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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 3
FEATURES
March 2021 | Volume 10, Issue 3
8 Texas Treasures
24
Honor the Texas Flags
Business Focus Tax Services Plus
16 Texas Talent Janet Batchelor
FAVORITES 5 6 7 11 12 13 14
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As I write this, we are experiencing “Snowmageddon” 2021. I am, in fact, trying to finish this and send to our designer before the rolling blackouts reach us. When all this started, I was really worried about her, because she and her husband decided several months ago to live in an RV and work from the road while they see the country. How cool is that? Until we have “this” kind of cool, that is. But, being the uber intelligent people they are, they unplugged and are sitting in Florida while we are sitting here in the frozen tundra. That really IS cool! Before Wes and I married, I worked for a marketing firm and traveled all over the United States working with newspapers. Those travels included seeing winters in Juneau, Alaska, Joliet, Illinois, Terre Haute, Indiana, and whiteout conditions in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The hotel where I stayed in Terre Haute belonged to Larry Bird (of Boston Celtics fame), and one of the wonderful things about staying there was the “gift” they gave their guests each morning when an employee went to the parking lot and brushed all the snow and ice off your car. I really loved that! The hotel in Joliet was not so accommodating…and it snowed there a LOT. Joliet is about an hour southwest of Chicago, and it was cold… every…day. I remember so many people from those travels, and I still consider many friends. But all I remember about Joliet was the cold. That, and one particular event. After brushing the snow off my car that morning in order to get to the ice below and then scraping that until I could see, I walked into the newspaper and asked the staff if they knew there were other places they could live! They all looked so shocked! I began to explain to them what our winter was like. I explained how we only needed snow boots if we were going skiing in Colorado. I explained the joy of a jacket getting us through the winter instead of coats that would keep you warm in subzero temperatures. It was to no avail. They started talking of enjoying seasons…and snow… and all the fun they have in the snow. I told them we did too--for a day or two. Then they started getting really personal and saying ugly things about our summer. I told them we would just have to agree to disagree. As beautiful as the view is out my window, I know stepping outside could mean falling on ice. (I think I’ve already shared with you I am pro at that!) I would like to try a new recipe, but I forgot some of the ingredients at the store, and the roads are too treacherous to drive. Of course, if we lose power, the only cooking will be on the grill anyway-across the icy deck. Pray for Wes. And maybe we should start thinking about RV shopping.
Until next time,
~
Karen
March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 5
Milestones Congratulations to Lacey Price on receiving her Masters degree from Sam Houston State University. Lacey is the daughter of Barbara & Stanley Lesikar and Carey & Mary Price.
“Ruffles and Rifles, TuTus and PewPews!” Happy 5th Birthday to Blakely Spencer! Blakely is the daughter of Nathan & Megan Spencer.
Weston Slocum turned 6 months old. Son of Kelsey & Matthew Slocum. Grandson of Gregg & Nancy Jolly. Great grandson of Charles & Voyce Park.
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Dear Gabby Welcome back to the Dear Gabby advice column. Hope you all survived the blizzard of 2021! That was something, wasn’t it? Texas Independence Day is March 2nd and y’all better not forget it. Be thankful that you are either a native of the Great State of Texas, or you got here as fast as you could. If you’re a newbie Texan, you won’t fool anyone unless you can pronounce Kuykendahl. Nope, try again. Drop me a line by checking Dear Gabby on PostcardsLive.com/share if you have any question about life in general. Warning label: Do as I say, not as I do. DEAR GABBY
DEAR DON Let me ease into this answer by giving you some advice about Texas girls. Her uniform is cutoffs, flip-flops, and a tank top. If you’re doing something in warm weather (that’s not attending a wedding) and you want her to dress up, you better tell her in advance. Just because she grew up in a place where the high school football stadium looks like a professional stadium doesn’t mean she wants to watch football with you all the time. Bottom line is--you may want to ask her to clean her house. If you tell a Texas girl to do anything, especially something domestic, you might be able to see a change…when the swelling goes down.
I’m new to Texas, but I have already found a really sweet Texas girl. She’s not much of a housekeeper, but great in so many other ways. We only GABBY get to see each other on the weekends, and I’m planning to see her at my house this weekend. The next weekend, I’ll go visit her at her home. CONFIDENTIAL TO SASSY, AREN’T YOU?: Yes, I am aware I talk a lot What do you think about me telling her I’d like to see a clean house when of smack for someone who tips over putting on her underwear. I get there? YANKEE DON
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Texas Treasures By Wes Altom
Most are probably familiar with “Six Flags Over Texas,” both as a theme park and as the conceptual depiction of the banners of the six countries which have ruled over Texas: France, Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America. But are you fully acquainted with the standards associated with Texas as an entity to itself? There is more to the story than “A Lone Star.”
