SUBURBAN FARMING: Joining the Movement of Non-Processed Food and Simple Self-Reliance

As an active adolescent who surrounded myself solely with musical instruments, I never once thought I'd find myself interested in gardening or planting things. When you're living at home, still in grade school or community college, and don't have any notable bills to speak of, it's easy to get used to having a fridge full of food from Whole Foods Market or something of the like. Then got out on my own, became independent, and then one day: "Bye Whole Foods, can't afford you anymore. I have substantial grocery bill now." The whole interest in this movement and way of life started as a honey-do for my lovely wife Katie.  Digging and lifting.

We got to know all the local independent farmers at the McKinney Farmer's Market, and came across all the local people who could sustain a healthy crop right from their backyards. Whether it was completely urban, or semi-rural property; it was eye opening and inspiring, to say the least.

In our first West McKinney home we began with just one of those Home Depot raised bed kits you could put together in 5 minutes.  I think they're about 4 x 4 and you just connect the corners.

Garden from Summer 2014- old house, after we went to cinder.

8 x 4 kit garden, Spring/Summer 2013 in old house before we went to cinder.

We took it to two of these connected together by year two, and then by year three we removed all the wood and went to cinder. While we weren't too thrilled with the outcome of the tomatillo crop as we were in the previous two years, it flourished nonetheless.

Overabundance of Tomatillos- September 2012

We tried the "companion gardening" trick we saw on our social media feeds, integrating  herbs and vegetables.  We planted rosemary in between the various types of tomatoes, green and wax beans.

Our experiment with "companion gardening" Spring 2014 after going to cinder.

We recently moved across town, and half the reason we bought the house was for the pre-existing raised bed garden with dirt already in the backyard. Because we no longer have a Homeowner's Association, we could expand upon it shamelessly!  It's a good 8 x 16 and a perfect canvas for perfecting our craft of growing our own produce.  While Katie has a pretty solid understanding of growing and maintaining a vegetable garden, having grown up with them, and I'm catching on, we are by no means, "experts" or "master gardeners".   We just love the experience of working together to introduce new vegetables, working through improvements and tweaking it each year; based on the survivability during Texas' very unpredictable weather patterns. Most importantly, we're making healthy memories as a family.

Just tilled the new 8 x 16 raised bed garden the other day.  Please ignore the ailing fence.  We are getting a new one this week.  Fall/Winter 2014- New House

What's your story, McKinney? Do you have a backyard garden or ideas you'd like to share? Stay tuned for more posts on progress!

I didn't quit blogging! I promise! Four Words: "Moving With a Baby"

So while my time is presently limited I will call this my "I promise I didn't quit blogging" blog.  I'll just fill you in on the goings-on.  A lot of McKinnians may have noticed the real estate market is hot.  In a matter of 2 total weeks we jumped at the opportunity to sell our West McKinney home and buy another one closer to all the action further east.  Most people would not take on moving house with a 4 1/2 month old baby....except us.  It was that fine line between foolish, and smart for jumping at the opportunity to take advantage of a super hot real estate market before all the Toyota folks get here from California.  We literally were probably 72 hours away from signing an apartment lease and my lovely wife did it again.  She found the perfect house, in a quiet neighborhood with just the right amount of space and features.  It was surprisingly hard to say goodbye to the old one but we are slowly but surely, as time allows, settling in to the new one unpacking a couple of boxes at a time and working our way out of survival mode.

This post is going to be a little bit different from my usual writings because it is admittedly rushed.  It is a shameless plug of local businesses combined with lessons learned, and a promise that I did not quit.

10 THINGS:
#1 Milestone Electric really do fix it in a flash- just like the jingle that gets stapled deep into your head during NBC5 commercial breaks in the morning.  We had some screwy electrical issues within the first day of moving in and problems were solved quickly.  Electrician- true expert and trustworthy individual.  Customer Service reps- Second to none.

#2 Fence companies love to talk nasty about one another when getting bids.  Dang! Be nice guys, keep it professional.

#3 Choose your movers wisely and breathe down their neck- yes they do this every day, but they still haven't learned their lesson about not grabbing washers and dryers by the knobs.

