of
self-importance and eternal life. The oblivion lies deep
inside each of us.
The Buddhist teach that we live in an illusion created by
our mind. We are never in the moment; the here and now. We
spend what passes for our lives planning to live sometime in
the future. Then, the future becomes the present, if only for
a moment, and we again plan to live, “someday.” “Someday,
I’d love to travel.” “Someday, I’d love to be happy.”
“Someday, I’d love to love.” “Someday, but not this day;
because on this day, I’m too busy, marching.” The Buddhist
are right.
I once saw a British comedy where a husband and wife
were lying in bed, the husband on his back, wide eyed, staring
at the ceiling; the wife turned on her side attempting to get to
sleep. The husband says to his drowsy wife, “I just realized
that nothing is real!” She half-heartedly asked him what he
means to say. He says, “If the past doesn’t exist because it is
over, and the future doesn’t exist because it hasn’t come yet,
and if the moment you are in the moment it becomes the past,
nothing really exists!” She gives him an angry herumph, and
tells him to go to sleep. She did not understand that he was
trying to be, very much awake. The Buddhist are right.
I guess I have dodged the earlier comment that I have spent
a great deal of my life betraying myself. I guess it is time for
me to face the music. The truth is, even though the very idea
of the lemmings and their ill fated run makes me want to
retch, I have sometimes found myself in the crowd moving
in the general direction of the cliff. Sometimes, I can almost
hear the cold dark sea just beyond the edge. This lunacy has
taken many forms, some excusable, some, not so much. I have
held down a “steady job.” You know, the kind where people
May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 23
Readers Choice Award Winner
pretend kindness while working to undercut each other,
fighting like cowardly dogs over scraps of foul meat. The
kind of job where you find yourself Zombie like in traffic,
hating “life,” knowing that it is the wrong thing to do, but you
do it any way because it is expected, and because it is, “what
(Bed]d[Yaiš-#''fc
Live Music
we do.” Then, other times it is like trying to wake from a bad
dream. I toss and turn, screaming silently inside, “Wake up!
For Gods’ sake, no for your own sake, wake up!”
When I do wake up, I am faced with a dilemma. I sit on IWjkhZWo"CWo(dZšIj[f7i_Z[8WdZ
my rock watching the rest of humanity go by, and it is nice M[Zd[iZWo"CWo,j^šIec[ed[B_a[Oek8WdZ
not to be running toward the cliff and oblivion, but I am left
with the question, ‘What now?” From my rock, I get closer IWjkhZWo"CWo/j^š8WdZjeX[WddekdY[Z
to myself. My true self can never be a conformist. At least IWjkhZWo"CWo',j^šBeoZ8ed^Wc
up until this moment, I have always been an activist. I am
A[ddoWdZ7_c[[7dd_l[hiWhoFWhjo
always the one who stands when others stay seated. I cannot
help myself. I have to speak up or step forward when I see
'&O[Whim_j^CoBel[
an “injustice.” At times, lemmings have asked me to step
forward on their behalf, and I have only to look back into the AWhWea[;l[ho<h_ZWoD_]^jX[]_dd_d]Wj/fc
silent, lonely, darkness when the bad times come; and they Ef[dC_a[";l[hoIkdZWoX[]_dd_d]Wj*fc
do come, because you must pay a price for being an activist.
This brings me back to my old friend the Buddhist Monk. )'').?#'&Mš8e[hd["JNWYheii\hecJeoejW
When I was a child, the Vietnam War was in our face, as it Ef[dDEED;l[ho:Wo
should have been. Our collective faces did not handle it well;
we ate our own young rather than putting the blame squarely
where it belonged….on the “adults,” lemmings, one and all.
830-755-5313
I remember seeing a Buddhist Monk as he sat serenely in
some distant city square, poured gasoline on himself, and
burned himself to death in protest. At that moment in time
I wonder, which role did he play? Was he a conformist that
followed the thoughts taught to him by others? Was he an
activist, choosing to forfeit biological life for his beliefs? As he
spent most of that biological life seeking self-enlightenment
by excluding all of the outside worlds illusions from that
entity that we call a mind, was he an escapist? Like urine in
the Mekong River, did the three beings within him mix and
mingle? I was seven years old when I watched him burn on
a black and white television. Even then, I wondered, what
does this mean, to me? Perhaps, as much as he wanted to be
an escapist, he just could not help himself.