The Three Official National or State Flags The first official flag, the “National Standard of Texas,” was passed by the Congress of the republic and approved by President Sam Houston on December 10, 1836. It consisted of an azure ground with a large golden star central. President David G. Burnet proposed the design in a letter to Congress on October 11, 1836, hence the design is known as the Burnet Flag. It served as the national flag until January 25, 1839, and the war flag from that date until December 29, 1845.
The second official flag was the 1836 national flag for the naval service, or war ensign. This was the same flag Burnet adopted for the navy at Harrisburg on April 9, 1836. It was similar to the United States flag and showed thirteen stripes and a blue canton with a single white star. It was passed by Congress and approved by Houston on December 10, 1836; it remained in use until January 25, 1839. 8 Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition | March 2021
Honor the
Texas Flags
Unofficial or unapproved flags Stephen F. Austin designed a proposed Texas flag that was never adopted. Austin designed his flag in New Orleans between December 1835 and January 1836, while he was serving as a commissioner to the United States. The design apparently used sixteen green and white stripes, a red and white English jack in the canton, and a red and white star in the fly.
The third standard is the Lone Star Flag we recognize today. The Lone Star Flag was the legal national and state flag from January 25, 1839, to September 1, 1879, and the de facto state flag from September 1, 1879, to August 31, 1933. The Lone Star Flag was also the legal national ensign from January 25, 1839, to December 29, 1845. The Sixteenth Legislature promulgated the Revised Civil Statutes of 1879. Since the revised statutes neither included legislation concerning the flag nor expressly continued in force the 1839 flag law, the 1839 law was repealed. Texas therefore had no legal flag from the date of the repeal, September 1, 1879, to the effective date of the 1933 flag act, August 31, 1933. The Mexican National Museum of Artillery has two revolutionary Lone Star flags, one dating from 1836 and the other from 1835-1837. Both of these flags display the red stripe over the white stripe, but otherwise resemble the 1839 national flag. The 1933 description of the flag was extremely detailed and included precise instructions for the design and location of the Lone Star. The colors of the stripes, blood red, azure blue, and white, were said to impart the “lessons of the Flag: bravery, loyalty, and purity.” Despite these specifications, there was no standard reference to define what constituted “blood red” and “azure blue,” and few Texas flags were manufactured in the official proportions (hoist to fly) of two to three. In 1993 the legislature revised the description of the flag: “The state flag consists of a rectangle with a width to length ratio of two to three containing: (1) a blue vertical stripe onethird the entire length of the flag wide, and two equal horizontal stripes, the upper stripe white, the lower red, each two-thirds the entire length of the flag long; and (2) a white, regular five-pointed star in the center of the blue stripe, oriented so that one point faces upward, and of such a size that the diameter of a circle passing through the five points of the star is equal to three-fourths the width of the blue stripe.” The 1993 law stipulates that the red and blue colors of the state flag are the same colors used in the United States flag, the so-called “Old Glory Red” and “Old Glory Blue.”
Some authorities claim Lorenzo de Zavala designed a Republic of Texas flag. The “Zavala flag” was allegedly adopted in Convention of 1836 at Washington-on-the-Brazos. It is usually portrayed as a blue field with a white star of five points central and with the letters “TEXAS,” one letter at each star point. This description of the flag, however, is inconsistent with the journal entries of the convention for March 3, 1836, and March 12, 1836, which do not indicate that the convention accepted Zavala’s design. In addition, the actual configuration of the flag is unknown because the journal does not describe Zavala’s proposal of March 11, 1836, though it does state that William B. Scates’s motion to add a “Rainbow and star of five points above the western horizon; and a star of six points sinking below” was accepted. Finally, the journal reflects that Charles Stanfield Taylor, not Zavala, suggested that the letters “TEXAS” be placed around the star. Although several books claim that the “Zavala flag” is the first official Texas flag, the historical record does not support this assertion.
Other official flags In addition to the three national and state flags, Texas has recognized five other official flags: the 1835 flag for registered civil vessels and vessels sailing under letters of marque and reprisal, the 1839 pilot flag, the 1839 revenue service flag, the 1839 coasting trader flag, and the 1985 county sesquicentennial flag. The flag for registered civil vessels and vessels sailing under letters of marque and reprisal was an ensign adopted by the provisional government on November 29, 1835. It consisted of the Mexican flag with “1824” replacing the eagle and signifying loyalty to the Mexican federal Constitution of 1824. This flag disappeared from use after the adoption of the 1836 national standard and the 1836 national flag for the naval service. The revenue service, pilot, and coasting trader flags were auxiliary naval flags authorized by the 1839 act that gave specifications for the Lone Star Flag. Official art for these flags was drawn by Peter Krag. The revenue service flag consisted of a white star on a blue square surrounded by white and red borders, the pilot flag consisted of a white star on a blue stripe with a white stripe above and a red stripe below, and the coasting trader flag consisted of a white star on a vertical blue stripe with swallowtail white and red horizontal stripes. These flags were probably used from January 25, 1839, to December 29, 1845. The pilot flag has been portrayed erroneously at times as the Texas national flag at sea, civil ensign, or merchant flag.
