Beeville TX

Marty found a job post in Beeville, TX. And like all weird geographic locations, I jumped into the rabbit hole. Beeville is between San Antonio and Corpus Christi--though closer to "Corpus" (as the Texas say). It's population is about 13,000. Skidmore and Blueberry Hill (both with populations hovering around 800) round out the greater Beeville metroplex.

Though landlocked, Beeville is home to Chase Naval Field. The city also sports a college, two Dollar Generals, three Catholic churches and one hospital which seems to have a second story.  Outshining Texarkana, Beeville also has an H-E-B, which I hear is a wonderful grocery store. And let's not forget the ton of farms and ranches nearby.  

Great news! Lincoln Borglum, the Mount Rushmore sculptor and actor Scott Borland are from Beeville. On top of that, it is rumored baseball great, Nolan Ryan spent his teen summers working at a local dairy farm. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a summer in Beeville? Right?    

Housing is deceptive. I saw beautiful Queen Anne homes with wraparound porches for sale at 1988 pricing. However, with a closer look, the homes showed a few quirks I'm just not into, such as multiple air conditioning units crammed into multiple windows. Though claw footed tubs are unusual in 2026, it's a strong indicator the home doesn't have a shower.  

"How would you feel about commuting an hour from Corpus?" I asked Marty after closing the tab for Zillow. "How would you feel about another few months of unemployment?" he countered. In truth, this is a job posting. So, this is a non-issue right now. But it's still fun to check out other places in my state.  

The Beeville Courthouse, which looks suspiciously
like it might have been the setting for Back to the Future. 

Random Texarkana Photos

Downtown in December

A wonderful Texarkana Chorale concert.
Polly is hidden behind the conductor. Sorry.

Sherman's birthday present. 

My pal, Joy, holding up her sewing creation. 

The Overlords birdwatching.
Leon: Think you can take that chickadee?
Roosey: Bro, hold my catnip. 

This would be a shameless self-plug if I had more than three blog readers.
In this case, I'm just cleaning out my pictures. 
The Stained Page, a wonderful downtown coffee shop, carries local authors. 

 

Birds on Arizona Avenue

I've turned into the age where I randomly take photos of birds. You've been warned. 

Just your average woodpecker. 

We believe that's a Carolina Wren.
What caught our eye was this picture was taken in December
when the only birds around seem to be hawks and cardinals. 

We have two families of cardinals who hang out.
Steve and Joseph are the two males. Mary and Martha are the females.

That's Steve (or Joseph). 

 

This dude was outside my home looking for Wiley Coyote. 

 

As an afterthought, I'm posting this dude again. He and his brethren are active right now.
And he's gorgeous.
Plus, I took the picture on Arizona Avenue. 

Today's Texas Protip

That pile is bigger than it looks.
The barrels are full compost barrels. 

Today's Texas Protip comes from my pal Myra, a Texarkana native. 

Add mothballs to your piles of leaves. This will (allegedly) keep the slithering critters away.

Speaking of leaves, dear Heavens it's January!!! Where are all of leaves coming from???  I can't rake them fast enough. 

Now off to Dollar General, y'all. 

Deb Reluctantly Agrees

I wrote two blogs: one what I didn't like about Texarkana the other about what I did. Because I like you three readers, it's probably best not to inundate you with 2500 words--which is the average size of a chapter. So, I'm breaking it down.

The truth is, there are a lot of intangibles I like about Texarkana. The things I don't like are tangible. When Deb pressed me last week why Marty wants to leave, it broke down to a few major issues. The biggest is the lack of quality medical care. 

There are two orthopedics in town. I saw one when I had hand surgery. My left hand is botched, and I really need it reevaluated. My right knee (I believe) has a torn somethingorother. It's been this way for quite a while. Phoenix will freeze over next August before I go back to that ortho. Marty saw the other ortho when he dislocated his shoulder. I think I had the better experience. 

When we moved here, there were two hospitals. Another was being built. One of the two hospitals closed. Now there is one active hospital and the medical company sponsoring the building of the new hospital filed Chapter 7. So, there’s a large unfinished eyesore that may someday be a hospital.

Also, somewhat related, the collective physician age around here hovers around 65, and I've received more than one retirement letter from a doctor. Not that I go to many doctors, but they provide a mass mailing anyway. One of the few cardiologists in town passed last November. The others aren't taking on new patients. I don't need a cardiologist, but I find that troublesome.  

I speed dated dentists when I got here. The third dentist didn't even recognize I was missing a tooth. The second one has done such damage to my mouth that my current dentist (number four) thinks I'll eventually have to have two teeth pulled. But not yet. 

Last week, I went in for a cleaning. The hygienist was so horrible that I refused to go back. Seriously, she should have first bought me dinner and told me I was pretty given how violated I felt. As I write this, my mouth still hurts. I thought maybe I was being too sensitive about the hygienist until I talked with Deb (who goes to the same dentist), who confirmed that yes, this hygienist is terrible. 

A List of Why The Overlords Should Never Go Outside.

 1. This guy and all his hungry pals. 

A Probable Last

Last night I went to Deb's prayer group. I've been avoiding her group for the better part of a year because it has been hijacked by--what others who also avoid her prayer group call--"Narcissistic Drama Whores." But I went and my low expectations were met. But it was great to see Deb and several others who are more patient then me and haven't run screaming from this group. 

With many of Deb's prayer meetings, there's often an afterparty where inevitably I get drilled about the Catholic church. Last night was no exception. A few Coronas stuck around and asked their questions. The afterparties are always worth it. We laughed for quite a while--a far cry from the prayer meeting. We even discussed the Church--something most folks around here are fascinated about but don't know anything about.  

At some point, Deb, who is leaving for her yearly trip to Central America in the next few days, figured out I might not be here when she gets back. (I probably will be, but maybe not for long.)

"That's why I pushed for a mini-Corona night before you left." I shrugged. "I just didn't want to guilt you into it." 

Deb jutted her hands to her hips. "You should have guilted me!" 

And then she went into how I'd make friends where ever I went. As if that's my problem with leaving here. Nope, I want to keep the friends I've already made close by. I already left people I love in Arizona. I don't want to do it again. But that's a future-me challenge. Or, maybe Marty will find a job which allows him to work remote.