Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata)

 Blooming in my Albuquerque garden. Early morning, May 15, 2018.

Palace Boot Shop, located in downtown Houston from 1919-2005, and a little about Lucchese

Search though I did, I couldn’t turn up much information about Palace Boot Shop, in business in Houston, Texas, from 1919 until 2005. Eighty-seven years of making custom boots and performing wonders with boots in need of repair. Why would I know that Paul Newman was a customer of Palace Boots? Apparently, he was, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle, March 5, 2005. I found an another article about the closing of Palace, written by a Houston attorney for the February 26, 2005 edition of the Chronicle. He started buying boots at Palace in the early 1970s. However you do the math, that’s at least 30 years of patronage. Not only did Palace make boots, they carried brands like Lucchese of San Antonio, another maker with a proud history in Texas. Lucchese, founded in 1883 by Sam Lucchese, stayed in the family until 1970, when Lucchese’s grandson sold the company to Blue Bell, Incorporated, the parent company of Wrangler. I have owned a few pair of Lucchese boots, and hang on to them still, even though my cranky left foot just doesn’t want to spend any time at all in boots any more, even though there was a time when these very same pairs of boots were like putting your hand in a pair of buckskin gloves.

The pair of boots pictured here are customs made by Palace Boot Shop. They weren’t made for me—I bought them second hand—but they fit me well, if only my feet would agree. This extreme “pointy-toed” model is called “cockroach killers” and “roach stompers” by some. According to an article by Joe Nick Patoski from June, 2002, “Your choice of toe reveals what kind of person you are. Rock stars and fashionmongers gravitate to pointy toes, also known as pin box toes, roach stompers, and fence climbers. Yes, they’re trendy, but they're actually the kind grandpa used to wear when he rode horses (the pointy toe makes it easier to stick the boot into the stirrup)."

Metanoia - turn toward the light

Origin and Etymology of metanoia

Greek, from metanoiein to change one’s mind, repent, from meta- + noein to think, from nous mind

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metanoia

Metanoia. Greek, literally meaning “change of mind”. Yet the full meaning is somewhat more. In the New Testament, the word metanoia is often translated as “repentance”.

But this kind of repentance is not about regret or guilt or shame; it implies making a decision to turn around, to face a new direction.

from https://metanoia.org/light.htm

Taking Back Christianity From The Religious Right--Jay Parini

"The narrowness and hypocrisy of the Christian right upsets me, as I’m myself a Christian.  That my faith has been miserably sideswiped by this particular eighteen-wheeler is disconcerting; but I sense that their movement has begun to burn out.  Certainly the statistics bear this out. The religious right is waning, and fewer and fewer young people belong to any religion at all.  The vast majority of my parent’s generation, the so-called Silent Generation, identified as Christians: 85 percent.  Just over half of Millennials do." Click on the link below to read more:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/taking-back-christianity-from-the-religious-right?ref=home?ref=home

What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus?

Here are a few thoughts from the Rev. Dr. Robin R. Meyers, an American Christian minister, peace activist, philosophy professor and author of seven books on Progressive Christianity and Western society. From a lecture the Rev. Meyers delivered at Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney Australia on May 20, 2016.

Jasmine auriculatum,
found in India, Nepal, Sri Lanka,
Bhutan, the Andaman Islands,
and my Albuquerque garden.

Next time you are in the grocery store and you see the young black man sacking your groceries lower his gaze, meet it and say thank you, sir.

Plant a garden and tend it.

Raise your children to understand that violence in all its forms is a scourge.

Practice the lost art of being humble and walk lightly through your day.

Leave places, things and people better than you found them.

Don’t cheat on your taxes.

Remember, you are not self-made.

Give people the benefit of the doubt.

When you think you know, that is when you do not know; but when you know that you do not know, that is when you know. (referencing the Tao)

We need sacred spaces and must try to keep them.

Either all of us matter, or none of us do.

You can’t be too honest or too compassionate.

See and understand that a father with 4 kids and no job is a crisis.

