by John Jefferson

Another writer once asked me how I came up with such a variety of “unique” subjects for a weekly column entitled “Woods, Waters, and Wildlife.”

When I initiated the column in 2017, I pitched it to editors as being about hunting, fishing, wildlife news, and places of interest concerning those subjects and habitats. Some columns occur in unlikely places.

Last week, to escape cabin fever, we took a spin through the Hill Country, eating “tortilla catfish” in Marble Falls, a Dairy Queen “Blizzard” in Fredericksburg, and filling my eyes with hills, streams, lakes, and sumacs beginning to change colors.

My wife came, too, so I figured we’d hit at least one antique shop. But I didn’t see a column coming from it.

In “Remember Me, Too,” a shop in Fredericksburg, I noticed a few coffee table books for sale while Vicky “antiqued.” Several pertained to Texas. One book was entitled “Backroads of the Texas Hill Country.” I couldn’t resist it.

Written by Gary Clark, former “Nature” writer for the Houston Chronical and numerous other publications, and photographed by his wife Kathy, a credentialed photographer, it is a captivating guide to the charm of the Edwards Plateau. It includes a number of places previously mentioned in the WW&W column and profusely illustrates them – especially the lakes and streams.

The book is divided into six Regions and includes directions for thirty tours. I’ve rambled through every region multiple times and visited most places mentioned – including “Devil’s Sink Hole” — but still learned a few new things.

The Austin and San Antonio metro areas are discussed – likewise, the quaint small towns and burghs. The author stretches the geographic boundaries of the Hill Country by including the area southeast of San Antonio to Seguin, Gonzales, and Palmetto State Park. But instead of calling “Foul,” consider it lagnappe!

Don’t think you can see it all in a weekend! But each tour can be traversed in a day or less. One tip from my own misadventures however: Don’t try to go see the Christmas lights along the San Antonio River Walk during mid-December weekends. Traffic downtown is unbelievable. It took us forty-five minutes to go one block! It all started on I-35.

During several Decembers, this column has carried a short list of gifts that regular readers or their families might appreciate under their Christmas tree — like a Labrador puppy for bird hunters — and other hunting necessities. At first, I didn’t think about making that book a suggestion for Santa. As I turned the pages of the Hill Country Backroads book, I realized it was a possible present instead of just something I selfishly kept for myself.

It can be ordered from “Remember Me, Too” at 109 E. Main St, Fredericksburg, Texas 78624. Call for price and shipping costs: 1-(830) 997-6444. Or stop by if you are in the neighborhood. If they are sold out, try the publisher, the Quarto Group: WWW.QuartoKnows.com or 1-(978) 282-9590.

It’s a gift that will be appreciated.

JJ