Columns

When my wife and I retired a few years back, we moved out of a house in an El Paso suburb that had almost 2,000 Square feet of living space. We moved in to a house that my wife had purchased from her folks that had approximately half the floor space of the El Paso house.

Well, we had our Christmas Party on Friday the 16th. We had enough food for an army and then some. We thank the Tenant Association for a wonderful job and we thank the Johnson City Bank for sponsoring the Christmas Party. The Johnson City Bank has brought us much joy over the years and they have always, always been there for us.

*****On Tuesday, December 13, Southern Living photographers were at Pecan Street Brewery and around town doing a photo shoot for an article on Johnson City to appear in the Dec 2012 issues! Hope you helped show off our town!*****Condolences to B. T. & Jean Anderson. Their son Pat died on Tuesday.

We had a Tenant Association meeting on Tuesday to discuss our Christmas Party and the needs to pull off our Christmas Party on December 16th, 2011. Tenants do not forget to bring a dish and a gift that suits a male or female. Do not spend more than $5.00. I can hardly wait for the party.

A couple of years ago on the lawn in front of the old Blanco County Courthouse, Maggie Goodman spun a yarn about how a little boy invented the luminaria. He was trying to light up his little house in the country so the “pastores” or shepherds would be able to find his place and seek shelter there on their way to visit the Christ child.

*****Congratulations to Tex & Chelita Riley! Their new granddaughter was born on Tuesday, December 06, 2011. Her name is Marley Grace. Disposition is described as feisty! Mom, dad and big sister Kai are all doing well.*****Patty, Tim and Sean Elliott are so proud of their daughter/sister, Becky Santarsiere for completing her Nurse Anesthetist program and graduating Dec 9.

Beauty in Winter: Have you noticed how some building owners change out their plants all year long to provide color? One of my favorite places is the building that has Starbucks in it in Marble Falls. Mrs. Kara Stewart and her husband own the building and Kara is the plant person.

Wow, what a beautiful weekend. What a nice, slow drizzle and then the coolness, then some really good rain. This is what I call the energy of life. What a beautiful sight. and what an even greater feeling of renewed growth. Just think what the trees and shrubs are feeling about now.

*****Hope you have stocked up on retirement greeting cards! Several Johnson City citizens are retiring very soon – Terry & Dianne Brussell, Donnie Liesmann, Eric Mills, Vicky Patton & several more! Congratulations to all of you!*****The Doer’s Class of First Baptist Church hosted a fun Christmas party on Sunday. It was yummy potluck followed by a White Elephant Chinese gift exchange.

The Piedras Verdes River was the sole water supply for Colonia Juarez from its founding by American citizens in 1885 until 1948 when modern water-well drilling techniques made it possible to sink deep wells and relieve the pressure on the river for irrigation. The Piedras Verdes (Green Rocks) was and still is, in reality, little more than a tree-lined creek for most of the year.