The Incredible, Tom Russell...

Well, if you've followed me long enough here on The Impulsive Texan, you know by now that I'm sort of a nut for music...of all types...

And as a songwriter, I'm always reading the lyrics of great writers like Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earl and other notable singer/songwriters. But one of my favorite songwriters that hasn't had much mainstream success is a gentleman by the name of Tom Russell.

Tom has had a stellar career of songwriting and he's had songs recorded by a lot of the greats. But my favorite tune he wrote was recorded by Gretchen Peters and it is called "Guadalupe".

It's a story of a down and out "sinner" that is looking deep into the Catholic faith and how it has been affected and changed over the centuries.

The lyrics are absolutely amazing and the melody sets your heart in some place like Chihuahua, Mexico or the jungles of Peru..just fantastic.

I hope you enjoy this epic journey into songwriting genius. You'll be back to listen again for sure. I've included the lyrics below the video, so you can follow along.

Enjoy!!! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Impulsive Texan

 

 

Guadalupe

Songwriter: TOM RUSSELL

 

There are ghosts out in the rain tonight
High up in those ancient trees
Lord, I've given up without a fight
Another blind fool on his knees
And all the gods that I'd abandoned here
Begin to speak in simple tongues
Lord, suddenly I've come to know
There are no roads left to run.

Now it's the hour of dogs a barkin'
That's what the old ones used to say
It's first light or it's sundown
Before the children cease their play
And when the mountains glow like mission wine
And turn grey like a Spanish roan
Ten thousand eyes will stop to worship
Then turn away and head on home

And she is reaching out her arms tonight
And, yes, my poverty is real
I pray roses shall rain down again
From Guadalupe on her hill
And who am I to doubt these mysteries
Cured in centuries of blood and candle smoke
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope.

She appeared to Juan Diego
And she left her image on his cape
Five hundred years of sorrow
Have not destroyed their deepest faith
But here I am your ragged disbeliever
Old doubting Thomas drowns in tears
As I've watched your church sink through the earth
Like a heart borne down through fear.

And she is reaching out her arms tonight
And, yes, my poverty is real
I pray roses shall rain down again
From Guadalupe on her hill
And who am I to doubt these mysteries
Cured in centuries of blood and candle smoke
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope.
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope.

 

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Turkey, Texas? Gobble, gobble, gobble...

I spent a few days wondering just what the heck I was going to write about for Thanksgiving. I mean, there have been ump-teen (Texas word for many, numerous, lots...) stories on Turkey and Dressing, the Pilgrims, Pumpkin Pie and all sorts of other stories that give homeage to the holiday.

 

It suddenly came upon me that there may be "side stories" to some of the main characters of this, my most beloved holday. The first one that came to mind of course was, the turkey. And for what ever reason, the town of Turkey, Texas entered my mind. And to answer your first question, yes, it is indeed a real town here in Texas. But what some may not know is that an icon of the music industry was from that Panhandle Hamlet.

 

It was originally called "Turkey Roost" for Turkey Creek and the roosting turkeys there when settlers began arriving in the 1890's. The name was shortened when the post office (the dug-out of Alfred P. Hall, postmaster) was granted in 1893.

The town plat was recorded in 1907 and in 1927, the Fort Worth and Denver Railroad arrived. The Turkey Volunteer Fire Department was organized in February of 1928 after two disastrous fires destroyed most of downtown Turkey. Major crops are cotton, watermelons, peanuts, and sweet potatoes.

Turkey is best known as the home of Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing. Wills was a barber in Turkey during the 1920's. In his biography “Hubbin’ It”, Wills said that the lotions and soft-work of barbering kept his fingers pliable for playing the fiddle. It was a trade that many musicians shared, since the day work of barbering never interfered with dances and holiday celebrations. Wills formed the Texas Playboys band and their music introduced a new offshoot of county-western music known as “Western Swing.”
The former Turkey school buildings were purchased by The Bob Wills Foundation and city offices, the library, a senior citizens room, and the Bob Wills Museum are located in the former grade school building. The Foundation has built a Bob Wills monument and Bob Wills Park.

