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The Art of Innovation

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July 28, 2017

On the Move, located on IH-10 just north of Flagstop is one of those businesses that you have driven past…

History – August 2017

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July 28, 2017

When I was a kid, long ago and far away (in 70s-era Pleasant Valley) my brother and sister and I…

Spiritual – August 2017

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July 28, 2017

Here is the story of a climber, determined to reach the summit of a high mountain. After years of preparation,…

Publisher’s Letter – August 2017

I spent the better part of my formative years growing up in Boerne. It was a cool time to grow up in Boerne, as it afforded me the opportunity to experience a lot of things here that the current kids probably don’t get to do. Riding a horse around town, no traffic, and skipping rocks…

Chronicles – Chairs

In these times, chairs seem to be invisible. They often sit alone and forgotten in a corner. People pass them by, and move them out of the way, like the inconvenient homeless person who sleeps on a bench – which is itself just a big chair. They pull them up and sit on them as…

Spiritual – April 2017

I remember my first panic attack like it was yesterday. I was under a ridiculous amount of stress and pressure both professionally and personally, but I had never experienced anything I would call anxiety at other points in my life, so I simply assumed that I would somehow muscle my way through this situation as…

Art of Transition – Hunter Beaton

The Art of Transition Hunter Beaton is not your stereotypical 16 year old teenager at Boerne High School, obsessed with cars, girls, and counting the seconds until he can leave town for college. Instead, he’s a thoughtful, compassionate and focused young man that has some pretty high aspirations…for himself and others. Upon first…

Spiritual – March 2017

I’ve had the flu for the past week, and let me tell ya, it’s not a bit of fun. Day after day of fevers, chills, aches, pains, and general misery. It’s been barely sleeping at night, and then wanting to sleep all day. One minute you might feel a little better, and then the next…

Publisher’s Letter – March 2017

Dearest EXPLORE reader, I write these little letters that 5 or 6 people read each month (my Mom included) and they don’t cover anything of any particular interest to folks. They’re just essays brought forth from my miniscule brain and put to paper. But they make me happy, so they’re important to me. I…

Save the Cibolo!

Can We Save Our Cibolo? Imagine a day when our Cibolo Creek is no longer a place where children can play, and its banks are lined with signs warning against fishing. Imagine a silent Cibolo, for when the crawdads, minnows and tiny creatures disappear, so do the fish, and birds. Gone are the playful…

Boerne Professional Artists

EXPLORE MAGAZINE: March 2017 Sue Talford – Boerne Performing Arts – 830.238.4842 What is Bollywood you ask? Coined by a journalist in the 1970’s, this term refers to the film industry based in the city of Mumbai, India, which used to be called Bombay. Bombay + Hollywood = Bollywood! Quick facts: India…

Outdoors – Blood

My grandmother was from “the old country.” She grew up on a farm in the foot-hills of the mountains of central Italy about an hour drive from Rome. She grew her own vegetables and baked her own bread, and made her own wine in the basement of her home that my father built for her,…

Spiritual – Save Me From Me

I’m angry. And I want justice. Pretty simple emotions, huh? I’m fairly certain that every last one of us has walked away from a situation simply seething with a clenched-jaw as we prayed for some form of justice, even if we weren’t there to witness our justice being realized. We wanted our boss to get…

Ask Old Timer

Sometimes I just drive around town and mutter questions at myself. Why are they doing that? Who the hell thought up this brilliant idea? Have we fully become Stone Oak yet? Regardless, I just make observations and either chuckle to myself at the craziness of it all, or shake my head in frustration. Sometimes I…

Spiritual – Jan 17 – Finding God

One of the most universal struggles for Christ followers throughout time has been that of feeling distant from God. We go to church and clap our hands while thinking about mowing the lawn later. We pray with our kids while thinking about the dishes. We wake up, work, and then go to sleep and realize…

Spiritual – Dec 2016

So I’m not getting any younger. I asked my grandfather one time what it feels like to be 84, and he said that his mind tells him that he’s still 18. His body, however, tells him differently. And that just fascinated me at the time because I was probably 18 when I asked him…

Old Timer – Dec 2016

Old Timer, doing any deer hunting this season? Got any great hunting secrets you’d care to share? When I was a kid, you grabbed your hunting rifle in the pre-dawn light, went out by your favorite field, laid in the grass while temps were in the 20s, and tried like hell to be still and…

Spiritual – Response to “I Have Questions”

Publisher’s Letter – August 2017

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July 28, 2017

I had a friend in middle school that lived way out Hwy 1376 named Matt Stokes. He was a good kid, and we met when he showed me how to wrap my math book with those Butter-Krust book covers they made back in the day (remember those?). He liked to play basketball and talk about girls, so we got along nicely. He lived on a sizeable ranch out there near Wasp Creek, and I stayed overnight at his house a few times.

