Features

Although I have been a member of Keep Wimberley Beautiful for over twenty-five years and I have written a column for over the same number of years, I never really thought about what the word “BEAUTIFICATION” means or encompasses. Just this week, I ran across a quote from Texas’ favorite and best known beautification citizen, Lady Bird Johnson. Here is her quote: “Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal, and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me...beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass on to our children and the future.”

Living in Wimberley can really get to you – in a good way. People strive to get a little piece of land in the valley before they leave the big city job. Stress and living so close to others is not the way for some people and country life is the only medicine. Helping others can go hand in hand with that.

It’s been pretty hot lately so if you flip to page 2 of the new cookbook available at the Senior Citizens Craft Shop you’ll find the perfect heat-busting mojito recipe.

The Azalea Bowl at Callaway Gardens is one of The Garden Guy’s favorite places, even when the 3,000 plus azaleas aren’t blooming. The seasonal color and serenity will have you energized in short order. Such was the case recently when my wife Jan and I became mesmerized with their plantings of flowers, and foliage in combination with the graceful King Tut papyrus.

You can’t keep a good town down. No two ways about it, Wimberley is an artist and tourist town. One of the magnets for visitors and tourists is the lively theatre here, especially for such a small city. Just look around on Labor Day Weekend: those extra cars, they’re visitors’ cars in town.

Now is not the time to plant anything outside as it is too hot and dry. I am reminded of my winter days in Ohio when it was too cold to plant anything outside. But we can still dream. Those catalogs that come in the mail give gardeners hope for the future.

The new Pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church is Fr. Chris Unachukwu MSP. The initials MSP stand for the Missionary of St. Paul, where members can be assigned all over the world, wherever there is a need.

As Josh Crumpton navigates his Polaris Ranger over the rocky roads of the 1,000-acre Spoke Hollow Ranch his love for the land is obvious. He talks about his business — Spoke Hollow Outfitters — then jumps to the pluses and minuses of cedar trees.

I am always looking for flowers that provide good color. Although I no longer have any in my yard right now, I have noticed some beautiful Blue Plumbago blooming around Wimberley. Plumbago, a native of Africa, is usually quite easy to grow. It is deer resistant, drought resistant after being fairly well established, and it blooms for a good amount of time, especially in the summer months.

Wimberley United Church of Christ has received a new pastor, Nathan Hill. The past Pastor was Tim Moore, who decided to retire after serving as pastor after 17 years. Moore moved to Llano, Texas.

Ben McCullough likes heavy metal.

The Wimberley Area Republicans is a local nonprofit General Purpose Political Action Committee (GPAC) that pools contributions and donations from members and uses those funds to support Republican/Conservative candidates, officeholders and legislative measures. www.wimberleyarearepublicans.com, 13501 RR 12, Suite 107, Wimberely, Texas 78676, 512-722-3952, [email protected] SUBMITTED PHOTO

Finding fun outdoor activities with good SD (social distancing) potential is challenging. Last Saturday’s Wall Street Journal offered a suggestion; head to the great outdoors and look at the night sky. In “The New Pandemic Hobby: Gazing at the Stars,” WSJ points out that the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) now designates more than 60 Dark Sky locations in the United States; Fifteen of them are in Texas.