FEBRUARY 15, 2023 www.wintertexantimes.com 16 WINTER TEXAN TIMES South Texas Ecotourism Center EXPLORE, PROTECT, EDUCATE 501 W. STATE HIGHWAY 100, LAGUNA VISTA, TX 78578 FREE ADMISSION OPEN DAILY 8AM-5PM 956-772-0212 WWW.STEC-LV.ORG WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/STECLV • LIVING EXHIBITS • VIEWING TOWER • DISPLAYS W/QR CODES • AMPITHEATER • SPACE RENTALS I have had such a good time this last week doing what I like to do best - exploring, checking out the crops on the Military Highway and meeting new and old friends who are ready to travel. It had been a few years since I had driven the Military Highway but it was certainly time to check out the Winter Vegetables. Now I know if you are new to the Valley, you will refer to Highway 281 as the Memorial Highway. That is the new name. I still use the old name. To me the Military Highway is just a more suitable name. After all, isn’t that the road that Zachary Taylor used when he moved his troops up the Valley? He even camped out at what was once called the White House or the RabbStark Ranch. The house still exists across the road from the neglected church at Santa Maria. In the mid 1700’s this currently A Valley drive brings back childhood memories paved highway was used by the Oblate Fathers as they rode horseback taking religious sacraments to the ranch hands and families who lived on the various ranches scattered along the road. They were fondly called the Cavalry for Christ as they sought to conquer and to serve the spiritual needs of the people. Today the ranch land has been transformed into lush winter vegetable farms and sugarcane fields along with row crops for summer planting. Was I ever surprised as my friend and I traveled on theMilitary Highway from McAllen all the way past Santa Maria. I was looking at crops that I had never seen before. There were plenty of onion and cabbage fields but there were some new leafy and not so leafy vegetables that I had never seen. After closer inspection and the use of an app on the phone we were able to identify several different kinds of kale - a fairly new leafy plant used in salads. Just one or two fields that at first looked like small weed patches turned out to be soybeans. And then one of the newest crops of all - canola. I was prepared for that one because a farmer friend had told me to look for a plant that looked like mustard with a yellow bloom. Disheartening to me was to see several fields of cabbage that were totally neglected. Sometimes a farmer who had great hopes of finding good market prices realizes that the actual harvesting of a crop will cost him more than he will get at market. Then comes a heart-breaking decision to ignore the field and eventually just plow it under. Now why should I have so much fun driving down a highway looking at field after field of Winter vegetables and sugar cane? Could it be that this drive brought back memories of my childhood. Memories flashed through my mind. I could almost taste the cold biscuit and onion sandwiches that I relished so when I was young. They were the best snacks ever, especially when eaten under the shade of the wild plum tree that grew in the middle of my mother’s garden. Or could it be that I remembered my first venture into the Rio Grande Valley when I was transferred from El Paso to Brownsville. Stopping for gas in McAllen, I asked which way was the best way to reach Brownsville - Highway 281 or Highway 83. It didn’t take long for the attendant to give advice to a young woman traveling alone. “It’s not safe for you to use Highway 281. It’s harvest time and there are many braceros working in the fields and on the highways.” Leave it to a curious outsider and a headstrong woman to ignore the advice. I was in awe - it was August of 1953 and trailers were loaded with fluffy white cotton. Some had even blown off the trailers and had turned the roadside white. I had never seen so much cotton in all my life. Memories again. When I was just barely old enough to stay upright in the furrows, my mother made me my own little cotton sack so that I could work with my daddy and older siblings as they handpicked the cotton. No cotton-picking machines back then. Life is made up of memories. And what beautiful memories of growing up on a farm. We were - as the saying goes - as poor as church mice - but those experiences of growing up on a farm in a loving family have brought me the richest of memories that will never be forgotten. Corpus Christi Cotton. Photo by Carina Brunson Mission Cotton. Photo by Carina Brunson
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