Yessir, things are sure a-changin' as they stay the same around this slow movin' busy little town. Just the other day I saw people staring in amazement as they watched a rooster waiting patiently for the traffic to stop so he could amble across Main Street.
The rooster is the only member of the family brave enough to venture across the main drag while leaving folks wondering about his motives. The rest are just plain chicken. If you know what I mean.
While the widely used party lines of the past have now morphed into various social media ways of communicating the juicy gossip topics pretty much remain intact.
You don't have to go to the OST in the early morning hours and listen to the purveyors of unlimited knowledge bickering over a hot cup of coffee as has been the tradition for many decades. Just get on your computer, phone or other new fangled gadget with the ability to provide internet service.
Log on to Facebook and you not only get local opinions on a subject but they may even come from a far away land. I mean it's like people think we care about the opinion of outsiders both foreign and domestic. Heck, with all the bull that is slung around here daily locals can barely pay attention to each other.
The type of wildlife to be found currently in our community has to do mostly with the herds of Whitetail and Axis deer that invade the town every single day.
In the evenings I can still hear turkeys gobbling as they come to roost along the river near my home and also in the early mornings as they leave the roost. That is one pleasant soothing sound of current times which is easier to hear on the weekends when traffic noise ain't likely to drown it out.
Oldtimers may recall The Wrangler's Roost down in that same area. Let me tell you that was a whole different experience.
In contrast the wildlife days of old were generally centered around The Silver Dollar, Cabaret or The Purple Cow.
The exception might have been during the Stompede Days when it could be found pretty much everywhere around town. Not unlike the influx of chickens and deer in current times.
The citizens around town are pretty much the same story. Lots of the old faces are disappearing faster than I care to think about.
Plenty of newbies are taking their place as our history is continuing to be written and rewritten. Just like before, some folks are real hoots while others are real toots. On the surface things change so slowly we hardly notice.
While Growing Up In Bandera it has taken me a heap of figuring things out to realize some of the old Bandera is still here. You just gotta do a lot of lookin' and diggin' to find it.
