Big Cat Attack, Social Distancing Top Cistern News
Social Distancing
There hasn’t been a whole lot happening in the Cistern area with all of the social distancing closures. Bunco has been cancelled, the Wood Creek Subdivision postponed its annual spring picnic, and no one seems to be traveling. Luckily, a few places have been open for take-out, and life in this rural community has pretty much stayed the same for most of us except for the added precautions taken whenever anyone heads into town.
Condolences
They are extremely late in coming, but sincere condolences are being sent to Cistern’s Larry and Linda Farthing, as well as the rest of the Farthing family. Larry’s mother, Dorothy Pearl Garlinghouse Farthing, passed away peacefully on February 23, 2020 in New Braunsfels at the age of 96. Dorothy was born in Oklahoma on September 25, 1923. Her parents were Edna and Norman Garlinghouse. She was preceded in death by her husband of 71 years, Leslie Farthing, who passed away on February 20, 2012. In addition to her son, Larry (Linda) Farthing, Dorothy is survived by her daughter, Kay (John) Evans, and grandchildren, Jennifer Dial and Chris (Jana) Farthing, as well as Leslee (David) Evans Williams and Sunny Evans. Her great-grandchildren include Nathan Dial, Tad (Emily) Dial, Chelsea Farthing, Taylor (Michelle) Sutherland, Jennifer (Bryan) Ochoa, Nadia Evans, Cayla (Charlie) Buffalo, Justin (Saralee) Segura, and Tracey (Luis) Gutierrez. Dorothy also leaves behind six great-great-grandchildren; Kyler Ochoa, James Evans, Karcyn Buffalo, Peyton Buffalo, Gunnar Gutierrez and Triton Gutierrez.
Dorothy was known for her love of word search puzzles and crocheting afghans. She played a mean hand of rummy and kept Larry and Linda on their toes during their weekly games. She was also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star New Braunsfels Chapter. The family plans to comingle Dorothy’s ashes with those of her husband and scatter them along the Pecos River.
Big Cat in the Area
In recent weeks my husband, Chad and I have had two separate attacks on our small herd of goats. The first attack left a mother goat and her twin babies dead. The second attack resulted in injuries to four of our large female goats. We had Dr. Rylee Hatfield of Fayette County Vet Clinic come out to see if the goats’ wounds could be treated. Unfortunately, one doe had to be put down due to the severity of her injuries; the other three were treated with a wound cleansing solution and antibiotics. The following day, a pregnant doe also succumbed to her injuries, so we lost her, as well as her fetuses. Based on the large claw swipe marks on the animals’ flanks and deep puncture wounds in their necks, Dr. Hatfield concluded that the goats were attacked by a big cat. Due to the wide spread between the claw marks, she surmised that the cat is much larger than the bobcats that are frequent visitors in our area.
She suggested that we report the incidents to our local game warden. A call to the game warden supported the fact that mountain lions have been reported in our vicinity several times. Please keep a vigilant eye on your children, pets and livestock. If you have game camera pictures or similar incidents that involve a large cat, please report them to the Fayette County game warden.
St. Cyril and Methodius
Sunday services resumed on May 10. However at the time of this writing, limited seating was available. If you would like to attend mass, please call the office at (361) 865-3568 or email kmladenka@shsscm.org for more information.
Thoughts and Prayers
Please keep the following Cistern friends and neighbors in your thoughts and prayers: Grace Vinklarek who will be having surgery and Barbara Charba who is home and continues to improve.
Celebrations and Such
Belated birthday wishes are extended to Joe Poindexter who celebrated his birthday on April 18, Mike Gallegos on May 1, Marsha Hendrix on May 15, and Duane Pollock on May 17. If you’d like to wish someone a happy birthday, please send the first name, last name, date and month for each celebrant to me. I’ll add them to my calendar and send birthday wishes as each birthday draws near. Feel free to include ages if you like.
Share Your News
It’s that time of the year when graduations, spring weddings, family reunions and other fun activities appear on calendars everywhere.
Share your good news with friends and neighbors by contacting me at CisternNews@gmail.com.