The weather was perfect this morning and the ladies selected the perfect place to walk: downtown along the San Antonio River in the King William neighborhood. No sooner had we gotten started than Mary ran into a friend, Maria Pfeiffer, who lives in her historic family home, which backs up to the river. She was being pulled by her lab, Bruno (who had me on edge until I determined that he is an OK fellow if a bit rambunctious).
We walked briskly so as to get back to our ’hood—about a 15 minute drive—by 9:30. Leaving the river, we passed through the garden of the Steves Homestead, a house museum operated by the San Antonio Conservation Society. It is one of countless mansions built by prosperous German families before the turn of the century.
We passed numerous other stately homes along the shaded streets. But the ladies took the most interest in a small house. To it, architect Daryl Ohlenbusch has added a rustic two-story tall screen porch (which was the inspiration for my mistress's new screened porch) on one side and a two-story techno metal-clad apartment on the other. The effect is stunning.
Throughout the hour-long jaunt I saw no other dogs. Nor did I see any chickens, although a number of King Williamites raise them. (One of them, Mike Casey, even has a turkey). Which reminds me: Mary got an email from son Maverick this week that there was a trifecta. When he checked the rolling coop the other morning, all three ladies had laid him an egg in the same nest!
Returning to the subject of walks, the one I enjoyed most this week was near Tarpley, Texas where Mary and Lewis have a country place. The scents there are not to be believed and the weather was perfect—clear and cool. Thankfully, Hondo Creek is running again and the sinkhole (used as a Saturday night bathtub by a neighbor in years past) is full again. When the water’s up in Texas, there's no room for complaints.
Breaking News! Mary just got a letter from her cousin Amelia, owner of Sadie, the nations's number one dog. (Her full name is Round Town Mercedes of Mary Scot—can you imagine?). Sadie just finished winning best in show in Philadelphia, taking the total up to 102. She can be seen on NBC winning that show on Thanksgiving Day at noon, right after the parade. All I can say is I knew (of) her when.
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