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November 2015 Letters

TCP Talk

Letters and comments from our readers

Giving Weirdness a Shot

For several years I’ve been preaching that Angelina Eberly [Prohibited by City Ordnance, October 2015] did as much as anyone—ever—to “keep Austin weird.” Imagine Austin without the Texas Legislature and, most likely, “the university” in all its glory. Perhaps there still would have been a beautiful town where the Colorado River emerges from the Hill County, but no way would it have been even half as weird!

Alan W. Ford | Bastrop
Bluebonnet EC

Feed Sack Décor

I enjoyed the article and letters about people making clothing out of old feed bags [Feeding Their Fashion Sense, February 2015]. My neighbor did something interesting with a bunch of old feed bags that he had. He flattened them out and cut them to fit and used them for wallpaper. The room looks great.

Bob Farris | Sanger
CoServ Electric

What Is Right With the World?

I was disturbed by the article Right With the World in your August 2015 issue. It seems barbaric to desensitize children by teaching them to kill. This seems like a sure way to encourage mental/ emotional issues while introducing them to guns. This can be a bad and even deadly combination. In some cases, tradition can be a trap to keep individuals stuck in an outdated rut.

Why not just go outdoors, camp and take pictures of wildlife that will live to see another day? This seems more like being right with the world.

L.G. Derrick | Hico
United Cooperative Services

Mike Leggett must have misplaced some of his baloney from his old hunting lease when he decided to bad-mouth oil and gas activity. I can see a half dozen oil and gas wells from my house in Ochiltree County (an area not known for large wildlife numbers) and, on a daily basis, I see antelope, mule deer, coyotes, turkeys, rabbits (jack and cottontail), porcupines, badgers, various snakes, lizards, frogs, toads, ducks, geese, cranes and herons. By the way, does he walk the 12 miles to his lease?

John Bozeman | Perryton
North Plains EC

Reading the deer camp article brings back good memories of camping trips with my dad in the 1950s and ’60s with one important exception: We had great times and enjoyed hiking and camping without feeling the need to kill the beautiful animals that inhabited the places we visited.

Paul Darko | Kaufman
Trinity Valley EC

Native Americans

As a member of the Comanche Nation, I’ve never been bothered by the term “Indian” [The Old Indian Doctor, March 2015, and letters in May 2015 and August 2015].

The history of America was influenced by Native American tribes in the Southwest and other parts of the country. Native Americans played important roles in our wars when our enemies could not decipher “Indian” languages, including Navajo, used as code by U.S. forces.

Absolute political correctness is a double-edged sword. The fact remains that Native Americans were mistreated in many situations, so let us be honest and refer to history as it was, not as we cover it in literary mascara.

Phil Howry | Austin
Bluebonnet EC, Pedernales EC and Central Texas EC

The Goodnight Legacy

I am a contracting electronic engineer working for our soldiers in Afghanistan. My wife, Grace, knows how much I enjoy reading your magazine. She gathers three or four issues before sending them to me.

I was very pleased to read the article about Charles Goodnight [The Goodnight-Loving Trail, March 2015] because my sister, Nancy, is married to Goodnight’s great-great-grandson, Ronald Gene Goodnight of Salado. They have been happily married for more than 34 years.

It is remarkable how much Ronnie resembles the late Charles Goodnight. One big difference is that Charles had a quick temper, but Ronnie is a gentle giant.

Louis Ashworth | Salado
Bartlett EC