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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 9
An Interesting Note About the Pledge In 1915 the legislature declared Texas Independence Day, March 2, as Texas Flag Day. In 1933 the legislature passed a law establishing rules for the proper display of the flag and providing for a pledge to the flag: “Honor the Texas Flag of 1836; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one and indivisible.” The pledge erroneously referred to the 1836 national
flag, known as David G. Burnet’s flag, instead of the Lone Star Flag. Senator Searcy Bracewell introduced a bill to correct this error in 1951, but the legislature did not delete the words “of 1836” until 1965. The words “one state under God” were added in 2007.
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The Garden Post By Kim Bius
A Little Something EXTRA for Your Soil Soil additives are “additions” to existing soil to give nutrients needed to successfully grow shrubs, trees, vegetables, herbs, flowers, roses, etc. The desired plant determines the desired recipe for the soil. A simple soil test will help you determine the nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium content of your garden area. These tests are available at many garden centers and at your local extension service office. If you need help interpreting results, take them to a garden center you know has certified nurserymen. Remember nitrogen is for root and top growth (stems, leaves etc), phosphorous is for flower and fruit production, and potassium is for overall hardiness and cold heat tolerance. Ever wonder why your tomato plant was 5’ tall with little to no tomatoes? Usually because it was fertilized with a high nitrogen fertilizer or fresh manure/ mushroom compost amendment. All growth from the nitrogen went to the plant growth and not to the fruit production, thus a balanced fertilizer is important. Planting/Landscape Mix is a ready-made amendment added to existing beds to give them the addition of the following ingredients: growers sand, black humus, composted mulch (heavily decomposed), composted peat moss, cow manure, and a low dose of a slow-release fertilizer such as 3-3-2 or something similar. Many forms do not contain fertilizer or peat moss, and their price is lower than mixes that do. Black Humus is one of my personal favorite ingredients for vegetable gardens. Black humus is the equivalent of having your own compost pile that has aged for years and made a rich, black, heavier soil, full of nutrients. A needed ingredient for sandy, nutrient free topsoil in our area if growing vegetables. Topsoil in our area of the state is a very light, sandy loam, grayish in color with a high amount of river bottom sand. We use topsoil to fill in low areas of the lawn, filler in the bottom of large containers, backfill for retaining walls, to build berms, for raising soil levels, and as a base filler for large gardens. Do not be fooled--many topsoils here have strong nutrients, and soil components by area vary greatly--sandy loam to black caliche--but there is a cure for everything! Mulch is a component washed with misconception. Mulch is available in a multitude of wood varieties and consistencies--fine ground, shredded, and in large wood chunks with bits of fine ground in it. I prefer the medium ground or shredded for landscape use. Shredded bark stays in place, does not float, does not attract fire ants (large chunks do) and has enough consistency to last six months before replacement. Yes, bark mulch has to be replaced. It is an organic product that
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decomposes with time, adding nutrients to your soil as it decomposes… so you get benefit on both ends. DO NOT APPLY PLASTIC MULCH TO YOUR BEDS FOR ANY REASON. Mulch is available in hardwood varieties such as red cedar, cypress, black mulch, and red mulch. I like the look of red mulch against white limestone houses or tropical gardens for a punch of color. Pine wood mulch is a softer wood, that should be used in landscapes with azaleas, camellias, fern, roses, and other acid loving plants. A heavy application of hardwood mulch on acid loving plants, over a long period of time, will change the ph of the soil, resulting in “limey” green foliage and eventually death. Mulch should be applied 2-3 times a year and freshened by “turning the mulch over” every three months with a leaf rake for maximum benefit. Mushroom Compost is an excellent growing additive for veggie and herb gardening. Fresh mushroom compost can be “hot,” still releasing nitrogen at such a high rate it steams. In this case, the compost must be allowed to age a few months before use. The best way to use fresh mushroom compost is to allow to age for 6 months with a heavy black plastic tarp placed over it. The tarp will heat the compost faster (and hopefully enough to kill the weed seeds in the manure), thus it becomes sterilized. Bagged mushroom compost is already sterilized. Spring is finally here, enjoy our time with this beautiful season. Happy Gardening! March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 11
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Health Matters www.drjimshealthtips.com By James W. Jones, MD, PhD, MHA
Must Covid Vaccination be Causation for Frustration or Celebration of Salvation? There are colossal numbers of microorganisms (commonly called germs) coexisting with us. Germs preceded us by billions of years! Nearly incalculable numbers live on our skin, in our nose and mouth, and especially in our bowels. The lining tissue keeps us safe. However, certain germs (especially viruses) have developed the ability to enter our internal bodies defying our resistant barriers. Our immune systems are geniuses almost beyond imagination as they function to keep us safe from the dangerous viral marauders we bump into. They are far more complex than any factory ever designed, because they recognize invaders, send killer cells to intercept and imprison them, and produce submicroscopic molecules to destroy them. The process takes time for the initiation of producing the demolisher molecules, which allows the virus to multiply and damage the infected one’s body. The time is required for a set of immune cells to assemble the internal molecular structure to make the neutralizing antibodies.
