The Laguna Madre, near Corpus Christi’s Padre Island National Seashore, is known as one of the nation’s best windsurfing sites because of its shallow waters and consistent breeze. It’s also a perfect spot for beginners, says Angela Hurley, an instructor for Worldwinds, a local windsurf shop. “With good instruction, the
This is our second “Where I’m From” special issue, in which the entire magazine, front to back, is given over to stories about growing up in Texas. Last time, most of the essays were by staff writers. This time we turned to some of our favorite authors, folks like
What's missing from all the bureaucratic back and forth over permits and mining and dredging is a sense of the importance of the river itself.
Quevedo grew up in Juárez and has been a realtor in El Paso for six years. She is an agent for One Realty El Paso.</emAs a bilingual realtor in El Paso, with roots in Juárez, I have a lot of connections in Mexico. I got my license in 2004, just
Growing up in a small town has its privileges.
They say you can’t go home again—especially when pretty much your entire family has moved away.
Karim, who immigrated to the U.S. in 1969, has been a master tailor for fifty years. He is the owner of Gassane Tailors, in Austin, and has made custom suits for Bill Clements, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush.My father was a tailor and had a big shop in
From her hometown of Lake Jackson to the Big Apple, Kalyn Hemphill, the winner of Models of the Runway, takes it all in stride.
Espinosa, a lifetime Houstonian, has been serving legal papers—summonses, subpoenas, complaints, writs—to people facing court action for the past sixteen years. He is an owner and the director of civil process at Court Record Research.I kind of fell into this. Around 1989, I had picked up a job with a
Not everyone can spin a pistol. Gun twirling champion Paula Saletnik talks about being a modern-day Annie Oakley.
A San Antonio native, Matcek runs Heart and Soul-Mates, a personalized matchmaking service for clients across South Texas. She is also a licensed relationship coach.After becoming single again in late 2006, I started to do the online dating thing. I had heard the horror stories, and I quickly realized
Adelina Anthony on performing comedy.
Racicot grew up in New Mexico, but San Antonio has been her home base since she was stationed at Fort Sam Houston in 1998. She plans to leave the Army next spring and get a graduate degree in nursing from the University of Texas at San Antonio.My mom was an
Donny Edwards on impersonating Elvis.
Can I wear a football jersey to church?
Ohler, who was born in New Mexico, worked as an EMT and firefighter in Utah before moving to Houston six years ago. He is stationed at the West University Place Fire Department.I’m not going to lie: I enjoy fighting fire. There’s an adrenaline rush—it’s exhilarating. I hate to say it,
How a local Asian community came together to fight for their way of life.
Every November 2, known as the Day of the Dead or All Souls’ Day, Hispanics across the Southwest transform grave sites, offices, and corners of their homes into vibrant memorials for their deceased loved ones by assembling multitiered ofrendas, or altars. “The day is devoted to the departed, and an
What’s to be done with annoying neighbors?
Goode grew up on a ranch in Damon, where he now runs an artificial insemination business. He travels the country collecting DNA for a U.S. Department of Agriculture research project on mad cow disease.Back in the seventies, my dad learned to artificially inseminate cows by reading a book and using
The queen of the rodeo may not have been mother of the year but her pecan pralines were to die for.
The HISTORYIn 1876 salesman John W. Gates brought barbed wire to Texas when he wagered $1 million that he could build a fence that would capably contain cattle. Some incredulous gambler took the bet. Gates erected a fence in San Antonio’s Military Plaza and shocked a gathered crowd as a
Can I unfriend a Facebook friend?
Ables, who grew up in Brady, owns and runs Ables Top Hat Chimney Sweeps. He has been sweeping chimneys in Central Texas for almost thirty years.When I was 28, my wife and I moved into a house in Brady, and I started looking for someone who could sweep our chimney.
The tragic case of Lloyd and Kim Yarbrough raises an old question: Why doesn’t the decision to die belong to the person who is dying?
Daniel Miller, the president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, is a proud secessionist. And the tea parties were just the beginning for this true believer.
One Lebanese student’s experience in Austin, Texas.