See and understand that a mother of 4 kids whose husband has left her and who shoots up as a means of coping is in crisis.

See and understand that a photo of the arctic shelf showing that it is 40% less than it was 30 years ago (1986) is a crisis.

See and understand that Jesus was a subversive for the cause of love.

A moral compass

Slice it how you want. This is clear. Religious and political statements intended to promote distrust, intolerance, ignorance, anger, hate, divisiveness or violence are contrary to the moral underpinnings of the universe.

Balance and harmony, as represented
in a traditional Two Grey Hills weaving.
Navajo, circa 1980

Regardless of one's faith path--and according to pewforum.org--Christianity is the faith path of 70+% of the United States, anyone who espouses attitudes and behavior that promote distrust, intolerance, ignorance, anger, hate, divisiveness, or violence, is behaving contrary to the teachings of the person on whom the New Testament is based and the very same person, these people espouse to follow. One of the terms for this behavior is hypocrisy. Regardless of one's religious or non-religious leanings, the universe operates on a moral compass. This holds true for all religions, whether they be across the world or specific to certain cultures and regions. In traditional Native American belief and practice, "internal harmony and balance allows individuals to be at peace with their bodies, their thoughts, their emotions."

Education: How does one define formal?

Formal education is not an end in itself. Every day we live is an opportunity, and likely a requirement, to learn and grow. This is a gift. Without formal education, which gives us achievements, such as in the fields of medicine, agriculture, engineering, history, the study of humanity, cultures and their religions, the world would be a very different place.

And even though not every path requires a college degree--think of all the jobs that can pave the way for an individual to have a satisfying and rewarding life, while providing a skill that everyone in a developed or developing society depends upon, such as plumbers, electricians, mechanics, the building trades--I am thankful that my parents wanted me to get a higher education and made it possible for me to do so. They wanted that for me, I recognized my own need for a college degree, and I didn't disappoint them. For decades now, paying for a college education is much more challenging than when I went to college. Of all the things that we might gain in life, one of the things that no one can take away is an education. It may not make one rich in dollars, but it makes one rich in so many ways that can not be measured in money. With thanks to my parents, Russell and Tena Hollis.

Photos: Here's a nice example of a skill/talent/gift passed along from generation to generation. This ash splint, swing-handle basket--most likely from one of the Native American woodland tribes of the northeastern or Great Lakes United States, e.g., MALISEET, PENOBSCOT, PASSAMAQUODDY, PEQUOT, MICMAC OR ONE OF THE OTHER UPPER EASTERN NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES--apparently sold sometime in the mid 20th century for $5.

Many, many hours, and the skill and gifts of the maker, went into gathering and preparing the material, and then weaving this fancy basket. It was most likely made for the tourist trade. Imagine, today, in 2018, what this basket would cost if someone were paid a living wage for making it. $360 minimum? The making of this basket is now considered strictly an art form, so one would be purchasing it as an example of woodlands Native American art. In the 19th century, this basket would have had the practical uses of gathering and storage. The Native American indigenous arts of basket making, pottery, weaving, adornment such as jewelry go back many centuries.

If only it were that simple

These yard signs are a common sight
in Albuquerque neighborhoods.

The world is filled with accomplished, caring people who did not grow up in so-called traditional homes. Countless homes are absent of fathers, or mothers, or suitable fathers or mothers, and brilliant, wonderful people have emerged from these homes. I think more likely the causes of societal problems are judgmental attitudes, tribalism, intolerance, divisiveness, greed, indifference, selfishness, anger and hate. And more, if you choose to add to this list. None of us has to look far to see one or more of these as a part of our lives in some way. Any time we get in someone's face, for real or imagined, put our foot on the neck of someone who is already down, judge ourselves to be better or more worthy than someone else, actively behave to separate ourselves and others from those we deem different or undeserving...well, I think the picture is clear enough.