I am left with this. After many battles, over many long
forgotten battlefields, I find myself feeling like the Roman
General, who just wants to stay in his tent. I wonder why
I would continue to fight for the empire that often does not Incense, Smudge & Sweetgrass
seem worthy of my life. I wonder why I would spend more Handmade Gifts, Tibetan Prayer
energy to protect the troops who call my name in time of
hardship, and speak it crudely, when I am alone. Make no Flags, Jewelry and More.
mistake, as the activist; as the leader, when you stay standing
while all others are seated, you are always alone. In that Th/Fr 10 – 5
moment, all I want to do is be an escapist. I want to sail away
to some distant island. I want to tell the world of lemmings to Sat/Sun 12 – 4
pass me by. In the end, I put on my tunic, sheath my sword,
walk to my tents’ door, and step forward. I just cannot help Hwy 27 in Cypress Creek Landing
Behind “Downright Texas”
myself.
Comfort, Texas
830-431-0769 by appointment
www . nancymcgalliard . com
 Good Old Days:
Boerne
drag on Highway 87, the Fredericksburg
Road, between San Antonio and points beyond.
Highway 87 followed roughly the route that I10
takes now, but lower and more along the path of the
access roads, sometimes veering over to the eastward
side but mostly where the westbound feeder road is
now, along past the Dominion and Fair Oaks and
Barkley’s. There was a fairly well-known speakeasy
history

and general den of iniquity call Mountaintop along

At some point in the 50’s, Dwight D.
Eisenhower & the powers that be in this
nation’s capitol decided to implement a plan
for an interstate highway system for the purpose
of high-speed travel in order to quickly deploy
military supplies, vehicles and troops from coast
to coast and to strategic locations all over the
country in case of their being needed in a time
of war. That said, the interstate highway system
quickly ravaged small town life as we knew it and
altered the character of America forever.
Don’t get to thinking I’m some home-grown nut
who advocates a move to a compound in Idaho
where the ‘gubment cain’t get their filthy paws
on our god-given automatic weapons and true-
blue folks can practice their own dadgum religion
with as many wives as they want’; I’m not the
second coming of Ted Kazinsky, just a nostalgic
old gal who misses a place I barely got a glimpse
of in my childhood back in the 70’s. Nobody in
the “Me Generation” will know what I’m talking
about when I reminisce about a day and age
when you could tell the difference between towns
because they didn’t all look the same, because a
drive on the highway wasn’t a long succession
of exit ramps that by law must be surrounded
by a Starbucks, a Home Depot and a mall with a
Target and a Bed, Bath & Beyond in it, and where
a filling station was the place you got your gas
and that it might actually have a certain character
and not offer at least five different varieties of
fast food. Now even my own precious angels (to
translate for those who know us: my children)
tend to envision my childhood, when they think
about me at all which probably isn’t all that often,
as a time shrouded in pre-Jurassic mist rising off
a young planet when walking erect was all the
rage and the parents said it was just a fad and
couldn’t last. But there WAS a time even before
I can remember when highways were small town
Main Streets and high-speed travel meant opening
up the throttle on old Bessie & revin’ her up to 40
and only hoodlums with DA hairdos went over 60
and put everybody’s lives in to danger by doing it.
When Berma-Shave signs and roadside attractions
like the World’s Smallest Guitar made the trip and
adventure and one couldn’t wait to get to a certain
little town that had your favorite restaurant and it
wasn’t Subway. When the Eisenhower Highway
Act was passed and I10 became an inevitability,
the business people in town thought it spelled the
end of Boerne, but they envisioned that death a
whole lot differently than the devouring of our
little hometown by the ugly monster of urban
sprawl; in the 50s, the prevailing belief was that
by Marjorie Hagy
if a small town didn’t have a highway as
its Main Street the town would wither and die
from lack of commerce.
Imagine that.
