What better way to begin Halloween week than with a dark rainy weekend and a visit to a haunted hotel! In the middle of old downtown Seguin on South Crockett Street sits a two story structure that resembles a box, something created without much thought of architectural loveliness. It is the Magnolia Hotel, an establishment that began as a stage coach stop with a couple of rooms and evolved into a full fledged hotel when a second story was added. Opened in the eighteen forties, the hotel has a colorful history that is the stuff of dark secrets and rumors. Although it was at one time a gathering place for parties and other celebrations it was also the site of some of Seguin’s most tragic moments and thus over the years the stories of ghosts and hauntings in the place grew. By the nineteen nineties the Magnolia Hotel had been abandoned and boarded up. Only critters and drifters inhabited its rooms and, some say, a long dead tortured soul or two. Continue reading “The Haunted Magnolia Hotel”
It is almost criminal that we can’t just enjoy eating any type of food that we wish. Unfortunately consummate foodies often develop wide waists and the health problems that go along with increased weight. Thus it has been with my Mike. He so enjoys a well prepared meal, but then who doesn’t? For some time now I have found myself playing the role of a wicked nag as I insisted that he do something to curb his appetite. You can imagine how well that went. Aside from shooting dirty looks at me Mike did little to improve his health. I had all but given up when a miraculous thing happened. 
In an article that I saw on Facebook a former teacher turned administrator spoke of spending a day shadowing a student and taking part in all of the activities including doing labs, taking tests, and completing the homework. She found that this little exercise was a defining moment for her. Suddenly, by walking in the students’ shoes, she had a fairly good idea of what their school days were really like. Sadly her analysis was not particularly favorable toward the routine of classrooms. 
My social calendar includes far too many funerals these days. I recall a time when my mother-in-law seemed to be attending a farewell service of some kind almost once a month. She joked that at the rate her friends and relatives were going there would be nobody left to honor her when she died. That proved to be entirely false because she had been such a generous soul in life that the church was crowded with people who wanted to honor her in death. It’s not an easy thing to lose a loved one and the nature of funerals is to recall the best moments of the deceased’s life. In today’s world that almost always includes a slideshow of photographs outlining the human milestones that are universal to our society. 
There is a certain irony that I use social media to publicize my daily thoughts and yet I am a constant critic of that same wild and untamed source of information. I both love it and fear it. I understand its power and wonder how it manages to drive so much thinking, some of which is frightening. It is both a blessing and a curse of our modern existence. I love connecting with long lost friends but ask if jotting down a few pithy phrases now and again is truly akin to a real relationship. Mostly I worry about our tendency to instant message whatever pops into our minds without benefit of forethought or editing. 