#4 Vee's Appliance Repair- Great experience.  On time, reliable, and actually fixes the problem in a timely manner.  He actually cares about his customers and put my daughter's needs ahead of his own.  Clean dry clothes for my baby and fast, adequate solutions.

#5 Albertson's is NOT your store. It is a dated, non-innovative cesspool of rotting produce, processed chemically enhanced rubbish, and the awful idea of "variety pack" combinations of meat.  Sorry I do not want moldy fruit or chicken juice in my 4 days past the sell by date ground beef.  I know I said I would not speak negatively on this blog, but I'm rebelling today.  Once you have experienced McKinney Farmers Market, Sprouts, Urban Acres or Trader Joe's....everything else sorta sucks.

#6 Trader Joe's is awesome.  Nice to have one nearby, and an Urban Acres share pickup down the street twice a month.

#7 Who would have thought that living further away from work actually makes for a quicker commute in the morning and evening.  It's achievable when you don't live 7 miles from any major highway and your nearest major highway is now one quarter of a mile away.  Toll bill goes up, but time spent in car angry about morning routine, 9 school zones, and terrible traffic ALL goes down and away. 


#9 Not having an HOA now is awesome.  It is nice not to spend $480 per year anymore to be menaced and sent nastgrams about the single weed that grew in my yard that morning while I was at work.

#10 Moving into a "project house" really makes me want to go to Lowe's and play.  Wife has the same bug.
"OMG! A gutter extension piece.  Sweetie, I need a gutter extension piece! And tacks!" 

Special Contributor Post: Live Music Review: The Bodarks + Boyd HS Orchestra

Head on over to McKinney's On the Square for another Live Music Review contribution.  I did a little mingling at Cafe Malaga's back garden stage with The Bodarks McKinney's own pioneers of the modern exurban hootenanny.  To top it off, the fiddler is a McKinney Boyd High School Orchestra teacher! Check it out.

McKinney Tops the Best Place to Live List: My Take

So I woke up this morning, and I found out that I live in the number one best place to live in the United States of America.  Money magazine probably pinpointed their reasons why McKinney achieved this incredible honor, but I have my own take on it.  All positive of course, but as a musician forgive my gravitational pull towards music and arts.  This is my Ode to the Town. 

THE LARGEST SMALL TOWN IN THE WORLD:

Photo Credit: Cheryl Simpson

When I moved to McKinney almost three years ago,  it was a refreshing change to immediately notice people actually still wave and talk to one another here.  It's amazing the difference in the way people interact between neighboring cities.  I see very few people glued to their smart phones, with the exception of an art shot for instagram or a few suburban hipsters taking selfies for their blogs, like me.  If there's anyone playing Words With Friends, I'm sorry.  I missed it while I was eating an Apple Pie from Emporium.  I also noticed somehow everyone knows what's going on around town.  Some folks may find this a little intrusive or nosey but, I don't.  I see it as people giving a hoot.  Speaking of hoot; Trip Advisor!

MORE TRIPADVISOR OWL STICKERS IN THE WINDOWS THAN I'VE EVER SEEN

I noticed this Sunday night while my wife, daughter, and I were eating dinner with my parents at Cadillac Pizza Pub.  Probably the 6th Trip Advisor sticker I've noticed in the window of a business in McKinney Square.  This just tells me one thing.  People around the country talk about this place.  It's quickly becoming a tourist hub! I mean, it's not there for kicks....while I am a huge proponent of the historic homes being residential as opposed to commercial business, someone needs to up the ante on the bed and breakfast train to accommodate all the Trip Advisor visitors.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM FROM FLEETWOOD MAC PLAYED IN McKINNEY PAC.
I didn't go.  I'm kicking myself now, but this is still not a common occurrence in your typical suburban city.  This is a remarkable musician in a legendary band playing an intimate set in the Historic Courthouse Building, now home to McKinney Performing Arts Center.  Judas Priest are about to shatter some suburban windows in Allen in November, which is also a pretty extraordinary suburban feat, but I think there's something a little more special about Lindsey Buckingham singing to 112 people.