Remember that music in film strips back in
junior high that they used to indicate the bustling
city, a kind of busy, guy-with-a-crewcut-black-
plastic-glasses-and-a-briefcase-rushing-off-to-
work-at-the-plant kind of jingle? Play that in your
head as you visualize Boerne in the middle of the
20th century, from the time William Kuhlmann
the druggist raised eyebrows all over town when
he showed up, backfiring and stalling out and
shooting ahead by fits and starts in the first motor
buggy to appear in Boerne, until the landscape
changed forever when I10 opened for business
in 1968. This was a happenin’ place, a main
about where the Rim is now, on the big hill just west
of a little quarry run by the Macdonough brothers. At
this wayside inn a thirsty traveler could procure a bit
of illicit hooch for medicinal purposes and perhaps
take a turn with a flapper gal on the saw-dusty dance
floor – at least in the early days. When the booze
became legal again the thrill of drinking it in a dive
eventually paled and later the Mountaintop became a
kid’s summer camp, and at some other point was just
a plain old dance hall, but it vanished around the time
I10 went through. Leon Springs was sort of a blip
on the radar, a smattering of houses, a church and a
filling station called Rudy’s Corner where you could
buy some pretty decent BBQ for the road. The way
from San Antonio to our town was a lot longer than it
is now – San Antonio didn’t even begin ‘til way past
where 410 is now and Callaghan and Fredericksburg
Road were out in the country – Fredericksburg Road,
you know, Highway 87. Boerne was a good 40, 50
miles northwest, in the Hill Country, and there weren’t
any long, ugly tentacles reaching out between the
two. It was mostly just farms, all along the way, here
and there a rock or a frame farmhouse with a couple
of outbuildings, a cistern and a windmill, and other
than that just farmland, plowed fields or fallow fields
or fields of crop, a windbreak of trees, a stock tank, a
sheep barn. I have a photograph here at home that I
sometimes get lost in, a snowfall scene from January
of 1940 that shows the back of a car headed west
towards town and a low wooden sign that says Boerne
11, Fredericksburg 50; it was taken on Highway 87
just past where the traffic light is at Leon Springs and
Boerne Stage Road, at Rudy’s Corner. Ahead of the
car is a clump of oak trees that still stands, with the
bridge over the creek to the right, but what enchants
me about this picture is what’s to the left of the car,
off past the driver’s side: there’s a wood-post fence,
an old farm fence, and past that a snow-covered field,
and then a line of oaks in the hazy distance. Big deal.
But that’s where I10 is now, where that farmland was.
Whoever was driving that car could’ve had no idea
that the farm wouldn’t be there forever, that if he
wandered out into that field and was beamed forward
in time 50 years he would’ve been instantly struck by
an 18-wheeler and smashed into atoms. In 1940 the
guy probably hadn’t even heard of atoms.
Cascade Caverns was a hoppin’ roadside
attraction advertised all along the road and in the San
Antonio papers. The ads say it was 27 miles from
SA and they didn’t only offer cave tours but they had
BBQ, a dance pavilion, a gift shop, a swimming pool
(where a lot of parties were held that I personally
attended, including the end-of-the-year middle school
band picnic one year) and a campground.
You finally came into Boerne, over the crest of
one hill and winding down under the wing of the
next. Boerne was hidden in a fold of the hills, and
you entered it with a reaction of pleasant surprise, a
sensation one letter writer to the Boerne Star described
as an “ooh-aah” felling. It was a pretty little town, a
little, unspoiled country town, the key to the hills. It
wasn’t a suburb or a bedroom community. People
who worked in San Antonio lived in San Antonio,
but for a very few exceptions, and people whose lives
were in Boerne lived and worked in Boerne, their
folks were usually buried here like they expected to
be when the end came and they expected the end to
come in Boerne. These were two very separate places,
Boerne and San Antonio, and worlds apart. Coming
into town, the Shumard farm was on your right, a
beautiful place with a creek running through it, with
a rock farmhouse and outbuildings and rock fences.
You can still see some of those things in some form –
sitting in the parking lot of Walmart. Buck’s Courts
was further down on your left, where Frost Bank is.
Tourist courts are a relic of the old highway – these
started springing up in the 20’s and gangsters loved to
hole up in them but not in any around here that I know
of, although that would’ve been fun. They were little
cabins built close to one another around a central
court, usually, and the precursor to motor hotels, or
mo-tels, where the wayfarer could pull his car right up
to the door and keep an eye on the old Edsel loaded
to the gills with travel gear. There were tourist courts
all over Boerne – they were indispensible on the road
in a time when there were no all-night gas stations
and no pay-outside-with-your-credit-card pumps and
if you were fixin’ to run out of gas you better stop
somewhere for the night. There was a tourist camp on
the hill just south of Boerne where the Alamo Fiesta
RV Park is now, a resort called the Cactus, and one on
Oak Park Street called the Shady Nook Tourist Courts.
Oak Park was a shortcut from Highway 87 over to
Hwy. 475, what you and I know as Hwy. 46. The
Shady Nook Tourist Courts are still extant, with some
alterations, and are now the Oak Park Apartments.
