Janice Williams Loves Austin

March 18, 2009

Correction

Filed under: Cemeteries, Job search — Janice @ 2:16 am

Just so you DO know… the Tom Landry grave I saw at the Texas State Cemetery is NOT a grave. He and his wife are buried in Dallas (which makes a lot more sense, really). At the cemetery here, it is a centotaph which is “a monument erected in honor of a dead person whose remains lie elsewhere,” from the Latin “cenotaphium” meaning “empty tomb.” I know there are quite a few of those at the cemetery, but they don’t distinguish which are which there, you have to look it up on their website. Or maybe they have a brochure. They didn’t have any when we were there Sunday.

And, on a completely different subject, I rarely send forwards. And ALMOST never send a forward that is a chain letter or a prayer or such. In fact, I got a prayer one today that irritated me. It goes into have we have time for funny forwards, but we don’t have time for a prayer forward. Yes, they are right. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have time for prayer, just not in the context of my computer. Sigh. But Sunday I got a cute, SHORT, forward with a “money angel”— a sweet Ann Geddes picture of a baby angel. It said I would get rich in two days if I forwarded it on. Because of the picture and its cuteness, I forwarded it on to six people that have sent me things like that or people that I knew could use the money! Oddly, that night I started a correspondence with a possible job opportunity. More part-time work and, no, it hasn’t made me rich in the promised two days, but money is money and in these tight times, being offered a job at all is amazing. I have been offered the job, but I haven’t accepted it yet. Don’t anybody I work for panic right now! It won’t change anything about the four jobs I am already doing, it will just add to the mix. I have also ordered a piece of audio equipment that may help me get back into radio in a small way. Things are happening! I told you the new year and the new president would bring new things.

March 17, 2009

Birthday Celebration

Filed under: At home, Austin, Cemeteries, Family, Food — Janice @ 12:47 am

My birthday weekend celebration seems to be drawing to a close, but it has been a great weekend of fun. TWO birthday cakes and lots of love and attention, that’s for sure. I have tried to remember the last time when I had a “real” birthday cake and I think it might have been all the way back to 10 years ago. This year I had TWO fabulous cakes. And the last time I got to spend my birthday with Mark? It was back in 2003. This year I had cake and ice cream and a husband and a beautiful sunshiny birthday, so it was all good.

The celebration started Friday at our offices. Marsha and I have an office within a law firm downtown. We were friends with Lucky and Denise before we moved in last summer and now we’ve become friends with them all. Denise asked Thursday if I would be at the office on Friday and then made it clear that I HAD to be there for cake. No problem! For cake, I will be there. This was the first cake I’ve ever had with my picture on it:

My cake

The picture was from our company Christmas party when I became the proud owner of Lucky the Jackalope. I thought at the time Lucky would be a frequent visitor to this site, but I never have done that, have I? So here is your first exposure to my friend Lucky. He’s right here on the desk in front of me now.

After cake and celebration and candles and good wishes, sigh, we had to go back to work. But the party continued on Sunday when Mark and I went to the cemetery! Yes, that’s right. The cemetery. I had been thinking about what I wanted to do. This time I didn’t want to travel far and I wanted to see something historic. And I’ve wanted to see the Texas State Cemetery for a long time. After the four days of cold and rain, I was afraid that the cemetery wouldn’t be a possibility, but Sunday (my birthday) was beautiful and sunny and perfect. We drove around the east side of town and stopped at a little old grocery on Comal and had a Mexican coke. We looked at the fabulous bougainvillea and wisteria and roses and, YES, we saw a few bluebonnets along I-35, too, and that made my day! We ate lunch at El Chile and then went to the cemetery.

Just before we got there, the DAR had had a dedication ceremony of a new monument. I haven’t been able to find out exactly who the memorial honors beyond “patriots.” But the ceremony meant there were lots of people walking around and seeing the graves. If you haven’t ever been there either, you should. It is a beautiful, small cemetery in a park-like setting. There is a flowing “creek” and pond just inside the entrance, a beautiful hill that gives you a view of downtown and southeast Austin, and, of course, the history of so many great Texans.

Here’s Mark by a beautiful purple mountain laurel. Is that what are called? My mind is swimming and I can’t think, so leave a comment if I’m off base. The purple didn’t show up very much, but it was gorgeous. This plaza he was by had huge crape myrtles that I’m sure are gorgeous in the summertime.

We walked around the hill that has the most historic graves. A huge statue of Stephen F. Austin is by his grave. Governors Connally and Shivers were there. I saw Tom Landry’s grave! For some reason I thought he only had a centotaph here (a marker, but not a grave), but this appeared to be a grave. I will have to study up on that, too. Susannah Dickinson, the Alamo survivor, is here along with authors J. Frank Dobie and Fred Gipson (the guy that wrote Ol’ Yeller).  Historian Walter Prescott Webb, too. I did not find Ann Richards’ grave and I’ve been asked about hers by everyone I’ve talked to. I will have to find out the location and go again. I also did not see the grave of a relation of mine. Colonel Fannin was massacred at Goliad and his daughter is buried in the State Cemetery. He and my great-great-great-grandmother were first cousins.

