LONG AGO IN SOUTH TEXAS

I took a break from writing because my brain ran dry, but it's operating better now so here's some more "old Kay stuff"

After one semester at Texas State College for Women (now Texas Women's University)  in Denton, I was so homesick that I transferred to Texas College of Arts & Industries in Kingsville. It is now A&M Kingsville.

Going to college at A&I in the 50s is a memory that's more like something I dreamed. My world at that time was filled with things like cows, cowboys, dances, Mexican food and music.

It was a small college a small town with diverse economies. The great feature was the King Ranch, famous throughout the U.S. for its development of new methods of ranch operation and a new breed of cattle, the Santa Gertrudis. It was also the home of Assault, the racehorse who won the Triple Crown in 1946. Little sidebar here: on one of our various field trips to the King Ranch we were walking through the stables and as I passed by Assault's stall he stuck his long neck out and nearly took a bite out of my buttocks! Some of my friends were education majors and they taught children of the kinenos (that needs a tilde on the 2nd "n" but I can't find it). The kinenos were the Mexican employees of the ranch and they stayed in little wood cabins which were on pier foundations in various locations around the ranch. I mention the foundations because we visited one of our student teacher friends who was staying in a cabin. We were sitting on the front porch eating watermelon and hanging our legs over when she told us it might be better to just sit up on the porch because there were often rattlesnakes under the house.  

There was also a Naval Air Station for jet pilot training. Don't know much about that.

The weather in Kingsville was representative of hell. Hot, dry and windy with just a bare suggestion of cool in its short winter. In those days students lived in dormitories unless they were local or married. The dorms were big and ugly, lacking in amenities and NO air conditioning! That's pretty rough when the temperature gauge seldom goes under 80 degrees. I remember lying down on my bed for a little nap with the window open and waking up to find my sillouette outlined by dust!

I had three roommates who were all from the Valley. We had two rooms with a bathroom in between so we made one a study room and the other our sleeping quarters, sort of like a small apartment. It worked out real well since we all got along just fine. I may have told you the next part of this before so if I have, just skip it. I was "the new kid on the block" to them so they planned a weekend in the Valley to introduce me to their families and their hangouts. We were to drive down to McAllen, then go across to Reynosa for food and fun. We weren't planning on leaving until Saturday morning but the girl with the car decided we should leave on Friday evening. I had a dreadful feeling about the change and even went to a Beeville friend of mine and told her how worried I was. I couldn't back out because they had planned the whole weekend for me. So seven of us packed into the car and away we went. It started raining really hard and the road was very narrow (not a big highway at all). Suddenly the road ended at a T. The driver tried to take the left option but missed and the car flipped over three times but landed upright in a ditch. Of course, we were all shaken but no bad injuries, just one broken collarbone. It was pitch dark, still raining on the seldom traveled road so we just sat there until some guy came by and gave us a ride into Hebronville to the hospital. I called my parents and they came up from Beeville to get me. That was the end of my first Valley visit but I did go down there many times during my stint at A&I and always had a good time.

When we went to the Valley we always went across to Reynosa, Mexico. Remember this was 67 years ago. OMG! Wish I hadn't realized that! Anyway, it was easy to cross the border and we went just about anywhere we wanted to. Our favorite place was called "Joe's Place" where they served good food, drinks and had great music. One band would take a break and another would start right up so it was non-stop music. I have to point out that there were about eight or so of us and no couples. Just friends out having a good time. Actually, that's the way my relationships were at A&I most of the time I was there.

There's a lot more, but I'm tired. Maybe more later as to why I left there and transferred back to TSCW. I still need to tell you about my class in Animal Husbandry. 

Hasta luego!