Some thoughts on faith tradition: women, and even bottle trees

The important question being addressed here centers around the need of men/males to place women/females in subordinate roles. Sadly, organized religion has always been about greed, politics, and power, which is in direct opposition to the teachings of the man, Jesus.

In an article recently read from the pbs.org website, titled "Women In Ancient Christianity: The New Discoveries," here's what religious scholar/author Karen King says in conclusion: "It needs to be emphasized that the formal elimination of women from official roles of institutional leadership did not eliminate women's actual presence and importance to the Christian tradition, although it certainly seriously damaged their capacity to contribute fully. What is remarkable is how much evidence has survived systematic attempts to erase women from history, and with them the warrants and models for women's leadership...."

There is much scholarship on religion that gives the lie to the argument that only men are ordained by God to be in positions of authority in the church, including the role of bishop and priest in the Roman Catholic tradition. Regardless of revisionist histories sanctioned by the church, women were leaders, prophets, and key financial supporters of the church from the very beginning.

Photo: Bottle trees have a long history as an element of spiritual, cultural,
and aesthetic significance in American history and garden design.

https://smithsoniangardens.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/the-american-bottle-tree/

Approach to my 2-story barn home in Leon County TX

Back in 2007, after the death of my mother, Tena Elizabeth Fuchs Hollis, I started a blog. A long-time art and antiques collector and a reluctant dealer of same, I thought I would write about my adventures in the hunt for treasure. What developed was very different. For 2 or 3 years I had plenty to say about what mattered to me, my parents, memories of growing up, my Texas German and English/Scots Irish heritage, belief, my connection with other humans and sometimes failure to connect....

Grounds of the Santuario, Chimayo New Mexico

The blog morphed, became more about pictures with comments, or poems, or quotes from someone who had led or was leading a life that touched and influenced others. Then I essentially let it go. I became fairly active on Facebook, mostly limiting my posts to once a day. My list of friends grew, including close and extended family, people I had grown up with or gone to college with, people I've gotten to know over my adult life.

Several times I've felt that much of what shows up on FB is just not for me, and this has become more pronounced in the current political environment. I'm sad and sickened by much of what I've read, to the point that I have unfriended kin and not kin alike. I have even been unfriended by one of my sisters and her daughter. This is the same sister that last July I deeded my Texas home to--a 2-story barn-become-home that at one time had a beautiful native Texas garden that I developed and nurtured her a 7 year period, most of it concurrent with my mother's illness and death.

My first bottle tree in the Leon County garden

At times, digging in the dirt was what helped me keep my head above water. I took the Master Gardener class. I beamed with my successes and sighed over my failures in the garden, and in my life itself. If you've looked at my FB page over time, you've seen pics of that Texas garden. I have decided to drop out of Facebook. If anyone wants to know where to find me, I'll probably be piddling with my blog. Blessings and best regards to all who have touched my life on Facebook.

Laying the foundation of generosity: Washington and Franklin

If you want to talk about the Red, White, and Blue, and exercising our individual rights, take a look back to the beginning of our country. Founding Father, leader of the Continental Army, and First President, George Washington lived by the credo “never let an indigent person ask without receiving something if you have the means,” according to an article in the Alexandria (VA) Times, July 10, 2014, by John Porter.

Image from wikipedia dot org

The focus of Mr. Porter’s article is captured in the title of his article “Founding Fathers’ philanthropy: America’s strong giving tradition”. “Washington should be remembered for his philanthropy particularly in relation to the poor, orphans and higher education. A piece by the Philanthropic Roundtable notes how he regularly provided food to those imprisoned for debt and how he made “hundreds of donations to churches and charities, many of which were given under the condition of anonymity.” Washington’s interest and support of education led to the founding of Washington and Lee University, and his initial endowment continues to underwrite a part of each student’s tuition after 235 years.

Equally known for his generosity, Founding Father Ben Franklin supported many individuals and public entities, but is "best remembered in this arena for being the first known individual to offer a matching grant when he challenged legislators to match money raised from private contributors for the Pennsylvania Hospital and for being a trailblazer in legacy giving with bequests to the cities of Boston and Philadelphia on his death. The legacy gift to The Philadelphia Foundation is a precursor to similar gifts to present day foundations….”

