If you ever observe me stopping on the streets or highways around Bandera for no apparent reason you can assume I am enjoying a flashback to earlier times. Seeing a certain tree or house may trigger a memory that takes some time to recall all the little details surrounding it. Walking, driving or just sitting on my front porch letting my mind wander offers me a chance to reflect on what has made my life worthwhile here in this place of my raisin'.
Regrets? Yes, there are more than I care to remember. A replay of the life of a carefree and sometimes mischievous barefooted boy to an old man pining for the love of his wife who has passed can be troubling. It has been a journey full of love, hardships and accomplishments along with many bad decisions. Now it's a daily struggle with my conscience while trying to make amends for misdeeds of the past so as to be found worthy of the love and forgiveness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So many things I could have done better.
Just driving by a concrete slab in the city park creates a picture in my mind of a house where the Bud Kalka family lived back in the day. The same thing is true when I am down in the river loop area. So many things and lives were impacted by the 1978 historic hill county flooding. Centuries old Cypress trees were swept away along with modern day manmade structures along the Medina River. It forever changed the landscape and the mindset of all of us who experienced the devastation.
I can tell and retell the stories about being in elementary school at St. Joseph Catholic School in Bandera but unless you experienced it you will never fully realize what it was like for us. Can you even imagine a teacher whacking your knuckles with a ruler and then later giving you a hug so genuine that you could feel the love? I experienced both and it's something that I reflect on often.
Do you think students in today's world know every custodian and cafeteria worker by name in their school? Not likely. During my school years we knew just about every student in the school system along with their family members. We knew where everyone lived and recognized them on the road by the vehicle as they drove by. People in town knew what tribe you belonged to on sight. That was a blessing or curse depending on what you had been up to lately. People didn't call the law back then, they simply called your parents. Those were special times.
Daddy Andy Pyka, Bozo Pue, Ross Essary, Tinker Stevens, Allie Allsup, Tater Kalka and many more are unknowns to most locals today except a handful of us natives left around here from our earlier Growing Up In Bandera days. The faces and the places are disappearing faster than a watermelon at Dripping Springs on a hot afternoon back in the day.