Here I am by the shortest highway in Texas:  Highway 165:

I think that was somehow how Bob Bullock got some of the funding to refurbish the cemetery? By making it a highway? To the right, down the road, you can see the sarcophagus of  Albert Sidney Johnston, the Civil War  officer, but also a soldier in the battle for Texas Independence. Elisabet Ney created a fabulous sculpture of him there.

Tonight, my fun birthday continued as my friend Marsha had a celebration at her house. It was supposed to just be me and her and our friend Denise, but I was surprised when friend Jenni Finlay, Jennifer Salem, Kate Sciscoe, and Kallie Gaston all came in, too. It was a very pleasant, easy going evening with friends. With the perfect weather we had the patio doors thrown open and Marsha had candles going everywhere. It was beautiful. And I got to have another beautiful cake, too! From Sweetish Hill, in fact. Here, I try to eat it all:

So that was my wonderful birthday surrounded by loved ones. Add to that all the cards and Facebook greetings and phone calls and e-mails….  I think I’ll turn 50 again next year. It sure got a lot of attention! Thanks for sharing it with me.

September 4, 2008

Cremation

Filed under: Cemeteries — Janice @ 3:16 am

I had an interesting conversation with an old man tonight. He brought up the subject of our friend Danny Roy Young that passed away two weeks ago and had such a moving memorial service last week. He told me that Danny had been cremated. I hadn’t known that. I hadn’t thought about it. I suppose if I had thought about it, I would have assumed that the family may have had a private burial before the day of the memorial service.

But this man reminded me of my dad when it came to this subject. When my great aunt Edna passed away, she requested to be cremated. Her daughters honored his wishes. You could just tell that Daddy didn’t think that was the “right” thing to do. I knew if his own mother had requested cremation he would have gone against those wishes, knowing she wouldn’t “know” and he would have had her buried. This man said that he went to the funeral home and was shocked that there was no visitation! They allowed him to sign the guest book, he said, because they knew him, but “they weren’t supposed to.” I couldn’t catch all he said because he was sort of mumbling, but he said, “There would have been a lot of people at that ’service’ if it had been a funeral.” Or words to that effect. I told him that I had been there and I knew the church’s capacity was 800 and there were people sitting in the aisles, lined around the walls standing, and standing in the glassed in nursery, too. I just really don’t believe that anyone had the thought that day, “Gee, there won’t be a casket and a body, why should I bother to go remember my friend?”

I can go either way on cremation, just like I am on most subjects in this world, I don’t come down adamantly on one side or the other. With my genealogy addiction, I like cemeteries and gravestones and the “final resting place” scenario, but from my spiritual view, the body is just an old pair of shoes you kick off when you die and where they end up isn’t important.

***

I fed my genealogy addiction with a friend tonight. Isn’t that one of the signs of trouble? When you start encouraging others to join you in your vices? A friend at Hill’s has mentioned curiosity about her family, yet she doesn’t know the names of her grandparents. I have tried to help her look up a few things, but it is really difficult with only a last name and also with someone that was alive so recently. You really have to go back a couple more generations to start finding much. But tonight I was helping her a little more. She called her mother and got a couple of names. I searched and googled and searched some more, but found nothing that would lead us any further. Bored, she showed me some of her family photos on her myspace. They were cute Polaroids of her as a little girl with family. She showed me one picture and said, “And that my Grandma Hopps, she was my grandmother’s mother.” Aha! We got back an extra generation and had an unusual last name, too! I did a search, knowing the name and what part of the country she lived in and came back with a hit that gave us her maiden name. We searched that and found all of her husbands (3!). We found that her parents were from Prussia and Germany. We found her grave in Oregon. I tell you, it is rush when I find stuff like that for my own family, but it was just as much of a rush to find it for someone else, too! And the way I keep needing to find more ways to feed this habit, it’s good that I’ve found more people to research. Now what is it they say about “Do what you love and the money will follow?”  Hello!! Universe!!

August 8, 2008

Underwoods

Filed under: Cemeteries, Family, Food — Janice @ 11:41 pm

Ah. Underwoods. The name from my childhood brings back many happy memories, begging my parents to let us eat lunch at Underwood’s after church. It was a big black building on Amarillo Blvd. (Route 66!) and had a big tile depiction of the Underwoods’ man. I wish I had a picture of that building.

But it was the food that was most memorable. Barbecued steak and cherry cobbler and hot, HOT, delicious rolls fresh from the oven.

