What the Republican Leadership Needs for Christmas:

A clue.

The degree of these folks' incompetence is staggering. The near-constant parade of mistakes by the Bush administration and the Republicans who support it are baffling. Yet their bravado is unabated. Perhaps you noticed that former FEMA Director Michael Brown has started a new business: A Disaster Preparedness Consulting Firm.

'Scuse me? Should we expect OJ Simpson to open up a butcher shop?

The Republicans may be clueless, but they've got cojones the size of beach balls. Will Michael Brown's counsel be "do not do what I did, and you should be okay"? Here's the recent quote which just about breaks the irony meter:

"If I can help people focus on preparedness, how to be better prepared in their homes and better prepared in their businesses...then I hope I can help the country in some way."

These are the words of a man who couldn't be bothered to help the country when it was in the throes of its worst natural disaster. More of his words in an e-mail early on Aug. 29--the day Katrina hit New Orleans, acknowledging a colleague's compliment about his clothing:

''Are you proud of me?" he wrote. ''Can I quit now? Can I go home?"

But wait...there's more. On Aug. 31, in response to a message detailing how people are being ''kicked out" of New Orleans hotels and that food and water had run out at the Superdome, Brown responded

''Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?"

People were dying at the Superdome, and that's what he had to say. And what did your President have to say about Brown's response to Katrina? "You're doin' a helluva job, Brownie."

Moving beyond the pick-yourself-up-off-the-floor-in-shock words of the President, and back to Michael Brown, the quotes cited above are not just the words of a man who isn't actively engaged in his job. His words show a fabulous inability to empathize.

I have to put this in bold type: The FEMA Director is without empathy?

You can run the Department of Transportation, you can be the Secretary of State, you can run the Department of the Interior and not have to be terribly empathetic. But FEMA? The notion of there being a FEMA Director incapable of empathy is beyond my ability to express outrage over. That's about as bizarre as Ohio Representative Jean Schmidt calling former Marine John Murtha a coward. Yet both it seems, are quite true.

So if you're buying for a Republican this year, you might seriously consider getting him this.

Making Stained Glass

God I love stained glass. I know, I've been blathering on and on about autumn, and now you have to endure a few thoughts about stained glass. I'll get back to politics soon...honest.

I learned how to make stained glass windows about 25 years ago from a really neat woman who designed and built her own windows. She was probably the best in West Texas, and due to good luck, good karma, or perhaps providence, she not only taught me how to make these windows. She paid me to learn!

She had a 15-window job to complete and she was getting sicker and sicker, and was incapable of the work. She showed me how to assemble and solder and complete the windows she'd already cut the class for, and I spent the next week doing exactly that. I think I had an aptitude for glass, as my learning curve was pretty short.

The woman got progressively sicker and I kept on building windows she'd already signed contracts to do. She finally got cured from what ailed her, and I moved on, taking my knowledge with me. About a decade later I decided I wanted to get back into glass, so I invested in the basic tools you need to create windows. I've probably made about 70 windows since then.

Pictured at top right is my most recent window. It's about 5 & 1/2 feet tall and features a beveled fleur de lis, diamonds and stars on clear, but textured glass. I think I could only count on one hand the things I like doing more than making stained glass windows. And it's probably the only one I could actually get paid to do!

The Other Day Howard Dean Was Telling Me...

Got your attention, did I? Maybe I should have been a headline writer!

Actually, I'm not lying. I was part of a nationwide conference call associated with Dean For America--whoops...that's Democracy For America. Dean For America was its incarnation before Dean was sabotaged by the press and withdrew from his presidential aspirations. Don't get me started on that whole Dean scream thing, or you'll never hear the end of it.

So about 18 of us are huddled around a space heater in the inner city...there I go lying again! That's what image might be conjured by those who aren't Democrats. They probably figure we lefties as being urban and smack dab full of minorities. In fact, I don't remember anyone there who wasn't white. And the there I'm referring to was an upper middle class home in a prosperous hill country suburb. I'd say the median age was close to 50 and there were far more gray hairs and few hairs than brown-haired folks.

The conference call was Dean's way of fanning the flames of grass roots efforts throughout the country. There was laughter and applause and the real sense that these kinds of things will make a difference. I can only hope so.

Dean's 50-state plan (which in a nutshell means that the Democratic party will fund and push to win offices in red states just like they do in blue states) excites us here in Texas, one of the redder states out there. Our state of mind is bruised and battered, being Bush country. More and more people are speaking out against the prodigal prez, but this place is still solidly behind him. It takes a special breed of us to stand tall speak out when the opportunity arises.

A woman named (if memory serves) Jamie said she always wears lefty-styled buttons wherever she goes. She gets lots of stares, a few snide comments, but also a lot of people who come over and strike it up with her in a very positive way. "They're happy to see other liberals" she says.
Well, we're going to have to encourage a lot more liberals out of the woodwork and into the voting booth if we want to become a real force here in South Texas. We can do it. It just takes the grassroots efforts that the good doctor Dean has begun.

Get involved folks...that's the only way to turn this oh-so-slow-to-turn aircraft carrier around.

Another Autumnal Blog

Autumn's finally arrived in a very big way here in Texas. The temperatures haven't--highs today around 80--but the most impressive trees are approaching peak display. As I mentioned in a previous blog, Texas does of some fall color.

One of my little treats as I drive around my town and in the hill country, is to notice color where I didn't know to expect it before. All summer long trees labor in the obscurity of green--most all are the same general color, especially as you drive by quickly in a car. It's not until autumn that each tree's individual attributes emerge from that obscurity.

I was driving down a street recently that I don't often take and lo and behold--two big tooth maples I wasn't aware of. Always a treat to find new trees to go back and visit each autumn.

