Earlier this year Mike discovered his ancestors had purchased land near Austin.
Years later it was sold and sold again. J. Frank Dobie was born on the land
which is now the Dobie Paisano Ranch in Live Oak County. The Ranch is currently
owned by University of Texas and used for a Fellowship program, allowing writers
the opportunity to use the secluded property to write for six months at a
time.
Mike
contacted University of Texas. We were fortunate the current writer in
residence, Kelly, was using some downtime during our visit and we would be able
to visit the property without interrupting her work.
There were
two homes on the property. The first was a Swedish/German design. We wandered
around and took pictures, careful not to scare off the wild turkeys roaming the
property. At one point we learned there were once feral long horn cattle
roaming as well.
We then
drove to the ranch house which was been updated and built around the original
homestead. Kelly was gracious (and very pregnant - due the same time as our
daughter). I kept thinking how incredible it would to have such an opportunity,
just from the standpoint of contemplation and creativity. We had no idea what to
expect but definitely drove away happy with our opportunity to see the ranch.
