Tag Archives: Texas Hill Country
FREE RANGE: FOOD, NATURE, PLACE, AND MORE
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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Home with the armadillo: a love letter to Texas
Recently we and our three kids went to Martin’s native San Francisco to help celebrate his father’s eighty-fifth birthday. The five of us spent an afternoon walking along the cliffs of Point Reyes National Seashore, where the ground was springy, … Continue reading
Posted in Place
Tagged birds, Colorado, Point Reyes National Seashore, San Antonio, San Francisco, South Texas, Texas Hill Country, Thunder Heart Bison
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Of Frederick Law Olmsted, Mr. Brown, and Mexican Coca-Cola
Frederick Law Olmsted has been on my mind recently, in part because while we’re spending a few days in New York, we’re staying on Fifth Avenue, opposite the southeastern corner of Central Park, unquestionably Olmsted’s best-known creation. Olmsted (1822–1903) was … Continue reading
Wings over Luckenbach: Jacob Brodbeck and the limits of history
This week, for spring break, we flew to Colorado to ski and to visit Heather’s sister Isa and brother John and their families. As I sat on the plane, gazing out the window at the green and brown patchwork unfurling … Continue reading
Posted in Place
Tagged aviation, Fredericksburg TX, Isa Catto Shaw, Jacob Brodbeck, John Catto, Luckenbach TX, nineteenth century, Texas Hill Country
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The Great Texas Camel Experiment
Susan Orlean’s wonderful story on mules in the military in this week’s issue of The New Yorker mentions one of my favorite, and most unlikely, episodes of Hill Country history: the U.S. Army’s Great Texas Camel Experiment of the 1850s. … Continue reading
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Tagged aoudad, camels, Camp Verde, Civil War, desert, Douglas MacArthur, Jefferson Davis, mules, San Francisco Chronicle, Susan Orlean, Texas Hill Country, The New Yorker
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Kerrville’s Singing Brakeman
Long before the first annual Kerrville Folk Festival in 1972, the city was for a short time the home of “the father of country music.” James Charles (Jimmie) Rodgers, nicknamed “the Singing Brakeman” for his background on the railroads, was … Continue reading
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Tagged country music, Jimmie Rodgers, Kerrville Folk Festival, Kerrville TX, San Antonio, Texas Hill Country, Texas music, tuberculosis
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“Everywhere there’s lots of piggies…”
I sometimes find myself feeling a little defensive about the Texas Hill Country. Martin, a San Francisco native, and I drove across the country via Texas after we graduated from college in Massachusetts. Somewhere around Bastrop, I said, “Well, we’re … Continue reading
Posted in Nature
Tagged dogs, feral hogs, Isa Catto Shaw, Madroño Ranch, predators, rototiller, sausage, Texas Hill Country
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A mother’s legacy
The first sparks for the idea of Madroño Ranch: A Center for Writing and the Environment were kindled about a year ago in conversations with my mother, Jessica Hobby Catto. She has listened carefully and thoughtfully to my sometimes wildly … Continue reading
The wonder and power of water…
… in a time of drought are, oddly, matched only in times of flood. The Texas Hill Country is in the grip of a drought unparalleled at least since the 1950s. This drought has been so fierce that cattle going … Continue reading
Welcome…
… to our little corner of the blogosphere! We hope to use this space to start spreading the word about Madroño Ranch: A Center for Writing and the Environment, which currently exists only in our imaginations, and to share our … Continue reading
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Tagged bison, chickens, Madroño Ranch, Medina TX, Texas Hill Country, water
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