Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories

We all come from somewhere, and Chris Holmes, who oversees the Texas Outdoor Family in State parks program, comes from England. From the time he was a boy, Chris had a passion for the outdoors. It made sense that when he became an adult, he would seek a career that kept him close to nature. He has followed that career to several continents and two hemispheres. He shares a favorite memory.

I was a park ranger once in Australia. And we had some monitor lizards that were fairly aggressive—similar to the raccoons here in Texas—they would go after food. And it was always very funny to watch these monitor lizards slinking up towards tents, and smelling the food. These lizards were about five to six feet long. So, having a monitor lizard stick their head through the tent—a lot of people are not used to seeing that. So that was a lot of fun. And sometimes, maybe we had some mischievous young adults that have kept us awake at nighttime, so we may have encouraged the lizards to go see them in the morning.

Monitor lizards are like raccoons. I don’t think so. Thanks, Chris.

Do you have a fond memory of time you’ve spent in the Texas outdoors…a mischievous moment…a tale of terror…tell us. Go to passportotexas.org and click the Outdoor Stories link and tell us all about it. We may use it in the show.

That’s our show…for today. Remember: Life’s Better Outside… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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This is passport to Texas Outdoor Stories

Bill Harwell’s paternal grandmother and his great aunt loved to fish… and often invited Bill and his cousin to share the adventure.

59—One night I got the exciting news that my great aunt had come into possession of what we called a pontoon boat. But the even better part of it was we were going to go night fishing, which we had never done before. Her living in Atlanta, the best place to put in was a big lake, just southwest of Texarkana called Wright Patman Lake. And so my cousin and I – we were probably about eight…nine…ten years old at the time…this is around 1960 -61 something like that — get all of our gear aboard the two of us and these two ladies… They tell us they’d been told that the best thing to attract fish, above and beyond the worms and the minnows, is to hang a couple of lanterns off the side of the pontoon boat…. maybe that is the best way to do it… but my main recollection of this was just this incredible plague-like swarm of June bugs, mosquitoes…getting bugs of all sorts and shapes in our soft drinks….up our noses….we did do some good fishing, but the overwhelming remaining impression of night fishing for me is lots and lots of bugs.

Share your Texas outdoor memory… by logging onto passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

 Texas Outdoor Story: Bill, the Boat, and the Bugs: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas outdoor Stories

Paul Dockery, from San Antonio, emailed his outdoor story to us through our website: passporttotexas.org.

He told us he’s an avid outdoorsman and a member of the Christian Outdoor Alliance. He shares his favorite times spent in the outdoors.

You know, it’s not that any one in particular thing happens. It’s just the fact that we get to get to get away and spend some quality time together. And we’ll be out on God’s front porch enjoying the beautiful weather and just enjoying each other. My favorite times in the outdoors are when I get to load up with my wife and the kids. And we’ll have an ice chest and some goodies in it, and some folding chairs and a portable grill, and we’ll drag our boat out to a riverbank somewhere in the Hill Country. And just spend the day getting by on what we didn’t forget to bring. We’ll have some fishing rods, and things like that, and probably take the dog with us, and spend the day out enjoying the Hill Country.

Visit passportotexas.org and send us your outdoor story. We may invite you to tell it to Passport to Texas listeners, like Paul did.

That’s our show for today… Remember: Life’s Better Outside…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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This is Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories

Ask Eveline Evans about the value of spending time outdoors and she’s not shy about sharing her views.

:14–It’s just a great stress reliever. It’s wonderful to get out and get away from the urban areas, and enjoy the trees and the streams. I mean, it’s just wonderful to get away.

Eveline gets away with family whenever she can. She says sharing time outdoors with loved ones—even if it’s just taking a walk in nature—is critical to healthy, balanced relationships. It brings families closer…it encourages dialogues.

:32–Well, I think it’s very important. My husband and I, we go walking all the time together in different locations. We love the Texas state parks. We’ve done Big bend and the Davis Mountains, Caprock Canyon, Palo Duro Canyon…all of those are just wonderful places to go out and walk. You can talk about anything it seems like. Every little thing that comes up—you can explain to younger ones your value systems, or whatever. Why when you pass a snake you’re not supposed to kill it—you just leave it alone, that type stuff.

What do you love about spending time in the outdoors? We want to know. Go to passporttotexas.org and share your outdoor story with us.

That’s our show…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 Texas Outdoor Story--Eveline Evans: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

When I say Texas Game Warden, what image pops into your head? Is it someone in uniform, patrolling field and forest looking for poachers? You’d be right…but it doesn’t stop there. Texas game wardens have varied jobs—all of which help protect our state’s natural resources.

Eric Howard is a 19 year veteran in the department. He currently coordinates the Operation Game Thief Program—a type of crime-stoppers for wildlife. But his career path in the force has been varied and satisfying.

I spent 12 years in the field, and in about the 12th year, I was able to become an instructor at the Game warden Academy. And when you have the opportunity to make an impression on young men and women, you know, you’re shaping and molding them. And that’s certainly a highlight. Then about a year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to become the program coordinator for Operation Game Thief. It’s really been a blast. It’s totally a different avenue, from being at the academy and being a field game warden. This one, you get to meet a lot of people. It’s really been a blast.

You can find information on becoming a game warden when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show…thank you for joining us… we record our series in Austin at the Production Block Studios… Joel Block engineers our program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

 Outdoor Story: A Game Warden's Life: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download