Summer fun, color around the corner

While strolling, I wondered whatever happened to Maxine Clark.

Congratulations and best wishes to all our graduates!

Happy birthday to Sherry Dirnberger, Brian Ourth, Rachel Daniel, Shirley Barber, Jerry Williams, Madison Cannon, Candi Bowman, Mary Rose, Dayneen Glastetter, Anna Kinder, Lefty Seyer, Samantha Kluesner, Darlene Seyer, Tull Garner, Delbert Horman, Kathy Reisenbichler, Chelsey Hanback, Steve Graham, Tammy Rains, Jimmy Wolsey, Rockey Rainey, Janie Fowler, Wm.Hagan, Marvin LeGrand, Maria Collins, Neeley Bollinger, Gary Bell and Marlys Ford.

Happy anniversary to Chris and Veronica Kirn, Steve and Marilyn Benton, Clifford and Mary Jo Barlow, Dave and Christy VanToll, Roy and Margaret Husband, Bobby and Kathy Sexton, Kelley and Brenda Swain, Alfred and Dorothy Wolfe, Jay and Jill Hornback and Donnie and Phyllis Ford.

City hall reminds everyone to keep your yards neat and mowed, please do not blow grass clippings into the street and, last, keep your culverts clear of debris.

The unofficial start of summer is next weekend -- Memorial Day Weekend! The pool at Harmon Field will open Saturday for the season. There will be a celebration May 30 commemorating the pool's 75th anniversary. Special activities that day include free swimming from 10 a.m. to noon.

Hee-Haw Show in June

Jump ahead and mark your June calendar for the Hee-Haw Show, June 13, from 7 to 10 p.m. The Chaffee VFW Post 3127 and Classy Chassy Country and Friends will present the show at the VFW Hall in Chaffee. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for ages 6 through 12 and younger than six, free. Proceeds benefit the VFW Disabled Veterans projects.

There will be local talent, music, jokes, a Gospel portion and the crazy antics of the Hee-Haw Gang. Performers include Lee Davison, Eric Pendergrass, Bobby Warner, Lee Horton, Kenny Chapman, Don Hester, Debbie Sadler, Jenny DuPont, Steve Parker and Classy Chassy Country's Becki and Leroy. Enjoy a fun evening for a great cause.

It is always fun each Sunday to see what headers were created for Chatters. A couple of weeks ago, a new term was introduced to me. I checked the heading "full-boar birding" out on Google and discovered it is actually full-bore birding.

Texas Hill Country

However, on a recent trip to the Texas Hill Country, Richard and I were full-bore birding and hoping to go full-boar hunting since so many wild hog sightings have been reported. We saw tracks but no hogs. The two of us and my sister Ruth from San Marcos were house guests of my sister Jo and her husband.

As it turns out, we had an especially wonderful surprise -- we got to see the very colorful painted bunting -- my first sighting. We kept hearing a beautiful birdsong but couldn't locate the source in the many oak trees, so we are thinking it may have been the bunting.

We also saw deer, numerous hawks and jackrabbits, and Richard got to see a roadrunner. Jo is a wonderful cook (stellar Key Lime Pie) and she and her husband are great hosts. It is always fun to catch up with my sisters and enjoy the complete change in scenery, the interesting wildlife, the wildflowers, the clear night sky, the vistas and all the sights and sounds of the Texas Hill Country. The bluebonnets were almost gone but there were plenty of other wildflowers such as Indian blanket, nightshade, coreopsis, native lantana, poppies and yellow-blooming prickly pear.

The morel mushroom season is over now but when we were walking the Watkins Conservation area recently, we ran into a hunter who said the morel mushroom season had been especially bountiful this year. There was a fair amount of bird activity, and we saw indigo buntings, a pileated woodpecker and heard two wummer tanagers but could not locate them. We like to walk at Watkins Conservation Area and usually enter from Highway 61. The trail is wide and shaded and makes for a nice walk through the woods. Don't forget to deet up -- the bugs are many!

Rough weather

There was some rough weather last weekend in Texas and other states and our Hill Country travel took us through a hard-hit small town of Cisco, Texas. You could see where the tornado had passed from one hill across the highway to another hill, wiping out power lines and several houses.

Property and lives were lost in other areas as well and some pretty daring rescues were conducted. One was in Texas, when two young men in a pickup decided to drive through deep water. The National Guard rescued them via helicopter but the travesty is innocent lives were endangered, all because these guys decided to test the water. It cannot be stressed enough never to drive through water over six inches.

Special words

Remember to tell those special people in your life you love them -- those three words mean so very much.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are missing loved ones, our homebound, those in hospitals and nursing homes. Email your news and comments to darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at 573-887-6430 or 214-207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was Olive Garden's new meatball breadstick sandwich.