Image from wikipedia dot org

Mr. Porter concludes, “perhaps the most crucial thing these early philanthropists provided was not just the pioneering of charitable giving in our country, but the establishment of the foundation for our independence, our present form of government, our way of life and thereby the opportunity to help others in need.”

Rosalie Renfro, one of the smartest dealer/collectors I've met in 45 years of treasure hunting. Given the quality of her wares, her shop surprisingly was located in an inauspicious mall in Pearland, TX. I was like a kid in a candy store in Rosalie's shop, and more than once I sat cross-legged on the floor, soaking in her amazing knowledge, so happy to get to share in her talent. Rosalie's academic background was in science, and this was reflected in the scholarship she applied to her collecting of art and antiques.

PHOTO: from the Houston Chronicle, 1997, Rosalie and I sitting on the back of my Suburban during the twice-annual antiques season called "Round Top". Turned upside in the floorboard of my vehicle is a walnut and pine table from Burleson County, Texas.

Biting the hand that feeds you

Mark Twain, man of letters, humorist, master of the study of human beings and the societies we create, put this spin on the human tendency to 'bite the hand that feeds you':

"IF YOU PICK UP A STARVING DOG AND MAKE HIM PROSPEROUS HE WILL NOT BITE YOU. THIS IS THE PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DOG AND MAN.”

PHOTO: Mark Twain with his friend, John Lewis

Mark Twain House & Museum

from connecticut history dot org

A celebration of love, heritage and art

When Margaret A Hubl (Jirousek) died at 89 (July 10, 1927 - July 17, 2016), she left a legacy of love, and art, an expression of her rich Czech heritage. This legacy was further celebrated and documented at her Rosary and Mass of Christian Burial, held at St. James Catholic Church in Trenton, Nebraska, where virtually every pew in the church was adorned with a quilt that Margaret had made by her hands for a family member. A few of these quilts had not yet even been presented to the recipients at the time of Margaret’s death. A celebration, indeed.

The story of Margaret Hubl (Czech spelling with an umlaut ¨ over the u) and her quilts was reported on TODAY, February 28, 2017. PHOTO from that story.

Drive, or if you are brave enough, walk the inner city of some parts of the country where loss, neglect and the feeling of defeat have taken their toll, or visit a town forgotten by time and progress, or get out into parts of the country where properties are characterized by dogs on chains and other clutter and cast offs, “America divided – this concept increasingly graces political discourse in the U.S., pitting left against right, 'conservative thought' against the 'liberal agenda'. But for decades, Americans have been rearranging along another divide, one just as stark if not far more significant – a chasm once bridged by a flourishing middle class.

Peter Temin, Professor Emeritus of Economics at MIT, believes the ongoing death of 'middle America' has sparked the emergence of two countries within one, the hallmark of developing nations.”

From an article titled “Study By MIT Economist: U.S. Has Regressed To A Third-World Nation For Most Of Its Citizens," found online @ The Intellectualist on the maven dot net.

How different from each other members of families can be

Eastern Redbud, blooming in Leon County TX

March 21st, the first day of Spring, is the 37th anniversary of my father’s death. Russell Hollis (August 14, 1911—March 21, 1981).

One of the saddest things I’m trying to wrap my mind and heart around this late in my life—I am 5 years older than Russell at the time of his death—is the profound ignorance in my own family. Not only does this ignorance thrive, it presents its ugly face with some kind of pride. I’ve seen Facebook postings routinely sharing information that is patently untrue and simply hurtful. Always at the expense of some perceived "enemy" or "other". Blast the double barrel and hide behind the safety of a computer or Smartphone. Such behavior is pervasive on social media, way beyond the boundaries of my blood kin. And for what gain? What’s the goal here?

