Issuu

FEBRUARY 2022, Vol 2 l Iss. 1

Lessons in

Love

NONROMANTIC LOVE And why we need more of it in our lives!

PECANTOWN

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THIS ISSUE

6 FEBRUARY 2022, Volume 2 l Issue 1

One year ago the first issue of Seguin Today hit the community, and now we start our second year. When we started this magazine, we wanted to feature stories and people that reflect the true heart of this amazing community. In a world that is often negative, Seguin manages to promote positivity in a wide variety of ways, and we wanted to capture that - we think we’ve succeeded. As we head into volume 2, we continue to search out these stories to share them with you, our readers. This magazine wouldn’t be a success without you, and we want to thank you for supporting Seguin Today and everything we do. We’d also like to thank our many advertisers for sticking with us. The pandemic has made it hard to stay in business for some, and as a small business ourself, we understand the struggles. To kick off year two of Seguin Today, we celebrate the season of love by taking a big picture look at what love is, what it means and why we all could use a little more. So flip the page, and find something special inside this month!

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COVERSHOT Perfectly pink strawberry cupcakes on display and ready for Valentine’s Day at Seguin Sweet Treats. Photo by Lizz Daniels

Exploring love and relationships with expert, Nicholas Wilkens PhD at St. Mary’s University.

Love is more than falling in love WITH someone! Get inspired by looking beyond romance.

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and we’ve got cute date ideas whether you’re going out with your partner or a friend.

Pecantown!

Planting seeds in pursuit of JOY with Tess Coody-Anders

STAFF GENERAL MANAGER Darren Dunn CREATIVE EDITOR Lizz Daniels WRITERS Cindy Aguirre-Herrera, Mike McBride, Lizz Daniels, Tess Coody-Anders PHOTOGRAPHER Jarred Kindles

SALES MANAGER Nick Spence ADVERTISING Laurie Cheatham, Linda Duncan, Mary Jane Windle OFFICE MANAGER Priscilda Rodriguez

Seguin Today is published by KWED, Seguin Daily News www.seguintoday.com

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What is

Love?

The greatest need of the human being is to reach out and to be touched back, physically and emotionally, from the womb to the tomb. -Nicholas Wilkens

Column by Nicholas Wilkens, Ph.D. Photos by Lizz Daniels

hen one thinks of the great philosophers of our time, the name Haddaway generally doesn’t come to mind. The early 1990’s Eurodance crooner’s most popular (and likely only popularly known) song, “What is Love?” was pervasive throughout the decade. It was an earworm that became embedded in the collective consciousness through the notable Saturday Night Live skit and subsequent movie “A Night at the Roxbury.” While Haddaway is not so prevalent in today’s discourse, the question he brought up has been one that has been thought about for generations. What IS love? About as good an answer as any to this question comes from the psychological and human relationship scholarly fields, and falls under the heading of attachment. As originally expressed by the mid-20th century psychologist John Bowlby: the greatest need of the human being is to reach out to touch and to be touched back,

physically and emotionally, from the womb to the tomb. This is attachment, and attachment is an innate human need. A striking example of this need is illustrated in the Tom Hanks movie “Castaway.” When Tom’s character, Chuck Noland, finds himself isolated alone on the literal and proverbial desert island, he soon creates the only substitute he can for a human to love and be loved by through a detailed picture of his girlfriend that he draws on the wall of the cave that he uses as shelter, and proceeds to interact with this drawing until he finds a more interactive substitute in Wilson. Wilson is the volleyball that is shown to be Chuck’s sole companion for years and his eventual partner in the great escape from the island (spoiler ahead – but come on, who hasn’t watched this movie?). Those of us in the audience watching Wilson fall off the raft and float away held our breath as Chuck awoke to realize that his best friend was moving away from him.