And now you know the story of Turkey, Texas. I have on my bucket list to visit there one day, since I am a big time western swing fan. I can still see my mother scootin' across the floor of our house singing along to "Rose of San Antone"...ah yes, the good old days.

I pray that all of you have a fantastic "Turkey" Day or Thanksgiving. Eat lots of turkey and dressing and make sure you have the couch all ready for the afternoon nap so you can wake up and watch America's Team, the Dallas Cowboys play.

I leave you with a video of the man that put Turkey, Texas on the map, so to speak...

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all from The Impulsive Texan!

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Chili Time!

Yes, mi amigo's, it's that time of year once again. There's a touch of "cool" in the air in Texas here lately. Crisp, nippy mornings are beginning to welcome us, the leaves are falling and football is in full swing. And when Texans get that first burst of fall we know it's time to get out the chili recipe's.

 

I went out on a limb and tried a new recipe this year on the occasion of my very first chili cookoff competition. And to my surprise and dismay, it pulled the "Hottest Chili" award. I thought sure the flavor would garner the favor of all of the judges, but it wasn't meant to be for my first event.

 

I spent the better part of two weeks looking for a new recipe that suited my Texas Palate. I finally ran across one that caught my eye that was listed on the website of a local North Texas chef. 

 

Myself and two co-workers were teamates in this event so we put all of the ingredients of the recipe in the mix and a few of our own and what came out was the prettiest deep, rich, dark crimson bowl of red that you've ever seen. It has a deep, rich, earthy flavor from the New Mexico, Guajillo and Pisilla peppers and it's nice and thick and hearty.

 

 

Everyone at the competition that sampled our recipe was very taken by the taste, the color and the OH MY GOSH heat. It, uh, turned out a tad bit hotter than what we expected... and quite by accident. When we were putting the mix together, I sampled the base and there wasn't one bit of heat in it. So we decided to put in the last jalapeno we had bought, to try and boost the heat a bit. Well, it worked like a charm. It turned into the prettiest deep, rich, dark crimson BLAZING bowl of red that we actually had not planned on. Our strategy was to go for the best tasting category, but instead, quite by accident, we won the "Hottest Chili" award for the event. That wasn't a problem though, because if it hadn't been for that lone jalapeno, we would have went home with nothing but a good case of heart burn and gas.



 





But, as they say, "all's well that ends well" and we had a fantastic time at the 1st Annual Midlothian Chili Cookoff. And we'll definitely be back next year.

 

So drag out those "Red Recipe's" fellow Texans and Texans at heart. The cooler weather is calling out to the "chili heads" to enjoy yet another year of good, hot red, chili.

 



 



And before ya'll ask, no the hat's not that big, it's just that my head is that small. May the cooler weather bless your part of the country and may your chili be hot and red!

 

 

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...



Possible humor in North Texas street signs?

I know it's a bit blurry, I was blowing through the intersection at 6:40 one morning, but is it just me or is there like this crazy hilariousness in the names of these two road signs in small town, North Texas, USA?

I mean, it's a small college town and well, at college we all know what happens... uhhh, well, I'll just be quiet and let all ya'll talk this over.

Click on the pic and let me know what you see that's funny, if anything at all!!



The Impulsive Texan...keep it Texas, Ya'll...

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Texas (Cattle) Royalty

Each year, my hunting partner, best friend and wife, Terri and I head to Decatur, Texas to the LBJ National Grasslands to see if we can get a rare glimpse of and even more rare, a shot off at the mysterious and sneaky Whitetail Deer. While we're not in the stand, we make our way into town to grab a bite to eat, fill up with gas or donate our hard-earned money to the local Walmart.

This past weekend, we were in downtown Decatur running around with errands to complete when up on a hill, behind the Baymont Hotel we were staying in was a building that resembled a castle. I pointed it out to Terri and she excitedly said "Let's go see it!". So we head out toward the structure, not knowing how to get there, but we weaved our way in and out of streets north of town until we were at the intersection where the building stood stately above the Decatur skyline.

