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Once again, it’s been an amazing week. Perhaps the first thing I should mention is the progress (or lack thereof) on the new Marble Falls hospital. I talked to Mike Jenkins, president of the Llano County Hospital Authority Board, and he assures me that the unsuccessful land deal in Marble Falls “does not affect Llano.” He is confident that Scott & White will find another property and get the new hospital built; in the meantime, the merger with the Llano hospital will continue as scheduled, effective May 31. Jodi Lehman has written a story, which you should find elsewhere in this newspaper. She’ll fill in all the other details.

Before I talk about last week, I should say a little about what’s coming up this week. There is so much going on at the Fuel Coffee House that I just haven’t been able to keep up, but I know that this week there will be a Llano Songwriters Review on Thursday night, featuring Terry Duarte and Jake and Lainey Wright. On Friday, Susan Gibson (who wrote the Dixie Chicks’ hit, Wide Open Spaces) will be back for another concert. Some of the good things that will be coming up later this month are: Third Thursday Songwriters in the Round, on the 18th; Home Grown Gospel, on the 25th; and a special “Old-Fashioned Hymns” concert with Jenny Taylor on the 27th. I know that’s not all; check out their MySpace page (fuelcoffeeonmainstreet) for the latest information.

This weekend is a big one, with at least four special events on Saturday. The Whites, from “O Brother, Where Art Thou,” will perform twice, at 2:30 and 7:30 at the Lantex Theater; before the first show, the Desserts of Llano will begin at 1 p.m. That evening, the Order of the Eastern Star will sponsor a Valentine’s Dinner & Dance at St. James Lutheran Church (from 6-10 p.m.; proceeds go to the Betty Talley Memorial Scholarship Fund), and the Llano Memorial Healthcare System will hold their annual Mardi Gras Ball at Oestreich’s Rose, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

I had an opportunity to stop by the Kingsland House of Arts and Crafts this past Saturday, and I was impressed! It’s a great place to visit anytime, but especially during their two annual shows in April and November. Charlotte Haslam will be presenting a program there on Birds of the Kingsland Area two weeks from today (Wednesday, February 24). I’ll write more about that next week.

But I want to tell you about two unforgettable events I attended last week. First, I had the great “honor” of being invited to the first-ever “Armadillo Day,” an event designed to liberate Texas forever from the weather predictions of a “mangy rodent in Pennsylvania who knows nothing about Texas weather.” Terry Boothe was the ringleader of the event, which was held at the West Pole in Bee Cave (the armadillo, who by the way did see his shadow, is named “Bee Cave Bob”). I was amazed at the crowd of celebrities, politicians and newscasters who attended, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

The other event was the Preservation Texas conference, where the Red Top Jail received the dubious distinction of being named one of Texas’ “Most Endangered” historic treasures. That distinction will certainly attract attention to our landmark, and may dramatically improve our chances of getting a grant to fix it. Sheri Zoch, president of the Friends of the Red Top Jail, deserves all kinds of credit for making this happen. Thank you, Sheri!