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And we were anguished as we saw Chuck’s desperate attempt to rescue his friend and his excruciating decision to stay tethered to his raft, his only lifeline, instead. Those who may have just entered the movie theater at this point would have found it decidedly ridiculous that such a demonstrative display of emotion would have been dedicated to a flat, torn up, bloodstained, discount volleyball. But the rest of us who experienced the larger story knew EXACTLY why Chuck had the heartbreaking reaction he did. And our hearts broke as well. We knew this because this was a representation of attachment panic, the potential loss of a significant “other.” And we know that feeling well. Ultimately, the ensuing work of John Bowl-

by and his theoretical descendants has kept alive the belief that attachment is a, if not the primary human need and predictor of whether or not a given individual thrives or struggles. When attachment needs are not met (attachment figures are distant and/or rejecting), people predictably experience insecurity, defensiveness, over-dependence, relationship and existential distress, and psychopathology. When attachment needs are met (attention and emotional responsiveness are in place), people are happier, more secure, more outgoing, have greater tolerance for distress, and have greater tolerance for ambiguous or negative relationship events. The research builds on the isolating effects that the pandemic has had on each and all of

us, with soaring levels of depression, substance abuse, couple distress, and significant increases in child and adolescent anxiety. There is a reason that solitary confinement has come to be understood as a cruel and unusual punishment for those in the prison system. Isolation is the enemy of attachment, and attachment is an innate human need. So, hopefully, the case has been made here for critical attention needing to be paid to attachment as an adequate understanding of love and a needed regular experience for optimal human functioning. Then the question emerges, what can I do with this knowledge? How can I grow from it? Of course, fostering one’s support network is key.

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And being a secure person for others should be an ongoing pursuit for all of us, while also recognizing our limits. Also important is embracing a possibly different understanding of human relationships: Being able to depend on others makes one stronger, not weaker. Bowlby and his contemporaries have concluded that psychological theory and practice that has historically viewed particularly close relationships as pathological (i.e., codependent, enmeshed, or fused) has been misguided. It is in fact, these relationships that can make one healthier and happier, as long as they are made secure (versus various versions of insecure, such as those relationships taking place between narcissists and their compliant partners, children, or friends – this is NOT love though is often confused as such). When attachments become threatened or unsecured, this is when pathology develops. A final word from Dr. Bowlby: Intimate attachments to other human beings are the hub around which a person’s life revolves, not only when he is an infant or a toddler or a schoolchild but throughout adolescence and his years of maturity and into old age. A person draws his strength and enjoyment of life from these intimate attachments. (Bowlby 1980, Loss, sadness, and depression. Vol. III of Attachment and Loss). As I was asked to compose this article for this February issue where the specific type of love of focus is that of the romantic variety, I offer to those

in couple relationships a “must read” from Dr. Sue Johnson, researcher and developer of attachment theory as applied to committed relationships. It is a work that I have recommended to most of the couples I have seen since the book’s initial publication. I would offer that it is a book to be read by all couples as a possible preventative for the types of issues that bring couples into couples therapy, as it guides partners toward experiencing their mates as their primary source of safety and support versus a source of distress and disdain: Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love. Dr. Sue Johnson, 2014. •

Nicholas Wilkens specializes in working with individuals, couples and families. He often utilizes a great deal of humor in doing so, but recognizes when humor serves more as a defense mechanism than a healthy attitude about life and love. Nicholas has trained and literally “signed off” on the clinical work of budding therapists on their pursuit toward full licensure since 2003. Most of this has been done in his role as Senior Lecturer/ Professor Pro Rata at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

What’s

Got to do with it? Finding fullfillment & love through acts of service Story and Photos by Lizz Daniels

ina Turner once asked, “what’s LOVE got to do with it?” A whole lot, it turns out. Love has inspired writers, artists, and musicians alike as they seek to create art from one of the most common human experiences. It’s a tale older than time; person A falls for person B, and wild romance ensues. Of course, in 2022, things aren’t quite that simple anymore, and to be honest, they may never have been. All the same, Valentine’s Day is here, which means it’s time for individuals to face their romantic reality. It can embitter some because things aren’t as they wish while causing stress on relationships as unrealistic expectations fail to be met. All of these are why this Valentine’s focus on love is the goal, but not in the ‘traditional’ way. Love doesn’t have to