We drove up to the property and surprisingly it was in fairly good shape. The grounds were freshly mowed, fresh cut tree limbs were in front of the property and a lone worker was trying to get a piece of equipment running in close proximity to the entry gate stately marked "El Castile". We got out and shot a few pictures of the property from the angles we could get to while adhering to the signs that said "Private Property, keep out" every 15' feet on the fence that surrounded the property.





We spent about 10 - 15 minutes there taking pictures and admiring details of the structure that are rarely seen in Texas, much less the United States. After our weekend in Decatur was over and we returned back to Cleburne, I spent a little time researching the building and came across some very interesting information.

"El Castile" or "The Castle" was built in 1883 by cattle baron Dan Waggoner and was once headquarters to the vast Waggoner ranching empire in North Texas. The house boasts 16 rooms and a full basement with 8 wood-burning fireplaces. It is constructed of fossibiferous limestone decorated with hand hewn wrought iron on the roof and balconies. The entrance hall has a grand staircase winding to the second floor with Texas star motifs decorating the walnut & oak stairway and other woodwork throughout the house. Massive interior doors stand 16 feet tall, 3 have stained glass. The Victorian library that displays wrought iron is in glass fixtures from Denver.

The house has a large dining room, 8 bedrooms, 5 marble baths and a huge kitchen with a copper sink and fixtures. The house was the model for the home in the movie "Giant". The home Thistle Hill in Fort Worth was a wedding present to Dan's Daughter Electra in 1902. El Castile was purchased by Phil Luker Sr. in 1944 and remains in the Luker family to this day. It is privately owned and not available for public viewing.

But, if you want to see a building that was built for "Texas Royalty", albeit from the outside only, take a trip up to Decatur, locate the square and drive straight north on East Main about five or six blocks and take the time to look at this timeless structure. I'm glad we did, because honestly, I didn't know anything about El Castile until this past weekend.

There are outstanding architectural structures all over Texas and El Castile is only one. I hope you get the time to visit this place. I don't think you'll be sorry.

Forever Texas...

The Impulsive Texan




"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Pecan Pie and yard sales...as Texas as it gets...

My wife absolutely loves yard sales as a lot of women do. Yesterday, our neighbor directly across the street was holding a very large yard sale. So my wife, not ever one to pass up a bargain OR a yard sale, mosied on over for a visit.

 

Of course, she stayed there for hours and had to to make three or four trips back and forth across the street to our house to bring home all of the "bargains" that she found.

 

Well, one of the bargains was marked $.25. It was an old, weathered grass-green pocket folder, you know the type the kids use in school? It has the wire brads in the center flaps to hold papers and of course a pocket on each side.

 

In this folder are several dozen, hand-typed recipes from the early 1960's as far as I can tell. In one of the pockets was an old newspaper clipping from Cleburne, Texas, where we happen to live and it was dated November 7th 1979. I immediately took an interest to the old, weathered clipping. In it was a story about a "bumper crop" of pecans in Texas that fall season, way back in 1979.

 

And in a portion of the article the recipe "Texas Pecan Pie" caught my eye. Well, all of you know that I'm a die-hard, Lone Star Lovin', fifth-generation Texan. So immediately my chest swelled up like an overblown balloon at a 10 year olds birthday party. I read it, admired it and carefully folded the article back up and put it back in the pocket.

 

Then I started perusin' the hand-typed recipe's in the middle of the folder. I began noticing that the ladies submitting the recipes were from all over the nation and a few from out of the United States Mainland. In the middle was a story about the history of the "Non-Commissioned Officer Wives Club" of Ramey Air Force Base In Puerto Rico. As a twenty-three year retired Navy veteran, I was now very interested. It seems this club was organized in 1946. And from Ramey Air Force Base, that answered the question as to why the peoples locations were so diverse. They were all together in Puerto Rico stationed with their husbands at Ramey A.F.B.

 

I kept reading and it seems this wives club held events each year to raise money. And each one of the wives submitted recipe's for the book and they sold copies of the recipe book one year to raise money for the wives club. They must've sold a LOT of books. They raised $1,700 that year!

 

I think my wife stumbled across a treasure of recipes, memories and history at that local yard sale yesterday. I thought I'd share the recipe in the book for that "Texas Pecan Pie" with all of my readers here at the Impulsive Texan. This post is to all of my friends and acquaintances and especially for all of those displaced Texans yearning for a piece of home or those Texans in spirit that want to share in the mystique that is Texas. And what's more Texan, that a good ole' Pecan Pie?

