Goodbye to a place.

Last Friday we drove out of our little farm for the last time. We’ve owned it for 21 years. My parents bought the place across the road 50 years ago. Both had 1870’s German homestead homes on them – one room log cabins with solid rock rooms added on piece by piece. My family put their heart and soul in these places.

You cross this creek as you enter my place (the creek in “Creekrunner”).




What this picture doesn’t explain is that on a weekend that has sunshine and a temp above 50, the sound of motorcycles is now almost constant during daylight hours. Or on the surrounding properties, where almost hermit-like old Germans used to reside in their crumbling old homes, tending their sheep, praying for rain, and scraping a living out of sub-par soil, huge new homes have been built or are being planned. Or that now there’s an annual run on the county road out front where all the wannabes drop their water cups everywhere, like they’re running the Boston. And the bicycles, holy cow, the bicycles.

I’m not the type to try and stop change or progress. It’s a free country and I am a believer in the free market. I do know though that you can love a place to death. It’s time for us to move on and bid farewell to the Hill Country. It will always be a part of me. I knew a Luckenbach before even Hondo took it over with his crew. Every old place had double-fence grown over lanes around the edges for moving livestock. They were probably great for game such as quail, etc. I remember all the neighbors speaking German to each other and their children and, slowly, begrudgingly, but eventually completely accepting us “outsiders”. One could say we were part of this invasion, starting back in 1968; I get that. But my parents tried to learn as much as possible about the history of the place and, in my eyes, really tried to show respect for what came before them. Now it seems like a wild contest to see who can snatch up the next hill to build a look-at-me house looking down on the neighbors. ‘Sorry if I sound bitter. Change isn’t always a universal joy to all involved, but, nevertheless, inevitable. I hope all my former neighbor “ego farmers” find what they’re all looking for.

Lots of good times with family and friends. My daughters caught their first fish in the creek. The original Pinta Trail runs down one side of it. Apaches, Comanches, Spaniards, German immigrants (including Meusebach), Texas Rangers and cavalry all passed by at one time.

Here’s the best animal I that I ever took on the place.




All these pictures, except for the axis, were taken by my son, during his own goodbye to the place.

I know what you mean, I’m in excavation and the amount of land change is staggering

Onward!

That's sad to say goodbye to a place that's been in the family for so many years. Sounds like y'all got real good use out of it.

Good write up sir. You can sell the place, but you'll always have those memories

beautiful piece of property; I'd be hard pressed to sell that!

Hate to see "progress" take over special places but it happens every day it seems. Good pictures and tribute to the old place.

I think I have tears in my eyes.....sad. Journey on, build your new memories on a place that you make your own. I have leased a place for 11 years and I can only imagine how you feel.

Awesome story I feel for you ! Good Luck go make some new memories on a new place but Take your Time God Bless you and your Family

Creek thanks for sharing your memories, cannot fathom all of the great times your family must have enjoyed there

I know exactly what you mean. Bandera when we moved here in 1963 was a quiet place except on Sat. nights when those from San Antonio and Houston came to town to get drunk.. I could go to the post office and always knew those that were in there getting mail. Now very seldom even know one. The surrounding hills were dark at night. Now there are lights all over. Sunday mornings were nice and quiet. Now you hear motorcycles. But I am too old to move so I will just have to live with it for my remaining years.

I am not a frequent poster ( 200 in 10 years), but I read a lot.

This would be, without question, in my top 5.

Everything changes....that's life, but the things that shouldn't make me a bit sad.

Glad you have the memories.

Hope you kept those license plates!!

Sad for your family. And they call it progress....

FWIW I can empathize. The "small town" I grew up in is not 15X the size and in no way resembles the place I knew. My folks moved West, civilization is close behind....

I realized about a year ago that when my kids are grown a rural 30-acre piece will probably be a very "big place" to most.

Great post sir.

X2...Good luck on your next adventure seeking a new place. Seeing little ones in the photos, make memories on your new place that will last two life times.

Great photos thanks for sharing.