be romantic or even directed at another individual. Instead, it’s about embodying empathy. There is no one singular way to do this. The answer is different for everyone. Seguin Sweet Treats owner Commie Holmes finds her way of embodying love by baking. “I love to love people, right, and I love when people love what I do just as much as I do,” said Holmes. “So it satisfies me to know that what I love, I’m giving it to somebody. And I put everything in it. I mean I will stay up late. I will get up early just to make sure that it’s done right. That thing that you love, that thing that you would do for free....that’s love and I would do this for free because I love it that much.” Holmes has been baking her entire life, with some of her favorite childhood memories being in the kitchen.

“I can seriously remember being at my Big Mama’s house, standing on a step stool watching her bake, and us baking together,” said Holmes. “I remember my grandmother would always make me write recipes, and I would say, ‘Big Mama, why do you want me to write these recipes?’ And then she would say, ‘So you will always remember them.’ And she would make me write them over and over, and I’ve kept them. My mother was a cook and a baker as well. So I’ve been in the kitchen all my life. It’s in my blood. We always cooked and had Sunday dinners and everybody brought food and we baked and ate and did all that good stuff.” All that ‘good stuff,’ not only gave Holmes skills that she would ultimately use to build her business but showed her she was loved and so that she could share that love with others. Perhaps one of the most profound ways Holmes passes this sense of love on is through inspiring others, particularly women. She does this by offering baking classes and events at Seguin Sweet Treats, where she can pass on the skills Big Mama taught her. With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, Holmes is offering a Galentine’s get-together for the ladies. “The thing I’m most excited about is our Galentine’s Day Brunch,” said Holmes. “So it’s a brunch that we are doing. It’s for you and your Galentine, which is you and your girlfriend. You each are going to decorate a cake. We will have a full catered brunch with chicken and waffles, sausage, biscuit eggs, the whole nine. If anybody has taken my cake classes before, they know that they are more motivational because I love to motivate women. Our theme is ‘Thank You for Being a Friend,’ so we are going off the Golden Girls type thing. It’s going to be so fun. We are going to perform a skit, but I don’t want to tell too much.” While Holmes prepares to inspire others with deliciously crafted cakes, local animal lover Lora Ragland, and her husband Wesley Tate, find ways of spreading the love with their horses. “I had a horse from the time I was six months old to 32 years old,” said Ragland. “So if you can imagine three decades of my life changing and evolving from thirteen years old to –– ya’ll can do the math. It’s so huge. That horse went through high school, college, boyfriends....husbands. Shoot, she has probably been in

more states than a lot of people. She traveled everywhere that I went. I moved her down here too and this is where she passed away.” Many people make big moves in life with household pets like cats and dogs, but not many people can say they’ve made cross-country changes with a mare in tow. Animals require commitment and are often a reflection of those that work with them. When Ragland talks about animals, her face lights up, and the pure joy they bring her is apparent. A few years back, Ragland began sharing her love of horses by offering lessons at her and her husband’s Seguin ranch. Many of their equines are rescues, and each animal they take in earns their name based on its personality. Ragland says her relationship with horses has made her a better person and mother. “I tied it all together, I was blessed” said Ragland. “It helped me with motherhood, and I just decided we have to teach these young kids. We have to get kids involved. Of course, it’s not too late for older people. Anybody can get a horse and own a horse and love a horse. But the kids, we have to nurture that in the kids or it’s gone. Horses are just going to be used for work and the high end people are going to have them. They’re not going to be around, so it’s my passion to keep the love of horses alive.” Caring for animals teaches valuable lessons in empathy, which can apply to friendships, familial relationships, and even romance. It is also a primary component of kindness. “A horse can’t tell you, ‘hey I love you,’ or ‘I’m hurting right here.’ They have to look for certain non-verbal cues,” said Ragland. “They have to pay attention to what that horse is telling you, and they have to trust you. So when I’ve got them in the ring, I know exactly if somebody is holding the reigns too tight. I have different ways that these horses tell me what’s going on with the rider. It teaches non-verbal skills on how to communicate with an animal and give them what they need to be comfortable. Think about how many non-verbal things we get from people. Even if somebody is telling you ‘it’s okay,’ it’s not okay. It’s good because so many people don’t communicate anymore. It’s just texting. You don’t verbally communicate anymore.” Ragland’s husband Wesley Tate plays an active role in his wife’s lessons because he believes in what they do and has seen it work.