Several years ago I was shocked to see vivid golden color of a 25-30 foot tall big tooth maple on the south side of the driveway leading into the Frost Bank in Boerne. Pictured above from two years ago, its trunk splits into two leaders about 8 feet up. I think it's Boerne's most magnificent big tooth. Because of pruning, or natural growth habit, the branches are high enough where you can walk underneath it. It's become my yearly barometer of fall color in these parts, and no autumn's complete without a visit to the tree. On a clear day with a blue sky, the gold-tinted light beneath it is impossible to describe.

Yesterday me and about 8 others, primarily from Boerne's Native Plant Society, planted about a dozen new trees and understory shrubs outside the Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne. Those holes didn't dig themselves, so it was lots of hard, sweaty work. In time though, it will yield more color and more native plants for locals or visitors to see and learn from as the years go by.

Planting a tree is one of the most optimistic things a person can do. The very act says "I believe in the future and I care about those who will follow. " They will be shaded by these trees and they will gaze in wonder at their leaves in the autumn and be thankful that someone cared enough to plant them. Thanks to the Cibolo for setting such a fine example for this community, and for encouraging its citizens to fine works like this. If the Cibolo didn't exist this town would be greatly changed, and clearly for the worse.

So get outside and drink in what nature's provided you.

I Become A Mass Transit Guy

A co-worker friend of mine rushes into my office yesterday and says "Hey, I just rode the Via Express Route from 281 and 1604!" They dropped him off two blocks from where we work, and he strolled into work, having read the newspaper he rarely gets to properly read. My interest was piqued.

So if you didn't click on the blue item above--shame on you--I'll explain. San Antonio's transit company, Via Metropolitan Transit Company, now offers four different routes from various places on 1604 or I-35 to downtown. They have very few stops, depending on which route you take, and which bus within that route.

"What's it cost?" I asked."20 bucks a month; unlimited rides."
Mmm...$20 a month. I headed over to the Via Transit headquarters on San Pedro and laid my money down for a month pass.

I've got a 16 mile-per-gallon gas-hog pickem-up truck and on my particular commute, I figure I can shave 24 of my 63 miles-per-day round trip by riding the express line. The part of my drive that's the most difficult, the most stress-inducing, and the worst gas mileage for my truck happens to be the part I'd shave off by taking the bus.

So I found my way to the Park and Ride lot below I-10 and 1604. I wasn't there five minutes before the bus arrived and I joined what ended up being about 18 downtown-bound commuters. My day didn't go without a hitch though. My co-worker's optimistic reporting about being let off two blocks from work was accurate, but only for his particular route. My route gets no closer than about 8 blocks. I walked to and from the bus stop this morning, and while it was humid and sultry, it was a very pleasant walk. I'd never walked through the new courtyard at San Fernando Cathedral. I walked beneath the massive trees at the plaza in front of the old Courthouse. And then across the ornate Houston Street bridge over the River Walk.

Would I do this in the summertime? Forget it! Too hot. But for now, I think I'm going to enjoy this. While I rode on the bus I was able to chew up three chapters on the Maureen Dowd book I'm reading. When it was over and done and I got in my pickup to head toward Boerne, I joined the traffic and was immediately aware of something different. It took a minute to put my finger on it, but I finally figured it out: I wasn't stressed. Usually by the time I'm passing Fiesta Texas I'm wound up in knots after having dodged the gauntlet of bad drivers and merging trucks from Huebner through 1604. That stress just wasn't there today.

This Kendall County Democrat is urging you to consider this new offering by Via. It's easy to talk about doing the right thing for the environment, and embracing the idea of mass transit. Actually doing so means breaking bad habits and putting out a little effort. I can report that at this point, the effort's been worth putting out.

Autumn Comes To Texas

Texas? Sure, we have autumn color. It's not Vermont or Wisconsin, or even Virginia. But on a good year, it ain't bad. While it's still early, I think it's going to be a good year.

The sumac are turning pretty quickly, and some have even dropped their leaves already. I haven't seen a really red RedOak yet. We'll see how it shakes out. A tree which often just kinda turns brown is the Cedar Elm. This year though, I've seen quite a few of them turning golden. I don't know if it's rain or air temperature or moisture in the air, but I suspect it's a combination of all the above. Whatever the case, it looks like they might give us quite a show this year.

There's a non-native tree called Chinese Pistache, which those of us who love native trees would like to think is native. Lord knows it's drought and heat tolerant, and it gives a great show.
I have a Burr Oak(not the one pictured) that I planted in my front yard. He's turning a little gold, so I'm optimistic about Burr Oak's color this year.

The tree that lovers of autumn in Texas are most passionate about though is the Big Tooth Maple. Sometimes they're golden, sometimes they're red, but most always just plain beautiful. The two I have in my yard are doing okay, but got a little summer burn. I planted them in the full sun and mulched and watered them fairly well. This was their first year though. Time for them to get established.

This afternoon I'm going to a place just outside Boerne. There's a long, winding road that gets progressively smaller, and finally becomes a dirt road, ending at a ranch gate. If you park your truck and walk a few paces to your left--not too far or you'll drop about a hundred feet down into a deep cut valley with steep cliffs and a stream at the bottom. In that riverbottom soil there are lots of live oaks, cedar elm and red oaks. The treat though, is that there are probably 30 or so large Big Tooth Maple growing down there. Last year their color wasn't anything too impressive, but this year, they're looking great.

Postscript: The picture above was taken Sunday morning 11/6. A 35-foot Big Tooth keeps a toe-hold overlooking everything from the side of the cliff. I can report that indeed, the maple colors are looking quite fine this year. In fact, they're downright Vermontesque. Heck of a word I just coined there.