May 18, 2015 (Monday)
Phyllis Smith suggested on Facebook that, if one is thinking about buying any property in this county, now would be a good time to look over the area. Water is standing because the ground is saturated and now is a good time to find land that does not flood. Of course, all bets are off if we are talking about the next flood being a storm like Beulah in 1967, which turned all the land south of San Antonio into a great big lake. I’ll always remember driving up 1069 from Aransas Pass, the roadway being marked by sticks placed by highway crews, pretending to be in a boat slowly moving through a channel. Our wake, however, was being sent into homes.
When the First Baptist Church of Rockport had decided to relocate from downtown, we had a rainy spell similar to what we have recently had, and I thought it would be a good idea to survey the town from the air to discover areas prone to flooding. I asked my 
friend, Chuck Norman, helicopter pilot for Dennis O’Connor, if he thought his boss might let him take me on such a trip. Chuck asked Mr. O’Connor who agreed, and Chuck was soon airborne with Dwight and me as his passengers. I had flown in plexiglass bubble helicopters used by the oil field crews, but Mr. O’Connor’s helicopter was more like an airliner, with air conditioning, pressurization and piped-in music. The present location of the church buildings at Live Oak and Enterprise was one of the sites we wanted to see from the air. Real Estate representative Bev Taylor, a member of the church, had recommended it for our consideration. We found it to be high and dry and bought it. The economy cratered soon thereafter, and we postponed building. After I retired, Walter Knight became the pastor and led the church to build on the site. Under his leadership and that of Scott Jones the buildings have served the church well.
When Phyllis wrote her suggestion in Facebook, I immediately thought of our ride in what was surely one of the nicest helicopters in the nation.