Think about how many non-verbal things we get from people. Even if somebody is telling you ‘it’s okay,’ it’s not. It’s good because so many people don’t communicate anymore. -Lora Ragland

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“What I enjoy is our camps,” said Tate. “To watch the kids, they come and you’ll have a little kid who is just so quiet and nervous, but by the end of the week has all these new friends they met. They’re talking; they’re active. We had one young man come here and as soon as his dad left, he says ‘I don’t want to be here. My parents made me come here. It was either this or dance lessons. No more video games.’ But then when he got in the truck after the first day, he told his dad, ‘I’m so glad you made me come. I hate chores at home, but chores here are fun! We got to ride horses.’ It just brings out the love in the kids.” The awareness learned by working with horses and other animals creates more empathy in individuals, making them more open to being loving and kind in the rest of their life. This caring for others helps build communities and creates a foundation of strength on which those in need can lean. Star Sutton is Activities Director at Walnut Springs Health & Rehabilitation in Seguin, where she makes it her daily goal to show unconditional love to the center’s residents. “We can’t possibly give love, unconditional love, unless it’s in your heart; that’s number one,” said Sutton. “Number two, you have to have a real good team in your facility to make this happen. It isn’t just one person. I give a lot, but you have to have a lot of people making sure that this happens. We’re special people, not just because I’m special, but we are special people because your heart has to be in it to be able to deal with different personalities, different people, different cultures.”

When people enter a nursing home, it signals a significant change in their life. It is the loss of independence, the loss of home, and more. Many of these individuals take on pets when their children are grown, and unfortunately, they cannot accompany their owners when they enter the facility. “Nobody thinks about their fur babies,” said Sutton. “Their children are grown, so what do they have –– a dog or a cat that is unconditional love. And that is the hardest part: trying to find someone to take care of their fur babies or love them the way they have. People that come into the nursing home don’t necessarily believe they’re going to be in the nursing home, but I have residents who have been there fifteen years. Especially it depends on their cognitive level, so if somebody is really with it, then they worry more than the people that are not cognitive because now they don’t have anything to worry about. They’re going to get fed, they’re going to get taken care of, and they have somebody that’s going to listen to and care for them. So it’s hard on the people that are still with it, and that’s where I come in.” The first step to accomplishing this is figuring out who residents were before their life changed. “So the first thing we do is do an assessment because we want to talk to them about what they used to love or what they used to be,” said Sutton. “A lot of our people have been in our community. They were somebody special. Not all the residents I have have families. Some have outlived their children. Our children are not supposed to go before us,

but unfortunately, it happens. So my job is to make sure these people get all the love and all the care that they need. And everybody is different.” Some people need arts and crafts, others need conversation, and then there are those with much more simplistic needs that spring from childhood but carry across into adulthood. “This lady kept crying and crying, and I’m like ‘why is she crying?’ She can’t talk. She had a difficult life,” said Sutton. “So one day I walked in and gave her this baby doll. That’s all it took. She loves it, and still has it because it reminds her of her child. It gives her comfort and makes her feel safe.” Part of Sutton’s work at Walnut Springs is creating activities and events for her residents. Each Christmas, she organizes gifts with the help and support of local donations, and now she has her eyes set on Valentine’s. “I have a King and Queen, and they vote,” said Sutton. “I put the boxes out and they vote. I decorate them, put out the ballots I made and people will vote on the King and Queen. So on Valentine’s Day, we have a big party and count the votes. I only break the vote, I don’t vote because I love them all.” People need love, we always will, but that can (and should) exist independently of romance. So no matter what Valentine’s Day has in store, whether it be friendship, hobbies, pets, or even true love, know that one single day cannot define love because it’s something that exists all around us. Always. We just have to embrace it. •

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FEBRUARY

Events and special promotions happening locally this month!