On the matter of my family members, I hear talk about their prayers, professing some kind of belief in God. Of course, that God is a male judge, residing in the sky. Some of these people even occupy a pew in their chosen church on Sundays and spend time other days of the week doing “the work of the Lord”. From what I understand of Holy Scripture, the work of the Lord does not look anything like the behavior I’m witnessing among my own.

History, modern literature, and studies of the human species are filled with stories and studies of how different from each other members of families can be. I’m going on record to stay that my heart reminds me that I was brought up in a home where hate did not thrive. My mother and daddy did not have much formal education. Our lives were far from perfect. There was conflict. We lived in the Texas version of the South. Russell and Tena were hard working, tolerant and compassionate. And even though they, in some ways, could not escape their upbringing, they were fair-minded folks. Like many people—I would like to think most people in the western world—who have brought children onto this earth, Russell and Tena wanted the best for us—education, a comfortable life, goodness and kindness. Thanks to their hard work, generosity, and their respect for where and what they came from, they paved the way.

May the Creator of all bless Russell and Tena, now and for always.

March 7, 1836, the Alamo

Image: Texas State Historical Association online handbook

"On the morning of March 7, 1836, the Alamo mission’s chapel and compound were a gutted, smoking ruin. The chapel was roofless, its bell-towers gone, its walls with gaping holes from Mexican artillery fire. Santa Anna, not wishing a shrine to the 240-odd defenders who died there, order the ruin razed. Not one stone was to be left standing upon another.

The ruin was not razed. In spite of direct orders from Santa Anna, the walls of the Alamo chapel were left standing. Not that there was much there—the façade was badly damaged and crumbling, the walls in many places were no more than head-high on a tall man. Still, Santa Anna gave a direct order—‘Knock down the walls!’—but it wasn’t done. Why not?"

—read more at http://www.texasescapes.com/CFEckhardt/Second-Battle-of-the-Alamo.htm

Texas Centennial Cast Iron Doorstop

The Texas Centennial, marking 100 years of Texas independence, was officially celebrated in 1936, although local observances began in 1935. The Central Centennial Exposition in Dallas and the Frontier Centennial in Fort Worth continued through 1937. These cast iron doorstops are one of the many souvenirs produced to commemorate the centennial. Commemoratives made from glass, paper, fabric, plastic, and metal were produced in abundance. Some collectors have assembled examples from all these. The cast iron doorstops, featuring a quarter moon decorated in relief with a longhorn steer and cactus, are among the rarer items out there. I lucked upon this example at a shop in central Texas. It appears to have been repainted.

To the heart of youth the world is a highwayside.
Passing for ever, he fares; and on either hand,
Deep in the gardens golden pavilions hide,
Nestle in orchard bloom, and far on the level land
Call him with lighted lamp in the eventide.

Thick as stars at night when the moon is down,
Pleasures assail him. He to his nobler fate
Fares; and but waves a hand as he passes on,
Cries but a wayside word to her at the garden gate,
Sings but a boyish stave and his face is gone.

from Songs of Travel, written for baritone voice, composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with poems drawn from the Robert Louis Stevenson collection Songs of Travel and Other Verses.

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”

So said Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993). British actress, model, fashion icon, dancer and humanitarian. And apparently, a gardener. Just not this garden, which was the fruit of this writer's labor, in Leon County, Texas, between 2000-2007.

Gallardia, Blanket Flower to the left of this garden path

Bottle tree. "'holding glass up to the light,
where it can sing'." Jenny Pickford
Some history on bottle trees from Felder Rushing
https://www.felderrushing.net/HistoryofBottleTrees.htm

Bottlebrush, Callistemon

Italian stone fruit,
first half of 20th century.
Looks good enough to eat!

Echinacea, known by common name coneflower

Garden stone. Inlayed broken pottery. Made by the writer.