 

I've attached the recipe below along with some pics of that old recipe book. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

 

God bless you all and God Bless Texas!!!! Yee-haw!!!



"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

"What I like about Texas"...

I'm not sure what happened this morning, but I woke up and a whole truckload of Texas was about to get all over me. It was a normal morning, get up, shower, drink coffee with my wife, watch a little news and then head out to work.

But as I drove to work, something came alive in me that shows up every once in a while. I'm a fifth-generation Texan and I know what you're thinking. "Shouldn't you wake up ever day with a truckload of Texas on your mind?" Good question and each day I do. But this morning was extra special for some reason. Maybe it was the wonderful, cool, fall breeze that had kicked up. I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is I was overloaded with Texas pride.

So, I want to share one of my favorite videos/songs with you that sums a lot of my pride up in about 4:30.

Gary P Nunn sings it well in this video and my heart swells with pride every time I hear it. To all of my friends and blog followers all over this world, this is what Texas is really about. The land, the people, the history...all of it.

There's a reason why folks from all over the world can show you exactly where Texas is on a worldwide atlas. It's the the friendly people, the wide open spaces, the Alamo, the Texas Rangers, the Dallas Cowboys, big oil, big ranches, big pride, big smiles, pretty girls and handsome men, the mystique of the loyal following of all Texans, whether they're here in the Lone Star State or living somewhere else in the world. It's all of the above and so much more. It's Texas...

There's a joke that goes around about Texans. "You can always tell when a man is from Texas, because when he enters the room he will tell you. And if he doesn't, why embarrass him by asking?"

I hope each and every one of you has a prosperous and wonderful week. God bless you all!


The Impulsive Texan

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Good to be back...

It's been a while since my last post, but it wasn't because I didn't want to, I've been trying to update my site with new "stuff" and "thangs" and it's going a lot slower than I expected.

So for now, we'll just keep this old blog the same until I get the new updates completed.

As I drove to work this morning, it was clear, cool and bright heading out of Cleburne. My route to work takes me down US Hwy 67 from Cleburne all the way into Midlothian. Roughly 30 miles one way.

As I neared Alvarado, I noticed my surroundings beginning to change. It was getting a bit dimmer outside and suddenly, I ran right into a wall of fog. Strange happening since I had just left the clear blue skies with nary a cloud anywhere.

When I emerged on the other side, a sight awaited me that made me smile. I snapped a quick picture of the gorgeous sunrise, somewhere between Alvarado and Venus.

It made for a nice drive into work. I hope all of you enjoy this picture on this wonderful October 10th! If you want to get a sense of how it really looked, click on the pic and enlarge it.

Have an awesome Texas day!!!



The Impulsive Texan

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Adios....

Everyone, at some time in their lives, unless they are very well-off or very prudent with their money, has to face the possibility of making big changes in their lives as they head toward retirement.

My wife and I have been tossing around scenarios that take into account income, health, wealth and living conditions. I spent 23 years in the United States Navy, so I didn't settle down in one spot for more than three years until the new millennium. Each time I purchased a home at a new duty station, I had to sell it to be able to move on to the next place. So with much thought, prayer and fiscal review, we've come to the conclusion that we have to move out of our home. We have to say goodbye to our beloved "La Puerta del Cielo".

We've lived there for six years and it's painfully obvious that we won't be able to afford it in retirement, so we're moving on and giving someone else the chance to live there. It's been a wonderful time. We have made many life-long memories and don't have any regrets about the decision.

I know we all have to face these decisions as we race toward our "golden years",  so I'm sure many of my readers know all too well what we're about to go through and what we're feeling.

I close this blog with my favorite picture taken while living at La Puerta del Cielo. This was in the side yard during an abnormally heavy snowfall a few years back. I'm sure you thought I was going to show the house, but somehow when asked about this home, this picture always comes to mind.

To all of those out there facing the same decisions, I wish you peace in the decision and many more memorable years wherever you might end up.

The Impulsive Texan



"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...