To promote your event on this page contact advertising at 830-379-2234 or email communitycalendar@kwed1580.com

February 2022 5

11 12

13 14

16 17

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20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 HOLIDAYS 14th - Valentine’s Day

FeaturedEvents Events Featured

Seguin Elks Lodge Wednesday Night Dinner

The Seguin Elks Lodge will serve its dinner menu for dine in or take out at 5 p.m. Wednesdays at 1331 C H Mathies Jr. in Seguin. For more information call 830-303-5844.

Feb. 14

Feb. 22

Feb. 24

The Guadalupe Master Naturalist will host Discover Nature Journaling with staggered start times from 3:30 to 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14 at the Seguin Public Library, located at 313 W. Nolte. This free program will allow pre-k through 4th grade children and their adults to learn how real naturalists record and remember experiences in the natural world.

The Seguin Education Foundation will have its Mardi Gras 2022 at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22 at the Seguin Coliseum. There will be New Orleans hurricanes, gumbo, bread pudding, live and silent auction, and a “Heads or Tails” Mardi Gras bead game for a beverage wagon prize. Tickets are $50. For more information call 830-379-0325 or kfollis@seguin.k12.tx.us.

The Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce will have its Totally 80’s Showcase from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 at the Seguin Coliseum, located at the Seguin Events Complex. Tickets are $25 and are available at the Chamber office, located at 116 N. Camp St. For more information call 830379-6382.

Discover Nature Journaling

There will be a Blood Drive from 8:30 to 12:10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13 at First United Methodist Church, located at 710 N. Austin Street in Seguin. Registration is required by calling the church office at 830-379-4112.

Totally 80’s Showcase

Feb. 26

Mar. 12

Apr. 22

The Precious Life Services is offering its free Introduction to Crisis Intervention workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the GVEC Community Room. Participants will be introduced to crisis intervention related to issues. Registration is mandatory. To register, please call 830-372-5980.

The Seguin Sunset Lions will be hosting a Rummage Sale from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 in the parking lot of Century 21 United D&D (Behind Taco Bell). All proceeds benefit local charities. Donations are greatly appreciated. For more information, call 210-710-3033.

The Seguin High School Theatre program has rescheduled performances of Into the Woods at 7 p.m. Friday, April 22 and Saturday, April 23. There will also be a 3 p.m. Sunday, April 24 performance.

Intro to Crisis Intervention

Blood Drive

SEF Mardi Gras 2022

Sunset Lions Rummage Sale

Into the Woods Performances

Welcome to Pecantown

Seeds PLANTING

An Act of Hope in Pursuit of JOY! Column by Tess Coody-Anders

Amid the dim drib-drabbery of February, full of bad weather and worse news, I’ve received a gentle reminder that winter is not forever. Spring always comes. It’s only a matter of perspective and time. This little message from the Universe arrived in the most analog of ways: via a catalogue, rolled up and dropped in a mailbox, delivered by a postman on foot. The annual Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalogue, its moody, lush cover featuring chocolate cherry sunflowers in full bloom, felt like a nudge. Inside, the catalogue is a riot of color and tempting close-ups of purple carrots and tomato litchi pies,

glass-gem corn and velvety cockscomb. Its intended recipient was Bill Bender, from whom we purchased a sunny yellow house on South Camp Street in October. For both Bill and for me, it was more than a real estate transaction; it was about pursuing joy. Bill had plans to open a retreat center in Arkansas, and I had found the perfect spot for my own passion project - a bookstore in downtown Seguin. Of course, creating the space for joy often means taking risks, and it’s easier to choose the devil you know than the one you don’t. There were a thousand reasons not to take that leap.

