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October 24, 2023
Growing Up In Bandera
By Glenn Clark
The Bandera Prophet
One of the pleasures I enjoyed as a youngster in Bandera was living close to St. Joseph Catholic School, so I was able to spend some special time with classmates after school. Memories of baseball games and shooting some marbles in a game of "keepsies" until dark on those caliche fields are forever a part of me. Looking back, all the trouble it caused me with my mom seems so worth it now.
How many times did I pretend I hadn't heard her honking the horn in our old truck in an effort to get me home? How many patches did she have to put on the knees of my pants which I destroyed trying to defend my bag of cat eye marbles from Angel Martinez and his "steelie" onslaught? It was a constant battle back in the day defending my chosen lifestyle.
As I got a little older my mom wasn't the only human impediment I encountered in the neighborhood. At some point along the way marbles and baseball became less and less important as my interest in girls took over. A chance to walk home after school with one or all three of the Wilson girls was a chance I was willing to take, even though I knew their grandpa would be giving me the evil eye from the front porch as we neared home. I became less of a threat years later when my friend Darrell Faglie would come calling. Suddenly I was being ignored from all angles.
Today, there is no chance I can to retrace the steps of the shortcut to school I used to take through the corn field owned by Tom Adamietz. Two modern houses now occupy that area across the street from Daddy Andy Pyka's old home. Tom would let my daddy know each time he caught me sneaking through there. I think my daddy only halfheartedly scolded me because he knew the few remaining remnants of the fence around that field laying on the ground had been there way long before I came along, and I certainly wasn't going to eat the corn. Back in my day, there was no need for fences around gardens because any deer daring to venture near town would have soon disappeared. Free grazing livestock had made fencing necessary in earlier times.
Out in the back corner of our property there was a tall elm tree that provided me and my brother Eddie, along with Harper and James Jacoby, a place to build a fort up off the ground. We often passed around a cigarette up there thinking we were safe from any discovery of wrongdoing, as we made up personal secrets to share with each other. When I went back into the house my mom would instantly detect the smell of smoke and James always got the blame because she knew he smoked anyway. No harm. No foul.
I constantly thank God for the opportunity he gave me to enjoy that time and place in Bandera. It was so special and something I can reflect on when this old world is dragging me down. This growing old ain't for sissies, but I will continue to cling to the past of Growing Up In Bandera as I try to deal with what the future holds for me.
#389 2023
How many times did I pretend I hadn't heard her honking the horn in our old truck in an effort to get me home? How many patches did she have to put on the knees of my pants which I destroyed trying to defend my bag of cat eye marbles from Angel Martinez and his "steelie" onslaught? It was a constant battle back in the day defending my chosen lifestyle.
As I got a little older my mom wasn't the only human impediment I encountered in the neighborhood. At some point along the way marbles and baseball became less and less important as my interest in girls took over. A chance to walk home after school with one or all three of the Wilson girls was a chance I was willing to take, even though I knew their grandpa would be giving me the evil eye from the front porch as we neared home. I became less of a threat years later when my friend Darrell Faglie would come calling. Suddenly I was being ignored from all angles.
Today, there is no chance I can to retrace the steps of the shortcut to school I used to take through the corn field owned by Tom Adamietz. Two modern houses now occupy that area across the street from Daddy Andy Pyka's old home. Tom would let my daddy know each time he caught me sneaking through there. I think my daddy only halfheartedly scolded me because he knew the few remaining remnants of the fence around that field laying on the ground had been there way long before I came along, and I certainly wasn't going to eat the corn. Back in my day, there was no need for fences around gardens because any deer daring to venture near town would have soon disappeared. Free grazing livestock had made fencing necessary in earlier times.
Out in the back corner of our property there was a tall elm tree that provided me and my brother Eddie, along with Harper and James Jacoby, a place to build a fort up off the ground. We often passed around a cigarette up there thinking we were safe from any discovery of wrongdoing, as we made up personal secrets to share with each other. When I went back into the house my mom would instantly detect the smell of smoke and James always got the blame because she knew he smoked anyway. No harm. No foul.
I constantly thank God for the opportunity he gave me to enjoy that time and place in Bandera. It was so special and something I can reflect on when this old world is dragging me down. This growing old ain't for sissies, but I will continue to cling to the past of Growing Up In Bandera as I try to deal with what the future holds for me.
#389 2023