W. Frederick Jarvis (1898-1966)

Bluebonnets with Hereford cattle, oil on board

Born in Monroe County, Ohio, W. Frederick Jarvis became a landscape painter, potter and art educator. He studied at the Art Students League in New York and in Munich, Germany with Franz Mueller. In the early 1920s, he moved to Dallas, Texas, which became his lifetime home base. He opened his studio in Bush Temple, taught at the Merdick Fine Art School, and also displayed art pottery. Between 1926 and 1927, he again lived in New York City, and there was a member of the Society of Independent Artists. This period was followed by a brief time in San Antonio and re-settlement in Dallas. Before 1928, he was on sketching trips to New Mexico and Arizona, and his subjects included the Grand Canyon. Affiliations also included the Paint and Palette Club of Washington DC, and the Southern States Art League. Exhibited: Texas-Oklahoma Fair, 1924 (gold medal); Society of Independent Artists (New York), 1925-27, 1936; Dallas Museum, 1936 (solo).

Jarvis painted mostly landscapes of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona & California. While on sketching trips during the 20’s & 30's in New Mexico, the Grand Canyon and California, he painted some of his finest representations of the areas in their vivid coloring.

Works Progress Administration (WPA) Marionettes

Marionettes created as part of the Federal Theatre Project (1935–39). Found in Pennsylvania by Houston antiques/arts collector and seller, Rosalie Renfro. They joined my household many years ago. This Federal program was part of the New Deal to fund theatre and other live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United States during the Great Depression. It was one of five Federal Project Number One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration. Not intended as a cultural activity per se, but as a relief measure to employ artists, writers, directors and theater workers.

God bless Texas!

Today, in places like Austin, the state capitol, and Washington-on-the-Brazos, the site of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836, thousands of Texans will at least give some thought to the meaning of Texas Independence. “You can go to hell—I’m going to Texas.” So said Davy Crockett (1786-1836), one of the heroes of the Alamo. At least that’s what they say. And the same spirit that led so many brave (and perhaps foolhardy) men to give their lives in the battle at the Alamo, the now-long historic shrine to the spirit of independence, is still on the hearts of lots of people. Some summers ago on the plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the back of the t-shirt sported by one of the people gathered there on an early evening to hear the music that is part of a Santa Fe summer, was Crockett’s proud, brave (and perhaps foolhardy) words. As they also say, you can take the Texan out of Texas, but you can’t Texas out of the Texan.

I no longer own my two-story barn home in Texas, on land my sisters and I inherited from our mother (granted before her by our Texas German grandmother and before her in spirit by our great-grandmother). In July of 2017, I deeded my last physical hold on Texas to my middle sister. Over the last several years I’ve sold off most of the antique and vintage treasure I had collected over 40 years of journeys. I am officially a resident of New Mexico. I gave up my Texas driver’s license in 2010, for practical reasons. I’d never had a driver’s license from any place other than Texas. Not long after, a process that required the better part of two months, the old front-and-rear Texas plates came off and the new rear plate went on. Ironically, the clerk who waited on me at the motor vehicle department had become a transplant to New Mexico at least 20 years earlier, and before that she had lived in New Mexico as a child. “We’ll be going back to Texas after my husband retires,” she told me. I thought about what that means to her, but I didn’t ask.

Native cross vine growing on
the Hollis land in Leon County Tx.

Virtually everyone I count among my friends and acquaintances in New Mexico has come here from some other place—New York by way of Houston, Chicago and New Orleans; Wisconsin by way of Arizona; Indiana, Oregon, Minnesota. We’re all in motion. I’m still surprised each time I meet someone who turns out to have grown up right here. That’s always a fun conversation—be it in the barber chair, checkout line at the market or hardware store, settled in for an event at a local indie bookstore, and so on.