Gently and by example, Bill shared his belief that living a life of rich experiences requires us to shift our misplaced urgency from the crises of today to tomorrow’s promises. Two weeks after moving to his idyllic new home and venture, Bill passed away unexpectedly. The shock of his loss was difficult to process, but so was the Shakespearean tragedy of it all. He manifested his dream, and held it lightly but for a moment. After that, the little yellow house took on a different kind of import for me. Since starting this project, there have been moments of deep doubt, edging on panic. Lying awake in that blue hour when there is only quiet and nothing to distract, I do my best work at second-guessing myself. A bookstore, really? Yet, each time we peel away a layer of sheetrock to uncover original beadboard or a layer of vintage wallpaper, I think of Bill. We will always, all of us, be passing through, sharing the rock on which we build our house with those who came before us and those who will come after us. The tragedy is not in having the dream cut short; it’s in never dreaming at all. I see Bill’s exhortation to live from our hearts in everything, but most assuredly in the flower and herb gardens just inside the white picket fence. Among them are thick beds of lavender. While I have never been able to keep even a single lavender plant alive, Bill’s continues to thrive, exuberant even in early February. We found a little bundle, tied up in red string, at the house a few weeks ago. According to the catalogue, it’s heirloom Origano lavender, and well suited to our warm climate. The bundle continues to make its way from dusty room to dusty room, intact and unbothered by all the renovations, a totem of the past and a connection to the future. Heirlooms are something of value we pass on from one generation to the next. Be they seeds or dreams, they have to be planted to flower. Maybe they only survive a season, or maybe they persist well beyond our time in the garden, to the surprise and delight of a future gardener. Which is precisely why the addressee on the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalogue reads to “Bill Bender, or Current Resident.” •

Tess Coody-Anders is a serial small-towner, having spent most of her adult life in towns where everybody knows your business. A Seguin High School graduate, Tess currently serves as Vice President for Strategy and Strategic Communications at Trinity University. Welcome to Pecan Town is Tess’s column which seeks to explore opportunities and challenges from explosive growth in our area.

DIY: Recipe to Try

Treat YOURSELF

(or someone you love)

to decadent

Chocolate

Milk Chocolate Torte with Assam Tea Ganach

Assam Ganach

Serves 6 to 8

ounces dark milk chocolate (41% cocoa content)

ounces heavy cream

tablespoons Tippy Assam tea leaves (or an Assam of your choice)

tablespoons Tippy Assam tea leaves

1/2

cup water

ounces dark milk chocolate, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces

ounces sweet butter

tablespoon unsalted (sweet) butter

large eggs, separated

1/3

cup all-purpose flour, sifted twice

teaspoons malted milk powder

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform or regular cake pan with nonflavored aerosolized spray. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. In a double boiler or a stainless steel bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate. In a separate small saucepan, bring the tea leaves, water and butter to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir to melt the butter, allowing the tea leaves to infuse in the water-butter mixture for 3 minutes. Pass through a fine sieve into the chocolate. Stir to blend. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes. Separate the eggs, place the whites into a perfectly clean, fat-free bowl of an electric mixer and the yolks into the chocolate mixture. Beat whites until soft peaks form. Sift flour and malted milk powder together and then fold in egg whites. Fold this flour-malted milk powder mix gently but thoroughly into the chocolate base. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 35 minutes, or until the cake appears firm, but not dry. This cake is very moist inside and will fall as it cools. Make the ganache.

In a heavy 1-quart saucepan, bring the cream and tea leaves to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to infuse further for 3 minutes. Pass through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Slowly add the chocolate and gently stir to blend, without aerating. Add the butter and stir until completely melted. Set aside. Assembly: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil. Place the cake on a cooking rack, then place the rack on the cookie sheet. Pour the ganache over the cake, using a spatula to spread the ganache evenly as needed. Allow to set. Scrape up any ganache that drips off the cake and pour to cover the cake a second time. (Reheat slightly over a pot of simmering water, if necessary, to loosen the mixture.) Cool at room temperature. Note: If your kitchen is hot, place the cake in the refrigerator just until the ganache sets and feels dry to the touch. Remove the cake from the refrigerator about 20 minutes prior to serving and allow it to adjust to room temperature.

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Professional, reliable, quality service Proudly Serving San Antonio and Surrounding Areas

YEARS! YEARS!