which hospitalizes and kills. Holdouts consider hollow reports of the vaccine’s side effects. Side effects are minor aggravations signaling your body’s immune system is just gearing up. Wholesome! Out of thousands receiving the Moderna vaccine, three died--but three receiving the placebo died, and the FDA ruled deaths in those vaccinated were unrelated to the vaccine. AMAZING! So, opposing views about the vaccine’s benefits appear to be unfounded. Free will is a great part of our social, religious, and political lives; it allows us to live the life we choose as individuals and (mostly) do what we want if not damaging others. So, if one chooses, one can jump out of an airplane without a parachute (but only once, never twice). THINK! For more Covid info go to drjimshealthtips.com.
For varying lengths of time after the invader has been eliminated, the amazing immune system retains the ability to rapidly remanufacture those exact saving molecules. Before all this was known, an English physician named Edward Jenner noted that cow maids did not get the deadly smallpox (which was killing huge numbers of people) if they had been infected with cowpox, which produced similar skin lesions, but mild disease. GREAT! He vaccinated children with serum from boils of people with cowpox in 1796 and became the Father of Immunology.
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The covid-19 virus is the most destructive beast to come around in over a century, but two vaccines (and soon to be more) hold promise to end the American epidemic. But wait, over a third of Americans still say they refuse to be vaccinated…and it will take over three–fourths vaccinated to end the epidemic. Surprisingly, more holdouts are in vulnerable groups with higher infection rates! Holdout thinking is even more amazing when the wonderfully beneficial results from huge scientific vaccine trials are considered. The protection was much better than the flu vaccine, with well over 90% safeguarded and, of the few who came down with Covid, there was over 97% protection from the severe form
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The Latest by Ruth Fields
Native Texan and historical novelist Curt Locklear first read Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol when he was in high school in Austin. After majoring in English and minoring in history at the University of Texas at Austin, Curt became a teacher and school Visit PostcardsLive.com to read the original story in administrator. Through the years, A Christmas the April 2019 issue. Story remained his favorite novel, and he read it dozens of times. Even after watching countless dramatic adaptations, however, two questions were never answered to his satisfaction: What happened next? And did Scrooge really change? After painstakingly researching and writing three acclaimed historical novels about the Civil War (the Asunder Trilogy), the retired educator decided to do something just for fun. “Have you ever wondered what happened to Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim? This is where you get to find out,” he says. Scrooge and Cratchit Detectives: A Dickensian Christmas Mystery was released in October 2020. The book begins two years after the familiar events of A Christmas Carol. “Scrooge and Cratchit have settled into a pleasant money-lending business,” Curt says. “Bob Cratchit is now a partner—but at 49 percent.” When a good friend is accused, perhaps falsely, of murder, Scrooge and Cratchit agree to loan him money to escape to France. Then, with a hint of Dickensian style, ghosts appear to Scrooge and Cratchit, convincing them to solve the murder mystery. Curt’s flair for adventure is evident in his sequel, which includes multiple suspects and villains, strong female protagonists, shoot-outs, snowstorms, secret tunnels, dark caverns, the “dangerous and spooky tin mines of Cornwall,” he says, and “a darkcloaked killer roaming about.” The story is also a character study: “Ebenezer Scrooge is not quite over his miserliness,” Curt explains. “Just like all of us when we try to do better, it’s still sometimes a struggle against those old habits.” Scrooge and Cratchit Detectives has quickly earned many five-star reviews. One reader calls the book “rollicking and suspenseful,” while others praise its plot twists and descriptions of nineteenth-century England. It is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com in multiple formats. Meanwhile, Curt is still writing and attending book signings, and he is once again able to make fun, historical presentations throughout the country. As always, he brings his banjo and guitar.
