Winter Texans

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Susan Linnea Kallander

Under the heading ’Things you don’t know until you get there’. Texans seem to enjoy their population boom from The North entitling them ’Winter Texans’. I like that. For some unknown reason it seems friendlier than the southeastern states and their ’Snowbird’ population explosion. I am in The Hill Country of Texas for a few months. Kerrville. 1 hour NW of San Antonio and 1/2 hr W of Fredericksburg. I don’t know which came first, the senior citizens to Kerrville or Kerrville doing things to attract the seniors but they hail from all over Texas and elsewhere. The weather has been in the 70s and 80s with clear blue sunny skies but at night it has been dipping into near freezing temps. The Guadalupe River runs through it . The river area has some rare species of animal life including the Cagle’s Map turtle, the Guadalupe bass, Golden Cheeked Warbler, the Ashe Juniper, and huge cypresses, I was told, were imported from France 150 years ago and are found no where else in the U.S.. This greenish river is great for rafting and fishing. This whole area was under the sea millions of years ago as you will remember from your geography class but it is fun to realize that when you can stoop down and pick up at random a fossilized sea shell and great chunks of flint. It’s the mother lode for making arrowheads and for flintlock guns. There is a large art colony here with wonderful facilities for the graphic and the lively arts. Galleries, studio space, indoor and outdoor theaters. Across the road is a huge replica of Stonehenge. It gets a double take.  It is deer season now. I see deer every day but the bucks have gone into hiding. They must seek refuge at conservation areas for the winter. They are included in the U.S. winter migration.

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Going South

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Susan Linnea Kallander

On our way from Minnesota to Texas,we stopped in Kansas City to see the fascinating boat that was dug up in a farmer’s field where formerly the Missouri River had flowed. For years there had been rumors about it laying buried until some men decided to dig it up. They made an agreement with the farmer that they would dig into the field during the winter and they would make the field ready for planting by the following Spring. They did just that. During that time they unearthed the paddle wheeler Arabia and its treasure. The treasure had to be carefully preserved as it had been under water for over 100 years and if not properly cared for it would dry and crumble into dust. They are still working on the preservation of thousands of articles from leather and rubber boots, tools, brass ‘common’ pins to jewelry, bolts of fabric and perfume. The fascinating thing for me is to see what the settlers needed to survive and establish the ‘frontier’ and what they desired for luxuries to delight them. All these things were new. No worn tools, no old boots, no shabby clothes. This is a must see. A short movie at the beginning of the tour tells the history if the wreck and of the treasure hunters.There is a price to get into the museum. I think it is about $13 for adults. No government money was used in any of this and if you are lucky as we were, one of the treasure hunters will give a little talk after the movie.

The Missouri was used to float logs down to the sawmill. Sometimes the logs would get stuck in the mud and became weapons of destruction for unwary boats. They would pierce the hull and the boat would quickly go down if it wasn’t blown up by the cold water hitting the hot boiler. I used to think of this means of travel as charmingly romantic. Now I think it was terrifyingly thrilling.

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Posted on October 14, 2010 by Susan Linnea Kallander

We had a very successful book signing at Ellsworth High School and thanks to The Globe for the terrific write-up which I am sure contributed to the success. Our children’s picture book is called Up In Smoke. The reason I mention this is because I have been reading a lot of blogs about children’s books. Apparently some parents feel that picture books, those books with up to 1200 words I guess, are a waste of time when the child should be learning to read. They want to get right into chapter books. Picture books offer a child a great deal. Kids love to look at pictures and their imagination grabs the picture and runs with it. They learn to love the book. They proudly can identify some words and they get great confidence that they will soon learn to read. Parents need to provide guidance at the bookstore or library because every attractive cover doesn’t come with a attractive story. Sometimes there is too much information about the world for a little tyke. I saw too many books in the library that I didn’t want my grandchildren to read that’s one reason why I wrote Up In Smoke. It’s about the family values I want to pass on to my grand kids. I’ll bet any given person can remember at least one children’s book that impressed them how ever long ago it was. I still have a beautifully illustrated Child’s Garden of Verses I’ve had since I was 5. Also I remember The Peddler of Colored Threads, Uncle Wiggley, Little Black Sambo, Raggedy Ann and Andy and more.

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Municipal campgrounds and Chautauqua

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Susan Linnea Kallander



In Worthington Minnesota, right on Lake Okebena, is the Olson municipal park and campground. It is lovely in Late September. Maybe because we had it almost to ourselves. Only hookup is electric but it was park-like–lawn and big trees, pretty quiet and close to downtown. The first afternoon we cruised the downtown. I like to drive down “Main Street” as it tells a lot about how the people feel about their town and it is an indicator of the commerce climate. Surrounding the lake are nice well kept homes of assorted vintage including some quite interesting architecture. Amidst these home are several parks one of which caught my eye. The Chautauqua Park. Seeing a large sign I hopped out of the car and went to read it. It tells of the history of Chautauqua in this area. Briefly Chautauqua was started in the mid 1800s by 2 Sunday school teachers in Chautauqua, NY as a summer camp for families featuring lectures and musical performances by traveling orators and artists. These ‘camps meetings were located near a railroad line and hotels and B&B’s sprang up to accommodate the attendees. It caught on like wildfire bringing culture to the rural areas in all the states and territories of the U.S. It continued for nearly 100 years! Some areas have revived these meetings. I have been to the one in De Funiak Springs FL, in the Panhandle. They have recently built an auditorium for meetings and publish a weeks program of diverse interest from quilting to musical performances and prominent lecturers. In Worthington I see they have a shell stage and seating for performances.
Moving on to Adrian, Minnesota, about 14 miles west on Rte 90 is another little municipal campground with similar lawn and trees style. There were quite a few RV and trailer rigs for so late in the season. I was told it is frequented by area folks who want to ‘get away’. We stayed one night at one in the apple region of Monitor, Washington near Cashmere (where they make Aplets and Cotlets). It was on the Wenatchee River. It was very lovely. It certainly would be nice for us full timers to find more municipal parks for short term stays as we travel the country. They seem to be well cared for and reasonably priced.
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