Quarter Moon Plumbing & AC is your all-in-one provider for your air conditions, heating, and plumbing needs. Call for an estimate TODAY!

210-651-5899

M-13229 TACLA0007435E

18838 FM 2252 San Antonio, Texas 78266

What’s What’s Cooking Cooking Mon-Thu 11am-8pm, Fri & Sat 11am-9pm Open Dine In & Drive Thru

2 Locations

MARION LOCATION 830-914-2572 129 W. San Antonio St. Marion, TX 78124

Whether it’s our Hibachi grill, or our specialty sushi rolls...there is something for everyone! Japanese Sushi & Steak 830-433-9805 110 E. Court St. ebiebisushiseguin@gmail.com

SEGUIN LOCATION 830-433-4201 921 S. Hwy 123 BYP Seguin, TX 78155

Valentine’s Ideas

10FUN

DATE IDEAS

That work for your babe OR your bestie! 30

. Rollerskating Fun while also being a good workou), rollerskating is a great date idea. While Seguin hasn’t had a rink in a long time, but both San Antonio and Austin have affordable options that aren’t too far away. For those who own their own wheels, check out Starcke Park - there are tons of great spots to work on your skills, or just enjoy the outdoors while to skate.

Furniture Painting at Keepers Did you know Keepers offers classes? Check out there offerings while learning how to paint and restore furniture wiht Annie Sloan! Together with your partner, you’ll explore a new skill that can be used to spruce things up at home while having a blast at the same time. Fans of Sloan’s classes can’t get enough and say its great for a solo night out or with a partner!

Disc Golf Another active date idea with great local options is hitting the Disc Golf Course at Starcke Park. Starter kits typically start around $20, and with great local shops like Pecancity Disc Golf, there is a community to help get you started. Why its a great date idea? It’ll take you back to the freedom of childhood frisbeee, but with a competitive and challenging twist!

Get Creative at You’re So Crafty This one is easy - all you have to do is show up, pick a project and get creative. Whether you want to try and create matching pieces, or do your own unique thing, You’re So Crafty has a wide assortment of crafts for you to explore. They also have everything you need all in one place. It’s a perfect date activity that won’t have you taking things too serious.

Thrifty Fashion Photoshoot Take $10 each and head to your favorite Thrift Shop. Each person picks out an outfit in their budget, and then head downtown for a cellphone photoshoot! You’ll both look a little silly, but that’s the fun of it. Plus, you might just find your one in a million piece whether it’s a new belt, or a new boo/bestie.

Hike & Talk Explore Seguin’s amazing nature trails! Hiking improves physical health while also granting great mental benefits by reconnecting with nature. You and your partner will bond by exploring together, and no matter how many times you’ve been up a trail, you’ll always experience something new.

Charcuterie Picnic This one is an old classic - the picnic in the park. Give your date an trendy boost by including a Charcuterie board filled with cheese, meat, fruits and more! Minimalistic dates like these offer an opportunity for real conversation to occur, unlike heading to the movies. If you pick a great spot, the possibilities are endless as you discuss your food selection, and people watch together.

Take on Trivia Head out to Seguin Brewing Co. or HEB where Trivia nights get exciting! Enjoy a few beers, and good food while you and your date test your trivia knowledge together. Whether you win, or not won’t even matter because at the end of the night you’ll have learned something new about each other, had some fun, and enjoyed some of the best food Seguin has to offer.

Goats & Wine at Blue Lotus Cute and cuddly animals plus great wine make Seguin’s Blue Lotus Winery a perfect date location. In addition to offering a great selection of wine and mead, they keep things fun by hosting special events with goats like Goat Yoag and Goats on the Lawn. Keep your eyes on Blue Lotus Winery’s Facebook page for details on upcoming events that are perfect date material.

Geocashing Geocashing is the perfect mixture of outdoor fun and technology. Use GPS to navigate the world around you and seek real container (caches) left by other players. The fun part of this treasure hunt is discovering new places, and taking part in a community. Why it makes a good date: because of the adventure! You never know what you’ll find or where.

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