V r t
The Latest by Ruth Fields
Larry Foerster, an attorney, historian, author and the chairman of the Montgomery County Historical Commission, was busier than ever in 2020. His legal practice flourished, but he still found time to work on the second Visit PostcardsLive.com to edition of his book, Montgomery County, read the original story in Texas: Historical Timeline. In addition, he cothe March 2018 issue. authored a book that tells Conroe’s history through photographs. For years, Larry has assisted Sondra Hernandez, features editor of the The Courier of Montgomery County, with articles about Conroe’s history. (Like Larry, Sondra is passionate about history. The daughter of a history teacher, she spent childhood family vacations visiting historical sites throughout Texas.) In August 2019, Joy Montgomery, executive director of the Heritage Museum of Montgomery County, approached Sondra with an idea, and the idea made Sondra think of Larry. Joy and her father, history columnist Dr. Robin Montgomery, had recently authored a book about the history of Navasota, and it became a part of Arcadia Publishing Company’s Images of America series. Arcadia planned to publish a similar book about Conroe, but needed an author. When Joy asked Sondra to consider working with her and Robin on the project, Sondra agreed, but insisted that they also needed Larry’s historical perspective. “Larry was very supportive of the idea and he said, ‘Let me know what you need me to do, and I am on board,’”
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Sondra says. Larry gives Sondra much of the credit for coordinating the effort. “She was the one who grabbed the proverbial ball and began running with it,” he says. He also acknowledges Joy, who amassed photographs from the Heritage Museum, and Robin, who wrote the book’s narrative. Larry provided editorial guidance and helped provide accurate historical information. Images of America: Conroe was released in early 2021. “Anything we can do to present the history of Montgomery County and in this case, the city of Conroe, is important to me because it allows people—some who have lived here all their lives, and some who, like me, have lived here 40-plus years, and those who are arriving daily— to have their roots start to grow down into the soil of the community they are living in,” he says. “It can make them feel good about where they are and give them respect for their community.” Images of America: Conroe is available at arcadiapublishing. com and at the Heritage Museum, and may soon be available at other locations throughout Conroe.
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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 15
Texas Talent By Ruth Fields Photos by Gina Turner
Janet, Boo & Daisy
Janet Batchelor One Saturday morning in 1995, Janet Batchelor took her coffee out on the front porch of her country home east of Willis, where she lives with her husband Tom. It was summer, but the temperature was still pleasant, so Janet sat down on her porch swing to enjoy the wooded beauty of the property. Without warning, a lizard appeared on the arm of her swing, and the two beings—one human, one reptile—startled each other. Not being one to shy away from talking to animals, Janet recovered quickly and said, “You look like a little alligator!” She noticed that, thanks to her Texas accent, “alligator” sounded more like “owligator.”
16 Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition | March 2021
The creative part of Janet’s brain kicked in, and after a few minutes, she realized she had plotted a children’s book her grandchildren might enjoy. So, she went inside and began to write the story in rhyme. “I bet it took an hour,” Janet says. “I felt like it was a gift, because it’s usually not that easy.” Janet entered her manuscript, Al and the Owligator, in the Woodlands Writers Group’s regional contest for children’s fiction. When it won first place in its division, Janet realized perhaps her story had merit. She didn’t want to publish it until it was illustrated, however, so when she ran into snags, she put it aside. But it remained on her bucket list—for 25 years. Janet, now retired, is in her 70s. In 2020, she realized, “If I am ever going to do this, I had better do it.” So, she contacted an online illustrating company that represents several artists. She was pleased when the owner of the company, Mike Motz, a Canadian artist, liked her book and suggested he do the illustrations himself. He also recommended Will Robertson, who owns the independent publishing company Will Makes Books. Janet navigated the entire publication process of her book online during the pandemic, and Al and the Owligator was released on November 13, 2020. “I am the only person I know who would publish a book on Friday the 13th in 2020,” she says with a laugh. “One of the grandkids I had in mind when I wrote the book now has children of his own. When you wait 25 years to get to your bucket list, that happens!”
Texas tomboy Janet was born in Velasco, Texas, near the Dow Chemical plant where her father and grandfather both worked. “You can’t tell people you were born in Velasco,” Janet says, “because it was blown off the map by a hurricane.” (Today, the area is known as Freeport.) She moved with her family to Louisiana when she was about four, but moved back—to the East Texas town of Woodlake—when she was nine. “I thought I had died and gone to heaven. There were woods and trees,” she says. “I was an outside girl. I was such a tomboy. When I was very young, I asked for a crowbar for Christmas one year.” Janet hasn’t moved away from Texas since. When she was still a child, Janet discovered she possessed a unique gift. “I have two older sisters, and they are pretty and smart and all the things any little girl would want to live up to,” she says. Janet found her own voice through humor. “I found early on I could make people laugh. It became my shtick,” she says. “I enjoy making people laugh.” This ability served her well. She married young and had four children in 10 years; she jokes that her higher education was “learning from life.” Once, on a “wear your college colors to work day,” she wore black and blue. Over the years, Janet worked in a variety of positions. “I’m a jack of all trades, master of none,” she quips. Her first job, which she held at a questionably young age, was cracking 300 eggs for breakfast at the Piney Woods Baptist Encampment near her home. Since then, she has worked in the fields of human resources, purchasing, and accounting. She also worked for a plastics company for 11 years. At one point, she lamented the company’s lack of a good system to keep up with raw material inventory. “I thought, ‘There’s got to be a better way to do this,’” she says. So, she invented an inventory system that was so efficient, the company adopted it for use at all its locations. Janet traveled to Denver to teach employees there how to use the system. “Apparently, it worked well,” she says. Janet’s favorite job was in Cleveland, Texas at a regional hospital that hosted a group for seniors. For 12 years, until her retirement in 2012, Janet coordinated the group’s activities. “I never worked so hard or had so much fun in my life,” she says. The group’s membership
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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 17
swelled to 600, and Janet was able to travel to places like Italy, Scotland, Ireland, and the Canadian Rockies with “30 or 40 of my best friends.” She learned to speak before large groups of people, which was something she never dreamed she’d do. And she made them laugh. “If I could make them laugh, it would make my day,” she says. She also enjoyed helping the seniors participate in activities they wouldn’t do on their own. “Once a year in June, we would get bushels of peas. Eightyeight people sat around in a circle and shelled peas,” she says. “There were 44 conversations going on.” She reports with a chuckle that her job also equipped her to become an expert Bingo caller.