One thing I know for sure. Regardless of where I am, and what driver’s license I carry in my pocket or the license plates are on my car, I remain a Texan, proud of my Texas roots. And even though I’ve chosen to make my home in the sunshine and dry air of the high desert, I try not to take it personally when someone has something harsh to say about Texas and Texans. The current political strong red leanings of Texas make it difficult for me to hold my own tongue. These red leanings are changing. They will change. All for the better. I’ve met quite a few native New Mexican Hispanics who have their own connections to Texas. As far as professional football goes (I’m not a sports fan), here you are either a fan of the Dallas Cowboys or the Denver Broncos. To a lot of people with strong roots in New Mexico, however, Texas and Texans do not and historically have not enjoyed a favorable reputation here in the land of enchantment. Ironically, it is a matter of natives sometimes biting the hand that feeds them. New Mexico is, after all, a land of tourists, and Texas is our next door neighbor. I heard a joke a few years ago that goes like this: Do you know the name of Texas’s favorite state park? New Mexico.

As the saying goes, we create our own bed, even though we might think at times that we are not the ones who made that bed—but yes, we have to sleep in it. The same principle applies to another deep-rooted part of American history. Anyway, in the case of Texas and New Mexico, it’s a battle of perception and attitude that won’t be won, given the thousands of Texans who live or have second homes (does that give you an inkling of wherein the source of the problem might lie?) in New Mexico. Like it or not, for good or for worse, the Texans are here. And of course, most of us defy the stereotypes that exist. Most of us do not have lots of disposable and discretionary income.

Today, March 2, it will be sunny and cool in the Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico, starting off in the low ‘30s and reaching the mid ‘60s by 3 this afternoon. The date was one of the first things to pop into my mind as I was in and out of sleep just before 5 this morning. For those of us who can trace our family’s Texas history back a few generations, it is a day to be proud. From England, through Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, my Hollis, Forest and Meadows ancestors made their way to the Lone Star State, some as early as the 1850s, but all before the turn of the 19th century. The roots of my maternal Fuchs and Benfer German ancestors in Houston (Harris County) Texas go back to before the American Civil War. Yes, I embrace this heritage.

Now today I’m not saying, you can go to hell—I’m going to Texas. I love my life here in New Mexico. I’ll open my front door to this glorious day, step outside under amazing blue skies, pick a route and walk. It could be in the quiet of my neighborhood, or could be in companion to the busy traffic a few streets over, the noise of road and building construction. I’ve noticed the “kwaak-kwaak” of neighborhood ravens lately, flying or perched somewhere nearby. Ravens like to be near people, I’ve read. Sometime before the summer heat has settled in, I’m thinking about a trek to Texas. Then again, maybe not. Regardless of where I am, on this day, especially, I am remembering where I began this journey, and I embrace this beginning and where and how it has allowed me to be. God bless Texas! And so it is.

March 2, 2018—Albuquerque, NM (revised from an earlier offering of March 2, 2011)
R. Harold Hollis

Chaco Canyon

Located in northwestern New Mexico, between Albuquerque and Farmington, in a remote canyon cut by the Chaco Wash, Chaco Culture National Historical Park is part of the U. S. National Park Service. Containing the most sweeping collection of ancient ruins north of Mexico, the park preserves one of the most important pre-Columbian cultural and historical areas in the United States.[2] Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major center of culture for the Ancient Pueblo Peoples and today represents the densest and most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest. (information from our friends at Wikipedia)

Photo: aerial view, 1929, by Charles Lindberg, from New Mexico Magazine, January 2018

Clementine Hunter (1886-1988)

PHOTOS: one of Hunter's well known scenes, "Wash Day," these two painted on linoleum tiles. The yellowed and faded tag reads "$3.50". I bought these in Houston from a collector friend in the 1990s who had found them in the attic of a elderly friend she was helping sell down her own collection of art and antiques. That friend had bought them from Hunter in the 1960s. The signature, a backward C and H, is consistent with the period of the '60s.

Born into a Louisiana Creole family in Natchitoches Parish, Clementine Hunter's grandparents had been slaves. Hunter started painting in her 50s, when she found leftover tubes of paint in the room an artist guest had been using at the plantation house where she worked as a maid. Her artwork depicted plantation life in the early 20th century, documenting a bygone era. She sold her first paintings for as little as 25 cents, but by the end of her life, Hunter's work was being exhibited in museums and individual pieces being sold by art dealers for as high as thousands of dollars. Clementine Hunter was granted an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree by Northwestern State University of Louisiana in 1986.

