|
|
|
| THERE
IS NO MEETING
AH POPCORN! One of the main pleasures I miss because of my present day physical limitations is being able to satisfy my popcorn addiction. I used to read at least an hour every night. I accompanied this with the consumption of a large bowl of popcorn eaten two kernels at a time. (No signs of eccentricity in my family.) No microwave pop for this snob. I would produce my scrumptious treat in the heavy aluminum pot part of my mom’s pressure cooker. Popcorn kernels would sizzle in peanut oil and a dash of garlic powder in the pot with an upside down fan-style steamer basket covering, trapping the steaming blizzard of exploding corn. A paper towel captured the hot spray of oil droplets, only to be removed as soon as possible to allow the steam to escape. As the popping slowed to a near stop, I would vigorously shake the pot to prohibit burning and set it on a cool burner for a few minutes to maximize crispness. A bit of salt, an easy chair, a good book and the day’s cares were forgotten. |
|
|
|
COVNA still has no Vice-President. If willing to serve, contact any officer listed at right. |
|
||||
| To
join the COVNA Email List, click below and Find out the latest neighborhood news and
developments. |
2010 MEETING SCHEDULE
|
Advertise in the COVNA Newsletter Only $10.00/month. Reaches over 400 homes & Online at COVNA.org Email Hal Ferguson at: hferguson3@yahoo.com |
|
|
|
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE If you drop off kids at Cowan Elementary, drive west on Davis Lane, or take the dogleg route across Brodie from Davis to Deer Lane, you have surely noticed that long-awaited improvements are finally coming to various parts of Davis Lane. In fact, three separate projects are currently in the works for improving Davis Lane. West Gate Blvd This project will complete the approximately half-mile
break in West Gate Boulevard and permit uninterrupted traffic from
Slaughter Lane to Highway 290/71. It will provide an alternative north/south
route to Brodie Lane and Manchaca Road and hopefully relieve some
of the traffic caused by people looking for a route through the neighborhoods.
This project is currently underway and has a 12-month duration. Because
the path of West Gate goes by Cowan Elementary School, the school
will receive much needed improvements to how students are picked-up
and dropped-off. The area around Cowan Elementary was intended to
be complete before school started, but a bid protest delayed the start
of the project. Consequently, parents of Cowan students will be inconvenienced
this fall as a portion of Kentish Dr. (currently the only means of
ingress and egress for the campus) will be closed for about 6 weeks.
The city is considering closing Kentish during the Thanksgiving holiday
in order to minimize the impact to Cowan as much as possible. The
plan is for this project to be completed before the start of the 2011-12
school year. Davis/Deer Lane The first project will eliminate the dogleg one has
to follow to continue west on Davis toward MoPac. The project will
create a new intersection at Davis and Brodie, cut a road through
the pasture between the fire station and apartment complex, and close
Deer Lane south of the fire station. Because most of the work will
occur in the vacant pasture, traffic problems are expected to be minimal.
You may be aware that this project is very close to the Goat Cave
Karst Nature Preserve. This proximity has presented various permitting
issues and delays for the city. After initial work installing silt
fences and preparing to build retention ponds, the project has been
temporarily halted since the end of September. The city is currently
working to obtain a permit related to the Balcones Canyonland Conservation
Plan agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The city is
hopeful that it will be allowed to resume construction shortly once
a review is completed. Davis Lane This project will complete the approximately 300
feet between Leo Street and Heubinger Pass. This project has not started,
and at this time, the scope of the project is being thoroughly reviewed.
The review includes how Davis Lane functions from Star Grass Circle
to west of Zeke Bend Drive, and its interaction with Guide Post Trail.
Currently, there is no project schedule or estimate for when construction
will begin. It is likely that the above projects may be completed
before this project starts. We have invited the project manager to
attend a future COVNA meeting when the city is able to illustrate
options, project scope, schedule, and impact to traffic in the area. |
|
| NATIONAL NIGHT OUT October 5th was Texas’ National Night Out. Next year it would be great to have an get-together on every street Here’s a picture from an event organized by Mark Tilley this year.
|
|
|
JACK O' LANTERNS The present-day holiday of Halloween has evolved over the years into a fun and spooky holiday filled with treats, costumes and parties for children. But what are the origins of this holiday and how did pumpkins come to be involved? The tradition of the festival at the end of October began with the Celts and an ancient festival called Samhain. The festival signified the end of the "light half" of the Celtic year and the beginning of the “dark half” of the year. Like the present-day holidays of All Saints Day (La Toussaint) in France, Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos) in Mexico and All Souls Day in Latin America and Spain, the period from October 31st through November 2nd has played an important role in the remembrance of the dead. The original Celtic holiday was not religious, but rather a time of mystique and superstition when it was believed that contact could be made between the worlds of the living and the dead. The holiday evolved and took on different meanings for different cultures, such as the French holiday of La Toussaint which also included an honoring of "tous saints" or all the Catholic saints at the same time as honoring deceased loved ones. The term "jack-o-lantern" came from an Irish myth about a character named Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was a drunkard who, having invited the Devil for a drink, requested that the Devil transform himself into money to pay for the drinks. He did so and Jack took the money and put it in his pocket next to a silver cross. The Devil, unable to transform himself into his original form because of the cross, was trapped. Jack made a deal with the Devil thathe would leave him alone for a year if he was allowed to change back. The Devil, agreeable to this, came back to Jack in a year. Jack requested that the Devil climb up in a tree to pick a piece of fruit. Once the Devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross in the trunk of the tree preventing the Devil from descending until he agreed not to bother Jack ten years. Jack died soon after. The devil, angered by Jack’s tricks, would not claim his soul or allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the night with only a burning coal to light his path. Jack carved out a turnip and put the coal in it so it wouldn’t burn his hands. Jack has been roaming the Earth ever since, carrying his turnip lantern. The Irish refered to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern” and then simply as “Jack O’Lantern.” Irish immigrants found the pumpkin lent itself to the tradition of carving.
|
|
 |