Years roll by and Amarillo’s Underwoods closed. Every so often, we would find ourselves in Brownwood and would take the opportunity to eat at the Underwoods that still operated there. Waco had one, too, until just a few years ago. A meal at Underwoods is one of the very few I would recommend that you plan a trip around.

So that is exactly what I did. I came up for my family reunion today in anticipation of eating at Underwoods in Brownwood tonight. It is the last remaining restaurant of the chain that used to cover Texas. I have never been a fan of cafeterias, but Underwoods is different. At most places, you have to pay for every little item you pick up. At Underwoods, you buy the meal and can have all the side dishes AND cobbler AND rolls you want. Ahhhhhhh. So this is what I had:

Underwoods

I’m not a great food photographer. I didn’t want to be too obvious about it so it was a one shot snap. That is the fabulous barbecued steak as the main course. I wonder why other barbecue joints don’t have barbecued steak? It is a wonderful thing. They don’t have brisket, but they do have sausage and ribs. I can’t break tradition and have anything but the steak. Yum. But you know how I search for great fried chicken so I had to try it here, too. One thing Underwoods has over Allen’s in Sweetwater is that they have honey ready and waiting on the table for your chicken. Yum. The beans were like homemade Ranch Style Beans, the mashed potatoes were just so-so, the potato salad was really good and different (did it have cheese in it maybe?).

Those hot rolls are worth the trip alone. And they keep coming around with hot, fresh ones, just like grandma used to do.

As for the cobbler, I talked to Mom once I got to my motel for the night. She asked if I had had the cherry cobbler. I said, no, I had considered it and opted to go with the peach this time. There was a pause and then Mother solemnly said, “That was a mistake.” She could be right, I’m sure thinking about running by about 11 a.m. tomorrow for a quick taste.

Anyone that knows my capacity for food might be surprised that I did NOT clean my plate at Underwood’s tonight. Fabulous, but SO much I did stop short.

As for the other adventures of the day, I stopped first at the Newburg Cemetery and communed with my ancestors for a long while. I hoed weeds off of lots of graves and put out flowers and just wandered. I’ve done so much genealogy lately, a lot of the names were more familiar than they have been before. Two of my cousins came by while I was there, so we had a short visit and I will see them more tomorrow. It is very comforting to be 140 miles from home and bump into cousins.

Tomorrow—- REUNION!!

May 30, 2008

My Memorial Day

Filed under: Cemeteries, Family — Janice @ 11:53 pm

I can’t believe the weekend is already here. How quickly a week goes by when you are out of town for two days of it! And I didn’t work at the “office” today either, so it really was a short work week. Just the way I like it!

I wanted to backtrack a little bit to my trip to Amarillo and our wonderful Memorial Day. I’ll skip all the travel troubles on the way up on Sunday (which begAunt Dorothy's tablean with waking up at 10 a.m. when I needed to be leaving the house at 10 a.m.).

Monday, Memorial Day, dawned bright and windy in Amarillo. A beautiful spring day. The night before had been full of hail and rain and tornadoes all around us in the Panhandle. Quite exciting! But Monday was clear and calm (well, except for the wind) and beautiful. Mom and my sister Mackie had driven up the day before and I flew up. I had arrived earlier than they did, so I had already had a good visit with my Aunt Dorothy.

We went to Aunt Dorothy’s for lunch. You should be well acquainted with her family from my entry about Trent’s graduation just a week before when they were all in Waco for the festivities. But they were happy to throw another party for us in Amarillo because they are great party throwers and great cooks, every one of them. I always have to take a picture of the beautiful table at Aunt Dorothy’s because it is always so elegant, even with paper plates.

The kids are ready to dig in. I don’t blame them. From top to bottom we have a big plate of donuts, a casserole of oat meal and fruit, French toast, monkey bread, a ham and hashbrowns and cheese casserole, an egg and sausage casserole, and fruit. Nothing like a light breakfast!

These are the same kids you saw at their uncle’s graduation and Ph.D. ceremony at Baylor. AnnaBeth, Alex, and Jonathan.

They had the day off from school so they could be with us. I got to see Jonathan the next morning at home since he is only 5 and will start kindergarten in the fall, but the others had gone to school for the last week or so. Here they are, still yearning for that good food.

The kids at the table

They weren’t the only kids on hand. My cousin Heather dropped in, too, with her baby girl Sidney. I am always flattered because my aunt (and lots of that family) will interchange my name and Heather’s name, confusing us with one another and saying that Heather always reminds them of me. That is high praise because she is a doll and has the sharpest wit. Plus she’s really really smart. This is not the greatest picture because of the bad photographer and the moving target, but it is Heather.

Heather and Sydney

Sidney deserves a better picture though, because she is a beautiful child that like to say “outside” a lot!