Master storyteller Always a storyteller, Janet learned during her school days she had a flair for writing stories and poems; while working with the group of seniors at the hospital in Cleveland, she sharpened those skills. She wrote for the group’s newsletter, and her articles, often about travel and health, were also published in the hospital chain’s national publication, Inside Circle, as well as Liberty County Outlook magazine and the Cleveland Advocate newspaper. “I would get such feedback and reaction, it was very gratifying, so I just kept doing it,” she says. She sometimes wrote about the humorous side of growing older, and also found inspiration in everyday occurrences she found funny. For example, once she checked into a hotel, but when she opened the door to her room, a man was asleep in bed. Another time, in search of a public restroom, she went inside a county courthouse and was ultimately locked inside. “Crazy things happen to me,” she says, “and I write about them when they do.”
A few years ago, Janet picked up a copy of Postcards Magazine and subsequently queried publisher Karen Altom. Since then, she has written many articles for the magazine. Some are about travel, such as her piece on Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Other are about personal experiences. For example, she once wrote about her visit to former Houston Oilers’ head coach Bum Phillips’ ranch, where she rode Bum’s horse, Mouse. (Bum was her husband Tom’s junior high and high school coach in Nederland, Texas.) Her article “Pretty Is as Pretty Does,” about the greedy, mean-spirited hummingbirds at her backyard feeder, hilariously theorizes that hummingbirds get drunk on sun-fermented sugar water. When she’s not making people laugh, Janet enjoys lots of outdoorsy things. She and Tom are fond of their border collies, Boo and Daisy, and they enjoy their 15 acres, which are within the Sam Houston National Forest. “I found a home in the East Texas Piney Woods, and I’m not leaving,” she says. The property is not fenced, so deer, foxes, armadillos, ‘possums, and coyotes often pass through. (So do lizards.) At one point, a feral cat adopted Janet and Tom. “I think he’s meaner than the coyotes,” she says, “so I think he’s safe.” Janet and Tom also own a 1953 Jeep CJ3B Willys. Several years ago, they had his-and-hers Harley-Davidson motorcycles. “We’ve been over every mountain pass in the west,” she boasts. When they sold the motorcycles, they continued their travels in a Shelby Cobra they built in 2001. Carroll Shelby himself autographed the dash. “I wired the car, and the electrical actually worked!” Janet says. The car won its class in
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sequel to Al and the Owligator. Meanwhile, the original is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and walmart.com. Janet Shelby Cobra built by Janet & Tom discourages spoilers, but agreed to disclose the book includes examples of problem-solving and shows how the characters Houston’s AutoRama twice. At 50, Janet took flying lessons and soloed. learn to accept their obvious differences. The book contains She and Tom, a retired professional pilot, also built an airplane. At 60, a cleverly-disguised life lesson for children, she says, because “kids she learned to SCUBA dive. It seems nothing is too outrageous for Janet. don’t like you to try to teach life lessons.” For more information, visit alandtheowligator.com.
Next on the bucket list
Currently floating around in Janet’s head are another children’s book, a novel, and a humorous book about her family. She also promises a
Meanwhile, Janet’s goal is for her book to ultimately become a classic. If it takes after its creator, it will.
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What’s Cookin’ Roasted Chicken With Cranberry & Popped Mustard Seed Chutney
Directions For Roasted Chicken:
Ingredients
Step 1: Heat the oven to 375°.
For Roasted Chicken: 1 whole organic free-range chicken
Step 2: Rub chicken with oil. Generously season entire chicken and cavity with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Place the quartered orange and zest inside cavity.
1 orange zested. reserve half of zest for chutney. slice remaining orange into quarters salt
Step 3: Tuck chicken wings behind the back to avoid burning. Using kitchen twine, tie the legs together. Place the chicken, breast-side up, in a roasting pan.
fresh cracked pepper 2 Tbs high heat oil such as corn peanut, vegetable, or canola For Chutney:
Step 4: Roast chicken in oven until internal breast temperature registers 160° with a thermometer. (roughly 50 to 60 minutes.) Remove and lightly cover with foil. Allow chicken to rest 10 minutes before carving.
