I SAW A LOT of mirages as a kid. A couple of times a year, my family would make the 530-mile trip between our home in the Rio Grande Valley and my grandmother’s house in the West Texas village where I now live in my grandmother’s house. Before the interstate highways and state highways were completed, the 12-hour trip was arduous, especially in the summer. To keep my brothers and me entertained, our parents made a game out of mirages.

The bells ring more or less all the time here. My husband, Peter, and I are in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a city filled with old churches.

The River Valley Pioneer Museum celebrated Valentine’s Day on Saturday evening with 20 elementary-aged kids during Kids’ Night Out. We did crafts, ate lots of snacks and pizza, played games, and toured the museum! I want to thank the board members and volunteers who helped make this evening possible: Paula Forrest, Sarah Rader, Lee Ann Julian, Karen and Lilly Bradford, and Maggie Hanes.

Following three days of rehearsals, CHS senior and clarinetist Leo Avila performed last Saturday, Feb. 12, with the 2022 Texas All-State Symphonic Band in San Antonio. The concert was held during the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) annual clinic and convention. The band presented a program titled “The Essence of Memory,” a piece composed by B.J. Brooks, and commissioned by the Association of Texas Small School Bands (ATSSB) in honor of Darin K. Johns, the director of bands at Andrews High School. Johns was one of three killed in a tragic bus crash as the AHS band headed to Sweetwater to perform at a Mustang football playoff game. It was premiered by the Symphonic Band under the direction of Dr. Emily Threinen in the Lila Cockrell Theatre.