Category Archives: More
FREE RANGE: FOOD, NATURE, PLACE, AND MORE
Hosts, guests, and strangers: thoughts on hospitality
The season of hospitality is upon us, with all its pleasures and burdens. Known in the Christian tradition as Advent, it focuses on the need for preparation, both for the very intimate event of a baby’s birth and for the … Continue reading
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Tagged Advent, Dai Due, deer, hospitality, land ownership, Madroño Ranch, private property, Texas Hill Country
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Faith, bureaucracy, and sheep: thoughts on changing one’s mind
In my last post, I decided to postpone my public ululations over the recent elections. As I’ve spent the last week or so in an apparently endless struggle to get the Madroño Ranch bison label approved by the Texas Department … Continue reading
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Tagged Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest, meat, Moral Majority, regulation, religion, Tea Party
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“Sit. Stay. Stay! I said STAY, dammit!”
Despite the temptation to give myself over to ululations for the natural world in light of the recent midterm elections, I will be brave and strong. In fact, I’ll look to our dogs for clues about how to move ahead … Continue reading
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Tagged aoudad, armadillos, bison, Colorado, dogs, Madroño Ranch, porcupines, walking
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How not to write a book
Some of you may not know that I am officially a Published Author and therefore—let’s face it—kind of a big deal, but it’s true. And I have to confess that I’ve never really gotten over the thrill of seeing my … Continue reading
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Tagged baseball, Black Sox, books, Hal Chase, Pete Rose, Texas Book Festival, writing
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Lessons from Phoebe
It’s impossible to think about Madroño Ranch without thinking about its critters, both wild and domestic: bison, feral hogs, chickens, wild turkeys, aoudad, deer, geese, snakes, raccoons, porcupines, fish, and dogs. On some days at Madroño, when the wind is … Continue reading
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Tagged aoudad, dogs, Julia Child, Kinky Friedman, Madroño Ranch, Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch
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Hall of mirrors: the lost art of conversation
Last week I found myself in a conversation with someone who doesn’t believe in AGW and has written a soon-to-be-published book explaining his position. AGW—which I had to look up—is short for anthropogenic global warming, or global warming caused by … Continue reading
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Tagged climate change, conversation, environmentalism, Glenn Beck, Grist.org, The New Yorker
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Adventures in Business-Land
This week, during a solo trip to Madroño, Heather spent much of her time knocking on doors in Kerrville, Bandera, Medina, Tarpley, and vicinity, hoping to convince chefs and restaurateurs to buy locally raised, grass-fed bison meat from the ranch. … Continue reading
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Tagged agribusiness, Austin, bison, farming, Madroño Ranch, meat, Texas Hill Country, Thunder Heart Bison
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Still more on violence: there will be blood
The other day, I stopped my car to chat with neighbors (a frequent occurrence in our chatty neighborhood). We quickly got to the topic of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its spreading devastation. D. told me that he’d heard … Continue reading
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Tagged Bill McKibben, oil spill, San Francisco, Saul Griffith, The New Yorker, violence
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