2/3 cup granulated sugar 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1 1/2 tsp olive oil 1/4 tsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
For Chutney:
1/4 tsp yellow mustard seed
Step 1: Meanwhile, Bring sugar and vinegar to a boil over medium-high heat in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove to a heatproof bowl and set aside.
1/2 cup diced red onion 1 pinch of dried chili flakes 1/3 cup water 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries thawed
Step 2: Reduce heat to medium and return pan to heat. Add olive oil, cumin, fennel and mustard seed. Stir until mustard seed starts to pop, about 2 minutes.
1/4 cup dried cranberries zest of half an orange pinch salt
Step 3: Next, add onion and cook until onions just beginning to brown, stirring continuously, about 6 minutes.
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Step 4: Next, Add ginger and chiles flakes, vinegar mixture, water, cranberries, orange zest and salt. Step 5: Simmer until juices thicken, stirring often, about 20 minutes. To Serve: Cut chicken into 8 pieces and place on serving platter. Top with cranberry & popped mustard seed chutney.
Bakers Tip: Chutney can be made a few days in advance. Simply store and refrigerate in a lidded jar.Keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freezes well for 3-5 months.
March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 21
Vet Connect: By Kim VanWagner, D.V.M.
Alternative/Complementary Medicine Did you know holistic/alternative medicine can be incorporated into the care of your animals as well as yourself? People today are considering alternative medicine more of an option because it may be more compatible with their beliefs regarding the nature and meaning of health and illness. Some people are dissatisfied with conventional treatment options because they have found them to be ineffective, having negative side effects, too costly, impersonal, lacking nutritional or preventative medical counseling and with a lack of health education. Some feel alternative medicine is less authoritarian and empowering, offering more personal autonomy and control over health care decisions. You may have already tried alternative medicine approaches and not even realized it. Some of the more frequently used alternatives to conventional medicine are relaxation techniques, chiropractic, and massage therapy. Terminology can sometimes be vague and confusing. Common terminology mentioned when discussing alternative medicine: Holistic/Integrative/Alternative/Complementary Medicine – an umbrella term for medical approaches not considered conventional (Western) medicine. Holistic medicine attempts to treat the patient as a whole instead of just treating an illness. It also attempts to prevent illness by placing a greater emphasis on optimizing health. Integrative and complementary combines conventional and holistic or “non-traditional” approaches. Herbal Medicine – medication made from plants or plant extracts. These are generally broken down into studies
based on which part of the world herbs are gotten from (i.e. Chinese Medicine). Homeopathy – based on the principle “like cures like.” Using natural substances to stimulate the body’s natural healing process. Some examples include arnica for pain and sulfur for certain skin conditions. Some commonly used alternative practices--including veterinary recommended acupuncture, behavioral modification, chiropractic treatment, hydrotherapy, naturopathy, and rehabilitative therapy in conjunction with more traditional practices--can help to restore your pet back to health and comfort more quickly. Finding appropriate remedies can be especially difficult and should be handled by professionals. Make sure you consult or seek professional advice after thorough diagnostics have been done to obtain a definitive diagnosis by your veterinarian. For example, a qualified animal chiropractor will work under the supervision of a veterinarian and, at times, will require definitive diagnosis viewed on radiographic images. Herbal medications can be used cautiously to manage several disease states, ideally under the care of a veterinarian, since some holistic treatments can actually be harmful if used inappropriately. For example, certain essential oils can actually be toxic to pets. If you’re interested in trying a more holistic approach to your pets’ care, visit with your veterinarian about alternative treatment options that might be available for your pet.
