They're Tearing Down Ralph's Home

Another object lesson about how the snobs of Higher Ed ruin all of my fond childhood memories. Aquarena Springs last saw Ralph the Swimming/Diving Pig during Clinton's first term ... now the park is being razed more so than it already has been so that the springs can revert back to their natural form.

Dammit, I prefer the kitsch! There, I said it.

Aquarena Springs, at the headwaters of the San Marcos River, belongs to an era where a day trip was a family treat, Dairy Queens were plentiful, and the best family entertainment was the drive-in movie on Saturday night. The story never changed much at Aquarena. There was always the wonder of the glass-bottomed boats and entertainment from Ralph the Swimming Pig - typically one young piglet, with two or three cousins behind the scenes - accompanied by synchronized swimmers and underwater picnics. Those shows always included Glurpo, the head witch doctor, and Bublio, his somewhat bumbling assistant.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on the folks at Southwest Texas State. I still have my childhood memory of firing off a pistol (yes, live ammo!) in a Pasadena apartment complex as a wee little kid. They can't take that away from me.