where heaven and the hills greet each other warmly from a distance.

today i spent some time in wimberley. although we live only 7 or 8 miles from town, our normal travels take us into san marcos. dad and i played golf at woodcreek; and after, i charted a meandering path out of town. here are a few thoughts and observations i experienced.

woodcreek is a landfill in the making. places i fondly recall, are dilapidated, unrecognizably remodeled, or just gone. most all of the once popular tennis courts are unplayable. the ones beyond the lodge are now a parking lot, and the ones on the other side of the creek from the pro shop are now a building materials storage site. shoot, there's not even a bridge spanning the creek any longer. the main courts near the lodge look to be in fair condition, but no where near what they once were. speaking of the lodge, it appears to be abandoned. no one comes up from houston to spend the weekend. certainly, no one is using the air field. the restaurant has served its last meal of questionable origin. the arcade and snack bar - where i used to blow my paycheck - are locked and dusty. the pool is drained. sorry brian...no more job. the cement that once was graced by the lovely robin wylie, is now a towel and cocoa butter-free zone. somewhere along the way, the marina closed. not only are the paddle boats and canoes gone, but so is all sign of life. i wonder if kids still jump off the cliffs or swim over to the island to lay out in the summer sun? something tells me "no." the pool at the pro shop is a cart barn; and of course, the stables closed 20 years ago. i believe the whole of the property is for sale to the next sucker in need of a tax-break. then again, who could possibly need a loss that big?


i miss the low-water bridge. it was one of the only free, public swimming holes in wimberley. i remember when i finally got up the nerve to swim through the tunnel created by the space between the bridge supports and the river bottom. immediately, i started to act as if i had been doing it for years. it is odd to me that in a town with a river and a creek running through its borders, i can not think of a public park with water access. besides, if you got desperate, the bridge was a good place to bathe. at least, i saw a few people doing just that; so i just assumed.

i prefer the burger barn as it used to be. with damn good food and picnic benches outside. you used to have to order from the window and sit outside until they called out your name. that was cool. the guys who used to eat inside scared me a little. it's not because they looked mean; but, there were only 5 or 6 tables and i figured they'd never let some little kid take a table while they were on lunch break. i only ate in there a couple of times. it's not the same now.

i prefer the dinner bell to the cypress creek cafe. don't look now, but the creek is on the other side of the square.

i choose poor boys/country boys over the brookshire brothers. there used to be a cool bike track behind poor boys, and you could lay in the aisle and read mad magazine.

i like no stop lights, two lanes over the creek, shotgun shells below the dairy queen sign, a flaming christmas tree on the square, and the corral being the biggest thing in town.

and i hear the elementary is going to be closed and turned into administration offices. that can't be a good thing.

i remember 3 groups of people living in wimberley when i was a kid...cedar choppers, retired people, and middle class families like ours. their populations probably numbered in that order. today at lunch, i finally felt at ease because these were the people surrounding me...bubba and lester, mildred and henry, and mom and daughter. thank you for bringing me back home, if only for a day.