There was the Boerne Motel right on Main Street
on the southeast corner of Veteran’s Park and where
the Hilltop Nursing Home is was the Hilltop Hotel
and Tourist Courts, the cottages having been built to
lodge tuberculins when the place was a TB sanitarium
after World War I. And Buck’s Courts was the first
establishment you encountered when you got into
town. Boerne’s old police chief and lone policeman,
one Mr. Earl Buck, used the lay in wait at his own
Buck’s Courts in his own vehicle in the absence of
a city-provided car, a chartreuse-and-black Mercury,
not the most subtle vehicle for undercover police
work, but that wasn’t

24 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 25
 the point – Buck wanted to be seen, and half the
fun was the intimidation as he pulled out behind the
unwary stranger, menacingly, and followed them
through town. The message was, ‘you better watch
your step in this town fella. None of your hot-rod
Lincoln business out here among decent God-
fearin’ folks, hoodlum’. Chief Buck was zealous in
the execution of his duties, and literally generations
of Boerneites came of age tormenting the man; Earl
Buck lived to a very ripe old age and ended his
career as a JP here in town.
There were filling stations all over town – all of the
commercial buildings you see sitting catty-cornered
to Main Street were filling stations, including where
the Guadalajara Diner is, across the street from the
Square, and the OST Service Station on Main Street
in front of WA Automotive, and the Log Cabin filling
station over on Main & Oak Park. Also on Oak Park
at Schweppe Street was the Rackley filling station,
that cool old red brick building that’s still there and
has been tantalizingly abandoned for years. For the
hungry wanderer the choice of eateries included
Pete and Lupe Sotello’s Mexican restaurant on
South Main in the building where Subway is, the
Elite Café (pronounced, for some reason, e-LITE),
downtown just south of the Main Plaza, and on
North Main Hugman’s later Pat’s Café up around
where Dreiss Insurance is and the Live Oak Café
where Mague’s is now. Bars – there were definitely
those, too, notably The Brass Rail, which building
is now Bumdoodler’s (the best sandwich shop in
Texas) and where the brass rail of the title was still
in place until 10 years or so ago to the detriment of
one’s ankles while ordering. And if you wanted the
kids to get out and burn off some energy along the
way you could stop by the Cibolo at River Road and
park right on the banks – there weren’t any curbs
there all the way up ‘til I was in high school, and
you just pulled your car in and parked around
26 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it.
the picnic tables. By the way, back in my youth the the inevitable mess of ugly urban sprawl and to
River Road Park, as it’s known now, wasn’t a place someone passing by on 10 we’re not a little gem,
to take the darlings for a picnic; it was a notorious an unexpected pleasure, but just another exit ramp
haunt for a rough crowd who smoked and drank with a Taco Bell. But there was a time when it was
and generally made law-abiding folk nervous, different and I long for that lost time, when telephone
and woe to you if your parents ever thought you’d poles stretched alongside the roads and you might
been hanging around there. Also there was Main get stuck behind a tractor on the highway, when if
Plaza, with the fountain and a merry-go-round and you could beg your parents irritatingly enough they
swings. There was a teenybopper hangout, the Bleu just might stop at the Snake Farm if only to shut
Boy, up where Sely’s is now. This isn’t meant to you up, where there was little enough traffic and
be a comprehensive list of all the places that were just enough time to read the Burma-Shave signs,
here back then, just a sample of what the traveler when Boerne was a good 40 miles and at least a
through town in that bygone time would’ve seen as light year away from San Antonio. That must’ve
he passed through. Main Street, even though it was been the good old days.
THE major highway from San Antonio westward,
was so amazingly different then than it is now – this
was a sleepy little place and I often heard it said
when I was a kid that they rolled up the sidewalks
at 5:00, and they did. Traffic was very, very light,
and one could have lain down in the middle of
Main Street for, as Garrison Keilor put it, as long as
anyone would want to lay down in a street. There
was one stoplight, at River Road. There were
drainage ditches along the sides of Main Street deep
enough for a kid to play in without being seen from
the other side of the street. It was safe for a kid to
play alongside Main Street, Highway 87.
Now would be the time where I start complaining
about what I10 looks like now, and what its existence
has done to this town, about how all the predictions
that I heard during the 80’s, of how San Antonio
would eventually meet up with and engulf Boerne,
are coming true, are for the most part true already –
but do I even need to do that? You’ve all driven that
stretch lately and you can see for yourselves that
it’s not 40 miles to SA anymore and that Callaghan
Road isn’t out in the country and neither is Boerne.
We’re not nestled into a pleat of the verdant hills
like we were in the 50’s but approached through
May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 27
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 Mad at Me
I’ve written a bunch of these articles for EXPLORE,
so I’m not sure if I’ve covered this particular subject or
not. Even if I have, that’s ok, because it continues to
pull heavily on my heart and has proven to be quite the
constant internal “huggy-feely” discussions I must have
with myself. But, as much as I’d like to just give up, I
know I can’t.
