I moved to Texoma from northeast Oregon this past spring. As a retired person it was a chance to be closer to my children. I first saw Texoma Living! at my doctor’s office. What a pleasant surprise! I had no idea the art community was so large and varied. The young man who does the bronze sculptures (Shannon Cain) is so talented, as are the many others featured.
Some people may think having a shoeshine is simply about improving or restoring the appearance of their shoes, but don’t you believe it. If Willie Riles, who has been bringing up the shine at Kelly Square in Sherman for 18 years, has ministered to their needs, they know that it is about something more, including a smile and an entertaining conversation.
Ray Bledsoe doesn’t believe in day-old cookies. They have to be fresh to be good in his estimation, which is why he mixes his dry ingredients the night before and puts them into zipped plastic bags, three batches at a time. In the morning all he has to do is add the eggs and liquid or oil and whatever other ingredients are called for, and he is in business.
Three heads, the torsos nowhere nearby, lie lined up on a bed in a small silver traveling trailer in a North Texas parking lot. Noggins from a child, an adult, and a senior citizen stare glassy eyed and grinning at anyone who walks in. This might be unsettling to some folks. For Tim Cowles it is another day at work.
Sno cone stands are like robins; they herald the arrival of spring.
They start showing up around April, and then, as September wanes, they disappear, gone until next season.
It’s about meat, or MEAT in the vernacular of the hungry summer grill master. Brisket smoking long and slow, pork chops, really thick pork chops, and of course, steaks—ribeyes, T-bones, the regal porterhouse—all with a char and a sizzle and juice that runs pink and warm when your knife slides through the beef. Got the picture?
Out-of-staters can make fun of our drawl, our quaint sayings—heck, they can even tease us about being the second largest state. But never let a non-Texan say we’re not just darn friendly.
It’s not just my opinion. Ask anyone from another state and they will—when properly cajoled—tell you we’re a bunch of nice folks.
John Frair, a former United Press photographer, spent a career recording the great and near great, the tragic and inspirational events of the past on film. In June, Frair will display an exhibition of his travel photography at the Creative Art Center in Bonham. The photographs chronicle trips to London and the West County of England, Belgium, Spain, France and Paris.
On the third floor of a nondescript office building on the square in downtown Sherman, two brothers are doing their part to make sure you find Oreos on the shelf at Albertson’s.
Too cool to be comfy? It’s no road hog, but it will get you there and make you the talk of the campground. Called the Basecamp,® this retro styled pull-behind is the progeny of Airstream, Nissan Design America and outdoor outfitter Kelty.