I hunted on a hill country lease in a similar area. Those old square heads... which im proud to be descended from were good people. They didn't allow guests, if it wasn't your wife or child and they weren't a paying member they weren't allowed on the property. Brought my Opie along once to help set up a new stand and he said something in German. As we were leaving for the weekend the old land lady told us Opie was welcome back any time. It was a treat to them to find someone they could talk German to. We stopped hunting that place over 10 years ago and at that time the drone of motorcycles over a mile away was already an all day thing sitting in the stand.

Beautiful photographs of a very sad event. I too share your lament that this is called "progress." We are rapidly losing who and what we were and no amount of pretty houses (they all look the same) and strip malls can replace that.

Well after reading all that, the last pic pretty much choked me up. Dang you Creekrunner. Sad to hear. Hopefully there are greener pastures down the road for you all. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing. I have been down this road with a family ranch that was split up...hurts a lot to know I won't be back at certain places - where I caught my first fish, learned to ride a tractor, etc. The tides that change are not always easy. Glad you have lifetimes of memories there. Great photos as well! I hope you were able to grab some keepsakes to put at your home, or your next ranch, to remind you of the family place.

Nice post Creek. That's some beautiful country up there. I wish you and your family all the best.

Great pics and hate to hear such a memorable place is leaving yall, but on to greener pastures and hope the next place will make as many new memories for yall.

No kidding. My FIL lives in Gruene and has a deer lease nearby. The noise of motorcycles is a constant. People everywhere. Gruene hall so packed that we've stopped going down there for beer and music. Sorry to see you leave your family place but I can understand why. Too many dang people moving to the hill country. Hell, too many people moving to Erath county as well.

We went through the same thing in 2008. My parents owned 80 acres just outside of Mansfield that my great grand parents bought it in 1908. A lot of industrial companies had started to move in and it just wasn't country anymore. A man came in and made an offer my dad couldn't turn down seeing what was potentially in store for the future of everything around. Now there's warehouses and all industrial companies where the property was and half million to million dollar homes across the street where it was open farm land. Very sad to see. We also had a rock lined well like the one in your pics.

We said good-bye to our place a few years back. Our reasons were not so much the fact that the place had physically changed all that much. Our reason was that some of the players in the game had reached first team status of being the actual part owners and our ideas pertaining to each other were not compatible. The place was bought in 1964 and was in the family for over 50 years of total enjoyment. As the years eliminated some and elevated others we found that although we were supposedly from the same family, our ideas were nowhere close to being workable. Some could have made it work and some others could not. Better to remember it for what it was than what it had become. Are their hard feelings? You bet and they will never go away. But remembering the good times was much more important than trying to find common territory to work out all the problems. WHen people in the same family have such opposing ideas, then family is no longer applicable as a word or as a definition and I will just leave it at that.

A toast to great memories past and new ones in store......

Great post and photos! Brings back a lot of memories for me. I can fully understand the meaning of your post.
I am know going thru the same dilemma with my family land that has been in the family since 1945. My German grandparents bought a dry-land farm in 1945 and literally struggled to keep it(sometimes having to borrow money to make an annual loan payment) till the mid 60's when they finally were able to pay it off. I spent as much time as I could(weeks at a time) out there as I was growing up and into high school. Back in the 60's it was rare to see a vehicle on the paved highway in front of the house. Today thanks to IH-37(opened up in the 80's) to the west and now the Eagle Ford shale in full boom, it is not as peaceful and quiet. I always said I would retire there, build me a home and die there on that family land. The traffic and noise is terrible. The roar of the wind in my ears is now drowned out by the roar of tires on the highways. Then throw in all the trash that is thrown out the windows or blows off of work trucks it is down right depressing to see it today. It will always be known as and remembered as the "Farm". It will hold all those childhood memories till I die.

Creek I don't know that I could part with a place like you have shown us. It is sad that all the bike riders and motorcycle folks have ruined your bit of heaven while seeking their own pleasure riding thru the hill country. For them that is as close to what you have enjoyed as they will ever be.
Memories are great but it just is not the same.

