Originally uploaded by coolhousesaustin

This group of photos was taken just as the sun was starting to illuminate the Texas Hill Country with golden light…We had had a rainstorm the night before and the oaks were still covered in water which sparkled like diamonds in the early light….To see the rest, check out the link to coolhousesaustin on Flickr….

So what do we do on a Thursday night in Wimberley? Well, if you are lucky enough to get an advance reservation, you find yourself out at Blue Rock Studio (www.bluerocktexas.com) for a house concert. Blue Rock is situated on a bluff overlooking the gorgeous hills and the Blanco River. Billy and Dodee Crockett will be on hand to welcome you to hear their latest recording artist/ guest in a small, intimate setting in what appears to be a huge living room. Actually, it is a live recording stage! Blue Rock is so beautiful because it has a studio set-up that resonates both superb professionalism and an intimate setting with its audience and artists. Both the recording artists and the audience members feel incredibly blessed when we get to come out to Billy and Dodee’s place on the Blanco River. The first thing you notice as you drive up the long driveway to Blue Rock is the incredible stonework evidenced everywhere and that this appears to be an 1800’s frontier Garrison! But then you go inside and your jaw drops about a mile as you take in the most serene and artistically decorated private home/studio you could ever imagine.

This past Thursday, singer/songwriter Kevin Welch was their featured guest. The show was just superb. Kevin was on stage solo with an acoustic guitar, a self-dreprecating sense of humor, and a repetoire of songs and stories that had the audience riveted to their seats. I think we were all stunned by his moving performance. It was just like sitting down with one of your best friends and listening to how he wrote a song about the events that occurred down life’s highway. The stories are sometimes about his own life or inspired by stories he has heard along the musician’s road. One such story was collected in a Scottish pub when Welch was on tour in Scotland. We were all immersed in the tale of Scottish poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796), and the imagined joy Burns felt as he rode his horse up to a Highland castle to steal away his lady love for a new life overseas. Everyone in the audience shared in that joy, that sense of adventure and optimism which happens when one goes against all odds for one’s dreams. That seems to be the gift of Kevin Welch. He awakens in each of us our own dreams, our own rememberings of life’s best adventures and most importantly, he reminds us that we all have our own stories to tell and like him, many more dreams to ride after. To hear more of Kevin, please visit his site: www.kevinwelch.com . For more info on Blue Rock, go to (www.bluerocktexas.com) and my heartfelt thanks to Rodney Bursiel for the wonderful picture of Kevin Welch (www.rodneybursiel.com) which he so graciously shared for this article.

This past Sunday, I saw the new Indiana Jones movie in the comfort of my very own sling chair. I lelt like a kid again as a cool breeze right off the Blanco caressed my face and arms while I munched on hot popcorn for a buck, and took in ice cold swigs of soda for another buck. Everything at the snack bar is $1. Yes, that’s right, a dollar! And admission was finally raised this year to $5. Much to Miss Mary’s dismay, she has finally had to raise her ticket price from the decades of 2.50-4$ range…But she cites the fact that it does cost her more for the movies “nowadays” and in her words, “I do get all the Disney new releases on their nationwide opening week-end release date”. Yep, it’s true, Disney it seems has a sweet spot for Miss Mary and who wouldn’t? She is there at the Corral to meet and greet the locals, and see to it that the teens working the concession, taking tickets, and helping out with the seating are all doing their jobs. And they do a fine job, too. It was just perfect, sitting there watching all the action on that big screen, which seemed suspended amidst the heavens. All you could see was a seamless screen projected against a blue-black sky with the stars and a perfect crescent moon shining down as Harrison Ford explored a lost city in the Peruvian jungle. It was and is perfection at the movies…so if you are a local, you probably already go there.  If you are a visitor to the Hill Country, please do yourself a huge favor and bring a lawn chair( or a cushion for the chairs Miss Mary provides although those fill up fast). You might want to bring your own folding one as I did. Oh yes, and you will get to meet lots of us local folks. Miss Mary reported that for Jurassic Park and the Lion King week-ends, she had a sell-out crowd of 500! Wow! Muvico, AMC, etc. eat your heart out! Miss Mary and The Corral have all of you beat!

So from Memorial Day to Labor Day on every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, Miss Mary will be there to make sure you are having a perfect evening at the movies!