A simple ranch house, he lived there with his parents. His father was the size of an oak tree and had hands that matched. Every time I stayed over, his dad was gone before we were awake, even the weekends. He returned at sundown, and while we had spent our Saturday playing basketball and talking about who we could beat up at school, he returned looking like he had been in battle. His cowboy hat was dusty, his jeans were dusty, and well….every inch of him was dusty. He would dust off on the front porch, Matt’s mom would hand him an enormous glass of iced tea, and he would drink it in one gulp. And with that, he would go inside. To my adolescent mind, this guy was pretty much the equivalent to John Wayne. Or some sort of Viking warrior.

I asked Matt what he did all day, and his reply was poignant: “Everything.” Matt explained that he worked on the ranch all day, and that every once in a while, Matt got to go with him.

And soon enough, we both went with him.
I’m not sure why he decided to take us with him one Saturday morning, but there was no mistaking that it was time to go. “Get up boys” he said as he flipped on the light in Matt’s room. “We’ve got some work to do this morning.” 10 minutes later, we stepped out onto the porch in the pre-dawn light. He loaded us up in the cab of his old truck, and off we went for parts unknown.
We drove down dirt roads and listened to bad country music. Matt was ecstatic. We all jostled around the cab as his dad sipped his coffee and said very little. Our lights danced on the gravel, the sky was just light enough to see, and we had to dodge a deer a time or two. It was exhilarating. He asked us if we had brought our work gloves. “Did you get the thermos your mom made for us?” he asked. Still not knowing where we were going or what was about to happen, I was ready for anything. Pre-dawn in Texas. Middle of nowhere. Three “men” about to go do something adventurous. It was AWESOME.

It turned out that our “adventure” that morning was helping him dig post holes for a cattle enclosure. It was back-breaking work, but I don’t really remember that. But I can remember with crystal-clarity that 20 minute drive in the early morning hours as we embarked on something exciting. The cool air. The gravel as it hit the underside of his truck. All the random tools, empty beer cans, and assorted crap littered around the floorboard. I can even remember the smell of leather and sweat and tall tales.

30 years later I was thinking about Matt the other day. I was driving to work at 5:30am and stopped off at the gas station here in town. Inside were men that reminded me of Matt’s dad. Big, husky men with huge hands and beat up boots that were sharing a cup of coffee and some conversation with the local sheriff. They were somehow already dusty. Outside, work trucks pulled up for gas and one of the 6 guys inside jumped out to fill ‘er up. The guys inside were laughing or wiping sleep out of their eyes. The cash register guy in the gas station knew each of these patrons and even asked them “Are you heading up to Kendalia today?” or “Are ya’ll still working on that well in Sisterdale?” And he really wanted to know the answer.

I pulled out of the parking lot and drove Main Street in the pre-dawn hours. The traffic light blinks yellow. Streetlights buzz above me. The air whooshes through the cab of my truck and I even turn on some bad country music.

I’m probably in the minority when I say that if I’m left to my own accord, I really enjoy getting up VERY early and heading out for my day. It’s not that I have a burning desire to be sitting at my desk. Nor do I have amazingly high goals for my day. I think it’s just because for my 10 minute drive to work, I’m not really heading to work. I’m heading off on an ADVENTURE. I’m in my truck and I’m driving down dusty roads to work with my hands and return home dusty. I’m going to dig post holes and cut trees down and break a wild mare. The day could bring me ANYTHING, and by golly, I’m ready for it. I get to imagine that no matter how mundane my life may be at times, there’s still a part of me (and I think most every man) that yearns to hike across Africa, or camp out under the stars, or to head up a cattle run.

And the mystery of the forth-coming day is as exciting to me as that one morning on an old ranch in the Hill Country.

Enjoy the month of August. Sure, it’s hot and sleepy, but never forget that there are adventures to be had. EXPLORE, enjoy your families, and travel Main Street in the pre-dawn hours. Just wave at me as you pass by.

The Art of Innovation

History – August 2017

Spiritual – August 2017

Old Timer – August 2017

Featured Articles

The Art of Innovation

History – August 2017

Spiritual – August 2017

Publisher’s Letter – August 2017

Chronicles – Chairs

Spiritual – April 2017

Art of Transition – Hunter Beaton

Spiritual – March 2017

Publisher’s Letter – March 2017

Save the Cibolo!

Boerne Professional Artists

Outdoors – Blood

Spiritual – Save Me From Me

Ask Old Timer

Spiritual – Jan 17 – Finding God

Spiritual – Dec 2016

Old Timer – Dec 2016

Spiritual – Response to “I Have Questions”

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