Sidney
We had a wonderful gathering and lots of laughs and fun and then Mother and Mackie and I went to the cemetery for a Memorial Day service honoring veterans. Daddy was a Korean war veteran and served in the US Air Force and he is buried in a new section of the cemetery called the Field of Valor. They had a very nice service for Memorial Day. This is where we were, because if you can find a tree in the Panhandle (and they are all planted, they are not native), you take advantage of it. Have you ever seen a flatter landscape?

Cemetery

But the ceremony was this other direction. Notice the wind blowing the flags straight out. The storm the night before had destroyed a lot of the large flags they had on display in the cemetery and there were leaves and branches strewn across most of it.

Ceremony

There was a nice flyover (several, in fact), too.

Flyover

We did some grave visiting while we were in the cemetery. That is what Memorial Day is for, after all. At one time I lived in Amarillo with two great roommates, Diane and Beth. Beth’s parents are buried in the same cemetery as Daddy and I finally found their graves. I knew them both well when they were alive. Diane’s mother died before I knew her, but she is also buried there so I checked on her grave since Diane lives in San Antonio now. My Uncle Homer and my grandparents (Mother’s parents) are also buried in this cemetery, so we visited them all. Mackie had come prepared with flowers and flags for everyone’s graves.

Next we went across town to the other cemetery and visited Daddy’s parents graves, my dear cousin Judy who died in December, and my older brother who died as a baby.

Through with the cemetery visits, Mom and Mackie took me to my friend Sandy’s so she and I could go visit Jamey and have a mini-college reunion. This is Sandy’s sweet cat at her front door.

Sandy's cat

Sandy and I visited Jamey at his radio remote (add that to my list of why I’m glad I’m not in radio— remotes on holidays!). Later we had dinner with my mother and then we stopped in to see my cousin Larry for a bit. A really good day with lots of great visits and lots of people to see and lots of good people to remember fondly.

December 29, 2007

San Fernando II

Filed under: Cemeteries — Janice @ 6:26 pm

If you’ve seen my main site you can see where I’ve spent my time today. It is getting closer to what I want it to look like – - – i.e. less “homemade” and more appealing to the eye. I wish I had taken some graphics courses somewhere along the way so I would know some of the basics. Since I didn’t, I know what I like, but I don’t know how to achieve it.

Today I am cleaning out a closet and I finally found a missing packet of letters. I thought these letters had somehow disappeared, but they showed up today. Hooray! These are letters from listeners. Not my local listeners here in Austin, these are letters from listeners when I worked for ABC Radio in Dallas. Most of these letters are from prisoners in other states. Some very interesting stories (and drawings, too!) there. Those stories still to come.

But first, another Christmas adventure. Last week my friend Marsha read an article in the New York Times about cemetery and grave decorating. You’ve read about my cemetery visits to see my own relatives, but I can also appreciate cemeteries where I don’t know a soul. The article said that the San Fernando II cemetery i San Antonio was one of the cemeteries that is being decorated more and more at Christmastime, despite the cemetery rules. Marsha and I decided we would drive down to San Antonio and see the cemetery.

I served as a poor navigator, but we eventually stumbled upon the San Fernando II cemetery. There is also a “III” and an original San Fernando Cemetery. The San Fernando Cathedral is Texas’ oldest church and has a fascinating history. We didn’t go to the cathedral downtown, but I hope to one of these days.

We soon saw what the article was talking about with graves decorated with poinsettias (real and silk), Christmas trees, presents, food, tinsel, and more. It almost has to be seen to be understood, but the pictures will give you an idea.

Cemetery Santa

This was one of the more simply decorated graves. I liked the little Santa doll on the marker.I hope I didn’t appear to be gawking or making fun of these graves while I was there (or now). I understand the need of the friends and relatives of these people to connect with them at the holidays. It is a way to include the whole family.
If you didn’t know about this custom,you might assume this was a new grave and the funeral had just occurred, leaving the flowers and decorations behind. But, no, this is just decoration for Christmas. Obviously, one of the more elaborate graves at San Fernando.
But this is my favorite:
Madonna

The statuary in this cemetery was beautiful, and I liked how this grave’s Madonna was included in the decoration. Bless the Mireles family. I hope they had a good Christmas.

I got home that afternoon and told Mark about our adventures. He asked whose grave we went to see. I explained that I didn’t know anyone that was buried there, I only went to see the decorations. Mark has always been quite supportive of my cemetery interest and has gone with me many times, even climbing high, chain-link fences, to get to the graves we wanted to see. But he thought this was pretty weird. Unusual, yes. Weird, I hope not.

I think this is a beautiful tradition, but I don’t know that I want it to catch on and be widespread. I wasn’t even able to get my house decorated for Christmas this year, I don’t know when I’d find the time to decorate graves, too.

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