Thanks for the great post. I can remember going to F'burg to the Hereford Cattle Field days back in the early 60's. If you went into town, most folks were speaking German and were usually not happy with an "outsider". Had lunch with a good friend from there today and he said that there are now over 100 wine tasting rooms from town to Johnson City. I guess that this is progress and they have certainly pumped up land values.
Much the same is true where I was raised between Devine and Yancey in Medina County. As a youngster, I had the run on all the farms and ranches for hunting and knew every vehicle that drove down FM 2200. Today most of the places have been subdivided into 10-20 acre tracts. Most everyone works in San Antonio and I don't know anyone other than family.
Thank God fragmentation of ranches has not occurred much in Menard County, I hope it stays that way for many more years.
Adios,
Gary

I thought about you when I saw them. I have left some good places in the rearview mirror, but the memories are still with me 50 years later.

Aint life a MFer..............I was born 1 thousand years too late.


Feel your pain Creekrunner but now giddyup.

My family has properties in Lakes Livingston and Somerville, when the lakes were built. We lost ours in a different way(E. Domain) yet no sadder. I finally bought some dirt in the hill country only to have it threatened by the TransTexas Corridor silliness championed by Rick Perry. TTC is hopefully dead.
All the lands of my decendants, 1854, are gone into other hands. I hope I (we) can hold mine for a few generations. I feel your pain.

My son and I got to hunt in Bandera for several years. We loved every trip, loved the scenery, and every aspect about it. My wife went a few times. We went to Gruene and a few other touristy places.

But reading this makes me remember the number of motorcycles. I've never seen so many Harleys in my life. And how do they all get away with straight pipes?

When I was in my teens and early twenties I had quite a few motorcycles. I quit riding completely in the early 80's. But when I had them I paid a few loud muffler tickets. I had mufflers. They just may have been a little loud.

Are straight pipes legal now? If all the LEO's decided tomorrow to start issuing tickets for that it would be a cash cow!!! And your beloved beautiful towns down there might be at least a little quieter.

Said this about motorcycle pipes in many threads and it never gets a response........I tump over Harleys for fun.

unless a rider is being obnoxious about it, cops don't really care about a loud Harley just rumbling by

they never bothered me

You want obnoxious come to Bandera on a Sat. Or Sun. morning and listen and the LEO's don't do squat.

Don, Do you know anybody on the City Council. Make a phone call. There is a LOT of citation revenue running through there. Hey look at it this way, you know that they have to be harmful to tourist income. A lot of folks don't want to have to hear it. I bet it deters outside dining!

Since I haven't heard of a "loud muffler" ticket in ages I just guessed it was a subjective thing, decibels, etc. Straight pipes are another thing altogether.

I don't own the property I hunt on but have been there for going on 18 years. Seldom have any contact with the owners but when that rarely happens, it is always a pleasant experience. I know the day will come when I won't be there and I will surely miss the place. If I owned it and had to sell that would really be a problem.

Thank you for sharing.

Our family farm, bought in the 1940's, was sold in 2007.

This world keeps on spinnin'.

Thanks for sharing. How far west will your new place?

Thanks for all the kind thoughts everybody. We're headed west with txtrophy85 to look at some more places tomorrow morning.

As far west as we can stand it, but before the dust will boil in through your rear window. ( More bang for your buck out there too. )

Tough deal for sure Sir. Enjoyed the great pics

Best wishes for your land search.

Wow beautiful place.. wishing y'all the best in the future.

Good luck with your search out west but be informed that there are creeks flowing water in west Texas today that haven't held water in many many years except for the occasional rainstorm. The heavy rains last October were a God send to many parts of west Texas but it's not the norm. Again I say good luck finding a new place. It will happen for you and your family I'm sure of it!

Thanks Elk, I appreciate it. I know all about wet weather creeks. How do you think we sold this place?

But seriously, I'm actually looking forward to possibly not having to worry about water gaps.

Best of luck in your new search, can’t imagine how it feels to leave such a beautiful place.

Thanks for sharing.

Great post. Sad post. Thanks for sharing....

Thanks for sharing! Hold on to the good memories and make some more at your new place! Great write up and the place looked like a slice of heaven.

Geez, what a heart breaker. A lot of history and memories to hold onto.
Excellent pictures and well written. Wishing the best to you and your family.

That's heartbreaking.

Couldn't help but to think of.this song when reading.

This...so sorry you kids won't be able to share it with their kids......lots of heritage, history, and fond memories lost for future generations.......

That last pic says it all. God bless and good luck.