The object of my anger is mainly ME. Maybe that’s why
by Kendall Aaron

monster for me. I am quite stubborn, and assume that by
confronting an issue, that should immediately “solve” the
problem and I can move on. However, FORGIVENESS,
has proven to be quite a foe.
It’s quite a foe because I don’t want to forgive. I want to
sit here and be mad and harbor that anger and put it on my
spiritual
it’s so hard to deal with. Sure, there are some extraneous
issues that I’m angry about, but those pale in comparison
to my frustrations with myself. I’m not self-loathing, I
just get disappointed in myself. It’s not any particular
failures, it’s an overall sense of “missing the mark” that I
can blame on no one but myself. There’s nobody to point
down some wild, scary, poorly-lit roads into all the bad
parts of town. I’ve eventually made my way out, but I’m
getting pretty sick and tired of making the wrong turns.
I’m having a hard time forgiving myself for decisions I’ve
made in my life, and accepting that. I’m tired of knowing
that I’ve let others lead me down the wrong roads. Mainly
I’m looking for some grace.
And maybe that’s it – as much as I stick my nose up at
grace, I need to accept some. I need to forgive those that have
wronged me, and accept that I’m not perfect. It’s a crazy

back and carry it with me, ready to whip it out when needed.
I’m cool with that. I’m cool with smiling all day long, but
knowing that down deep, I’m angry. It just seems easier
that way. Dumping the backpack full of anger sounds
like work, because I know that it will involve me making
changes, and sometimes I just don’t feel like changing.
I don’t mean to sound so bitter, but I think I’m frustrated.
I’ve prayed, prayed, and prayed some more, but my
heart refuses to soften and I’m exhausted with the
the finger at but me. thought, but it’s true. I make mistakes, sometimes more
Being a Christian is a strange trip sometimes. We hear than others. But my forgiveness needs to happen. I need
over and over again about SIN, and how we’re all doomed to drop my backpack full of anger and just leave it behind.
to hell unless we live a clean life, but then we hear all Have you ever felt like that? Ever get mad at yourself
about grace. Sometimes I think the church would break and just bottle it up and let it fester? Sure you do, because
out into a brothel if we spent too much time learning you’re human. Take a cue from me – as hard as it may be,
about grace. God tells us that once a sin is confessed, He let it go. Forgive yourself. If you’ve confessed it to God,
forgets it happened. I’m not sure that’s such a great thing He’s already forgiven you, so why can’t you?
for people like me to know. Heck, if that’s the case, I’d I’m probably not nearly as “bad” as I think I am, but I
sin all day long, pray for forgiveness at bedtime, and be still thank God for GRACE.
ready for the next day. I know that’s not the point, but it’s
still a bit confusing.
My wife has been teaching me about forgiveness. She
tells me that we all have our “walk” in this life, and that
it leads us in every direction imaginable. A lot of it is
unfortunate because our walk can be dictated by poor
decisions, and sin, but in the end, it’s part of what makes
us who we are. And, of course, we are supposed to
learn from it. Ugh. I like what she tells me, but it’s
still hard for me to internalize and move forward.
If my “walk” takes me down a wrong turn on a
street and I run over a bunch of nails and get
a flat tire, I’m now irritated with myself for
making the wrong turn. I don’t take the Enjoy our new 62-room, 21-suite facility
moment to shrug my shoulders, laugh it with many amenities including:
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And that’s where I am, and have
• Pool • Complimentary
been. I’ve made a lot of wrong
turns in my life, and it’s taken me • Jacuzzi Quick Start Breakfast
(four in-room & one outside) • Free parking
• 27” Color TV • Microwaves
• Coffee maker • Hair dryers
• 24-hour beverages • Mini-refrigerators
• Dataports • Board room
H OT E L & S U I T E S • Iron/boards • Meeting room
• Express checkin/out • Bus parking
SI X FL A G S W E ST • B O ER N E, TEX A S
• Voicemail • Satellite
• Valet service • Jetport high-speed
• Two phones Internet connections
• Speaker phones

8 3 0 . 2 4 9 . 6 8 0 0 | 3 5 0 0 0 I H - 1 0 We s t • B o e r n e , Te x a s 7 8 0 0 6
34 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it. May 2009 www.hillcountryexplore.com 35
36 See it. Breathe it. Live it. EXPLORE it.