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Fuchs Family (Harris County, Texas)

What beautiful handwriting--art itself! A moment in history, November 23, 1893, Harris County, Texas. My great-great grandfather, August Fuchs, signed the marriage certificate for his son Louis (b. 1873) and Kate Rinkel (b. 1874), certifying that they were "of age". My mother,  (Tena Elizabeth Fuchs Hollis), told me many times that 3 Fuchs brothers married 3 Rinkel sisters. This is 1 of the 3 pairs. My great-great grandfather, August, was born in 1830 in Germany/Prussia and came to Texas with his family as a young man in 1853, arriving in the Port of Galveston. His is one of four known graves in the historic Fuchs cemetery, located in northwest Houston (Harris County). This small cemetery, completely surrounded by neighborhood homes, became known to a Fuchs family member a few years ago. "Fuchs Cemetery is one of several family cemeteries that existed in the White Oak Bayou (also known as Rosslyn) community of NW Houston. It is located on the land once owned by German immigrants, August and Christiane Fuchs. The only known use was between 1908 to 1914." (from find a grave dot com). Fuchs cemetery was designated as a Texas Historic Cemetery on March 11, 2015.

From Texas State Historical Assn, Handbook of Texas:

"Rosslyn Texas - Rosslyn, also known as White Oak, was a rural German community west of White Oak Bayou on what was then the western edge of Houston in west central Harris County. In the 1880s it had a population of 300. A post office was established in 1911 and discontinued in 1917, when mail was delivered from North Houston. In 1936 the community was listed on state highway maps. By 1982 Houston had grown around the two abandoned railroad stations that marked the site."

Early Texas Artist Marie Bruner Haines (1884-1979)

Iconic SAN FRANCISCO DE ASIS MISSION CHURCH IN RANCHOS DE TAOS, NM, painted by MARIE BRUNER HAINES (1884 -1979). In 1927, Haines exhibited this painting of San Francisco de Asis in the ANNUAL TEXAS ARTIST EXHIBITION, FORT WORTH, TX. Landscape, wildflower, and portrait painter, muralist, graphic artist, designer, lecturer. Haines was born in Cincinnati and reared in Dayton and Madisonville, Ohio. She studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati (1900-1901), the Pennsylvania School of Industrial Arts, Philadelphia (1904-5), and the Art Institute of Chicago. She lived in Atlanta (1908-21), during which time she attended the National Academy of Design and studied at the Art Students League of New York (1915-17).

In 1921 Haines moved to College Station, TX, where she maintained her home and studio in the residence of Dr. F. B. Clark, her brother-in-law and professor of economics at Texas A&M College. In the 1920s she painted several summers in San Augustine, Florida and Taos, New Mexico. Haines is considered an early member of the Taos art colony. She also painted in New York during the period. After her marriage to Frederick A. Burt in 1950, she moved from College Station to Bennington, Vermont, where she painted under the name Marie Haines Burt. Haines died in Bennington.

Exhibitions: Southern States Art League Annual Exhibition (1926-30,1933-34,1936,1937 prize,1938); Annual Texas Artist Exhibition, Fort Worth (1927, 1930); Annual Exhibition of Texas Artists, Dallas Woman's Forum (1928); Edgar B. Davis Competition, San Antonio (1928-29); Highland Park Art Gallery, Dallas (1929 one-woman); Annual Texas Artists Circuit Exhibition (1931, 1948); Annual Southeast Texas Artists Exhibition, Houston (1937,1939); Corpus Christi Art League (1943-45); Corpus Christi Caller-Times Annual Exhibition (1944); Society of Vermont Artists (1953-61); Women Artists of Texas 1850-1950, Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, Canyon (1993); Taos; Port Arthur and Wichita Falls; Atlanta and Macon, Georgia; Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe; Charleston, South Carolina.
Murals: Austin High School, Bryan; library, Texas A&M College, College Station.