Is it the crispiness? The crunchiness? The saltiness? Thankfully, a small cadre of researchers in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Texas A&M has spent much of the past thirty years munching on this question.
Will hiring a yard guy make me soft?
Cockrell has lived in West Texas for twenty years and has been delivering babies for fourteen. She opened West Texas Birth Services, in Odessa, in 2001.My mother gave birth to my younger sister when I was sixteen. They induced her at forty weeks, and I was present for the
The changing face of East Austin and the people who call it home.
Does keeping a found twelve-pack of beer constitute stealing?
“The complexities of the world are just now being tippy-toed into by churches, and that keeps us out of a place where people can find us, where they’re building community. It’s not that we’re locked out; it’s that we can’t find the door.”
Adler, who grew up in Dallas, has been a personal-injury lawyer for 36 years. He is the founder of the Houston law firm Jim S. Adler & Associates and appears in television ads in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.I started out doing law enforcement work for the Texas State Securities
To a bystander, the French red, white, and blue covering the lawn of the historic French Legation Museum might seem as if a confused group of Austinites was celebrating the Fourth of July a week too late. But when night falls, the scene turns into an outdoor Parisian café nestled
Propane or charcoal?
Some things never change, like the irrepressible desire to float a Hill Country river on a 100-degree day—with, most naturally, a cooler of beer. And while the basic art of loading one’s booze boat also remains the same (use a separate inner tube with a bottom, pump it with extra
Susie Q. (not her real name) has been reviewing hotels, restaurants, and retailers anonymously for about six years. She works for several market research companies, such as Sinclair Customer Metrics, to whom she reports her findings after posing as an everyday customer and testing out products and services. She has
Emily Post may have deplored any sort of public spitting as “disgusting” and “too nauseating to comment on,” but such notions of etiquette have never stuck with the patrons of Luling’s annual Watermelon Thump. Every June, the World Championship Seed Spitting Contest draws hundreds of spectators who hope to witness
Muñoz is a native of El Paso who has been with the sheriff’s department for eight years.In the sheriff’s department you start out working in the jail, and then you take a test to come out on patrol. I’ve been a patrol officer since 2004. Back in January of last
David Hartstein’s film about Kinky Friedman’s 2006 gubernatorial run shows the candidate’s earnest sincerity, a quality frequently obscured by his larger-than-life persona.
Happy Texas Independence Day! Read five stories about our state's history, including this piece about the battlegrounds of Texas, which tell an incredible story of struggle, sorrow, triumph, and terror.
The RationaleTexas soil is arguably Mother Nature’s favorite dance floor: More twisters touch down here annually than in any other state (132 on average). As a result, storm chasers consider the Panhandle and Red River Valley requisite destinations during tornado season (April through June). This activity won’t suit the lily-livered
Sánchez took her vows and entered Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence in 1984. She is the project manager for the Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement, a labor-relations organization based in Weslaco, where she lives. Between 1993 and 2004, she was the director of religious education at St. Joseph the
When Stump the Sussex spaniel took home the trophy at the 2009 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, he carried on the legacy of top dogs in Texas.
“People with great style are rarely stupid.”
The pecan may be our state tree, but the Magnolia grandiflora, or Southern magnolia, has long been the belle of our arboreal ball. With its dramatic canopy, glossy leaves, and creamy blooms, this elegant evergreen is the centerpiece of many Texas gardens. Where does it thrive? “Magnolias prefer warm, rainy
Shudde, a fourth-generation hatter, was born and raised in Houston. He runs Shudde Bros. Hatters, near Brookshire, which has been making hats since 1907.To be a good hatter, you have to listen to the customer. Be patient and let him or her tell you what they need to tell you.
Bailey, who has been a nurse since 1991, grew up in Liberty. She has worked at Hospice Austin for fourteen years and spends each week visiting with patients like Irma Lagunas.I became a nurse after a friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was in New Orleans at
The RationaleAsk a ranch hand how to tell if someone’s a good cowboy and he’ll say the proof is in his lassoing. The rope has always been “the long arm of the cowboy,” writes Midland native John R. Erickson in Catch Rope. Though roping began on the ranch as a
