Leon Hale

Attention! Watch for a blog change

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:52:32 -0600

I'm told that the Chronicle is switching the program that makes this blog possible. All Chronicle blogs will be affected but you should have little or no trouble. I'm the one who may have trouble. The address of the blog...

What will it take?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:27:49 -0600

Howdy, everybody. Guess what. I'm feeling pretty good today. I'm hurting in only two places, and that's a tolerable number. How about you? Are you happy? Has anything good happened to you lately that we ought to know about? Has...

Big scare for the talking mule

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 03:34:59 -0600

A few of the customers have been asking if I ever intend to visit again with my friend the talking mule. So the other morning I found him in his usual place, a few miles west of Sealy on the...

Here in the country . . .

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:25:23 -0600

. . . it's hot and windy and I'm doing almost nothing you'd consider worthwhile. Well, I'm watering the live oaks that provide shade inside the yard fence. That's the hardest job I've done so far today. Mostly I'm busy...

City mockingbirds carry the tune

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 04:16:39 -0600

You've caught me at home for a change, here on the sixth floor of the high-rise apartment building, not far inside the West Loop. I'm at my old work station by the south window that gives me a long look...

Correct answers to the Leon Hale quiz

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0600

More than 2,000 readers took our multiple-choice quiz about columnist Leon Hale, who turns 90 in May. The winner, who will be selected soon from a drawing of correct entries, will be invited to Hale's birthday party. Here are the...

Home alone with the dog

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:43:54 -0600

So here we are in Houston, for doctor appointments and for my partner to attend her lady meetings. Tonight the dog and I get to stay home, and watch the ball game, and fix supper for ourselves. Think I'll cook...

The pain and suffering of ... public speaking

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 04:37:48 -0600

The other morning, I was looking through some old files in the bottom drawer of my desk, and I found a letter that has caused me considerable concern. It's dated Jan. 10, 1990. It's perfectly typed and addressed to me...

More scattered thoughts from the country

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:30:34 -0600

This camera is giving me the fantods. I'm talking about the trail camera, or the scout camera, or the wildlife camera -- whatever it ought to be called -- that's supposed to get pictures of animals. Animals, I mean, that...

Don't let me catch you playing for keeps

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:37:59 -0600

Driving past an elementary school, I saw four young boys down on their hands and knees, in a loose circle. And I thought, Hey, are those boys playing marbles? It's been practically forever since I saw boys shooting marbles and...

Panhandlers need a good tale

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:29:55 -0600

In a supermarket parking lot at Westheimer and Weslayan, I was loading groceries into the car when a woman in a green sedan pulled up beside me. She asked if I'd give her a little help. Ah, a panhandler. And...

Quiz: Test your Leon Hale knowledge, and win an invitation to his birthday party

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:00:00 -0600

Leon Hale is turning 90. To celebrate, the Houston Chronicle is throwing a birthday party on May 31 and one smart reader -- or customer, as Hale refers to you -- will join the festivities. To enter, take this multiple...

A little lower and to the right

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:31:12 -0600

This morning I was scratching around for a new blog topic and I settled on this: In our environment I believe there are tiny creatures known among themselves as the Itches, and that name should be capitalized, the same as...

A string of scattered thoughts

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 01:53:30 -0600

WINEDALE -- On the front porch again, at the old country house in Washington County. I've always wanted to sit out here for about four hours, and think, about anything that comes along to think about. And write just a...

'Red on yellow, kill a fellow'

Thu, 24 Mar 2011 10:17:38 -0600

Richard the Carpenter, who's doing some work for us here on the Winedale place, killed a coral snake out by the pump house. I've been messing around in the woods and prairies of this state for 80 years and this...