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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 23
Business Focus By Linda W. Perkins Photos by Gina Turner
24 Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition | March 2021
Sandwiched between an animal emergency clinic and a boutique in a strip center just off I-45 in Conroe, the office of Tax Services Plus is easy to miss as you’re driving down West Dallas Street. Once inside, however, a few minutes with Tax Services Plus owner Patty Scott makes you quickly realize--if you need help with your income taxes, you’ve found the right place. While some tax preparers may seem nothing more than paper pushers, Patty offers a whole lot more than just number crunching. With each customer, she looks beyond just the tax return to the person she is working with. She considers their personal circumstances and sees how those factor into their tax situations, and advises them on strategies they can employ to help them going forward. Patty got her start in the income tax preparation business in 2004, when she and a partner opened their first tax office. Over the next 15 years, the business grew to nine locations. In 2019 she made the decision to branch out on her own, and Patty opened her own independent business - Tax Services Plus - in January of 2020. Patty says education is the key to her success as a tax preparer. Her education of years of tax preparation classes and testing by the IRS to maintain her certification makes her an expert in her field. It’s not just her education that counts, though. A big part of her business is educating her customers. From helping individuals understand personal exemptions and deductions to working with businessowners on allowable expense deductions to filing quarterly taxes, Patty explains that knowledge is key when it comes to doing your taxes. With tax laws changing every year, a tax service professional can help you stay abreast of the latest requirements, as well as any potholes to avoid. One example of such an issue is the standard deduction, which doubled a few years ago. While many people think of that as an advantage, Patty
says it actually can be a disadvantage for some people with certain types of deductions they are used to itemizing, like large medical bills and mortgage interest. Itemizing used to give people an advantage over taking the standard deduction, but now some of those deductions are limited, so even if their totals surpass the new standard deduction level, they may not be able to take advantage of them. In some cases, Patty needs to educate her customers on problems they have accidentally created for themselves. “Sometimes (when they were doing their own tax returns) they hit the wrong key and it shows that they are owed a larger refund than they expected. And of course, they like the idea of a larger refund, so they submit it,” she explained. “Two years later, the IRS contacts them and tells them they’ve made a mistake and now they owe money. Then they have the problem of going back and trying to correct the return.” She continued, “Sometimes you can’t correct the return because the IRS has already corrected it. Then you just have to set up a payment plan to pay it back. I teach them on how the IRS got to that point to correct the return. I show them what they did wrong that gave them that amount of money, so they don’t do it again next time.” Another common problem customers face that Tax Services Plus solves is one of software education. Patty says not knowing how to effectively choose and use tax software can cause them to lose a lot of money. “I teach them how to get more deductions they may have missed with the software they used. Some software lets you put in all possible deductions, while some software doesn’t,” she explained. “Some companies don’t let you put in mortgage interest paperwork and property taxes, or people don’t know where to put them in, so they miss them.” One thing Patty often sees with her clients is not understanding how personal exemptions work when employees fill out tax paperwork for their employers. Seeking to take home a bigger paycheck each month,
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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 25
You Do LIFE We Do TAXES some people will put down more exemptions than they are actually due, which can cause problems down the road when their annual tax return is filed. “Instead of telling their employer they’ve got four or five kids and getting all that money during the year, they need to put down zero so they can have money taken out for the government, to pay their share of the taxes. When they come in to file their tax return and they don’t have all of those people on it, it’s going to hurt them. They’re going to owe money.” Patty says she is amazed at how many people are upset when they discover they aren’t owed a tax refund. “Some people come in and they haven’t been paying taxes throughout the year, but expect to get something back as a refund. I have to explain to them that if they haven’t paid anything in to the government, they’re not going to be getting anything back!” She not only helps individuals think ahead on their taxes, but does that for businesses as well. Around 25 to 30 percent of Tax Services Plus customers are business owners. “I have some clients who have small businesses, and I show them
Owner Patty Scott how to keep track of their expenses, teach them what they can and can’t deduct,” Patty said. “And when they’ve made a certain amount of money, I make sure they are paying their quarterly taxes. That keeps them ahead on things.” Patty says one of the most basic things she teaches her customers is how to read and understand their tax returns, which she says a number of
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It has been my pleasure to work with Karen Altom and the Postcards team since day one. I have returned year after year, and advertise in both the Piney Woods Edition and the Lake Conroe Edition, for two reasons: first, it produces a great return on investment and is a quality product. Second, they provide a topnotch, professional staff dedicated to helping my business be as successful as possible. When 10% of new customers let us know they came to visit as a direct result of our ad, the ad has paid for itself and we have increased our customer base! (investment/not an expense)…..win/win for everyone! Kim Bius, Owner Kim’s Home & Garden Center
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Conroe “Footloose”
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13-14 Huntsville Rusty, Chippy, Vintage, Hippy & Garden Show huntsvilleantiqueshow.com
20-21 Conroe Houston Music and Arts Festival houstonartsfestival.com
20-21 Huntsville Hospitality House Virtual Golf Fundraiser thehospitalityhouse.org
26-27 Conroe “An Authentic Tribute to the King!” Crightontheatre.org
26-Apr 3 Huntsville Walker County Fair (judged events-check website) walkercountyfair.com
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Huntsville Herb Festival at the Wynne Home
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March 2021 | Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition 29
Mustard Seed Moments by Wes Altom AMPing it up in 2021 The Amplified Bible (AMP) is an English language translation of the Bible produced jointly by Zondervan and The Lockman Foundation. The first edition was published in 1965. It is designed to “amplify” the text by using additional wording and a system of punctuation and other typographical features to attempt to bring out a clearer meaning to the original texts. The whole point of amplification is to make scripture more meaningful and relevant for today without changing the original intent and meaning. This can often be done by providing additional words for clarity, and sometimes by helping context be more applicable today. Below are three versions of Ephesians 4:29 for our consideration:
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (NIV) Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it. (Classic AMP) Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth [or from your keyboard or keypad], but only such [content] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear [or encounter] it. (Classic AMP w/author emphasis added) May the Spirit guide us as we guard our thoughts and speech in all forms of expression.
C 30 Postcards Magazine: Lake Conroe Edition | March 2021
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