 Speaking of:

LIVE MUSIC SOMEWHERE IN THE SQUARE AT LEAST 4-5 NIGHTS PER WEEK
Whether it be a local kid absolutely nailing Johnny Cash covers at Spoons, Bud Rager the Singin' Son of a Gun doing his Cash repertoire at the Farmer's Market, Buzz Andrews running a longstanding open mic night at Cadillac, Rhythm and Beards playing a tight set at Cafe Malaga, Crystal Yates giving us chills with her voice. (Someone sign this woman already and take her on tour with your CMT superstars) or people quasi-busking outside Churchill's, there's music.  I cannot complain about the music scene in McKinney.  It's not a big national touring acts hub, but it could be if someone opened a Granada or Trees-like venue and brought in Lance Yocum of Spune to grab the national acts, or Ken Welker of 13th Floor Music to pack the house with the lower Greenville staples.  It would become a 18-35 "north of 635 but east of Preston Road" music mecca overnight.  Denton birthed Midlake, and that's a tough one to top.

CENTRAL MCKINNEY IS HOME TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GUITAR SHOP IN THE COUNTRY : THE GUITAR SANCTUARY- Adriatica Village

Photo Credit: The Guitar Sanctuary

I have never been into a more amazing musician's paradise.  The Hollywood, CA Guitar Center is pretty sweet, but living 2 miles from a guitar shop that looks like a $3 million home lined in $1,000 to $50,000 guitars and floors lined in hand-wired boutique amps, I find myself getting the "I wants" real bad.  What I love about this place is that they don't treat me like a four year old about to spill Big Red on a white bed in Z-Gallerie.  If you ask for help like the little tags say, they'll pull a $8,000 guitar off the wall for you, and not bat an eyelash.  If I had a fat wad of cash in a shoebox, I would go buy a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24, and a Rickenbacker 4003 bass without question, and The Guitar Sanctuary would be the place I could count on to find it.

THE FOOD: IT'S ALL GOOD.  READ MY BLOG ON THE NEW HARVEST SEASONAL KITCHEN, then GO EAT THERE

Photo Credit: Paul Ernest Photography

DOG MOVIES & TV SHOWS:
Lassie and Old Yeller ain't got nothin' on McKinney.  We've got Benji in the 70's and Wishbone in the 90's.  If you were a 90's kid you must remember coming home from elementary school and watching Wishbone at 4:00 in the afternoon and the little Adventures at Storybook Ranch, and if you haven't heard of Benji, get it together! You will feel love, all around, and you will feel it, shining down.  Promise. Everywhere you go.  You'll feel love.

ERWIN PARK
I'm not an avid cyclist....yet...but I will say this....I think Go-Pro Helmet mount sales went up because of this park, and Cadence Cyclery were genius to open a bike shop in the Square.  It's a happenin' little bike shop and half of McKinney are cyclists.










 


 CHURCHILL'S
The bias continues, but rightfully so; I'm half British, and this place is heaven.  I can drink beer and eat Full-English breakfast, shoot darts, and listen to The Stone Roses, Oasis, Blur, The Smiths, The Jam, Pulp, The Beatles, The Verve....in McKinney, TX.

I could go on for hours.....but I don't want to get too Rolling Stone about it again.  Well done McKinney!

Weathering the Occasional Life Storm: Where's Your Happy Place?

Photo Credit SNUG ON THE SQUARE - Coffee House and Good Eats Cafe McKinney, TX

 I like to think of myself as a positive person, at least a realistic 85% of the time.  I can only count on one hand the people that see me when I'm not having the best of days, when I'm truly in a horrid mood, things are not working in my favor, and I'm not thinking rationally.  God Bless the people I work with who see my 15%, and in addition to being my business associates, end up being part psychologist, part some sort of counselor or life coach.  What can I say? That's how it goes in business sometimes, and I guess you could say I'm one of the "wound up like an 8 day clock" types who has that passion for my industry and success; and it probably translates to others as some really boisterous B+ off Broadway Musical or theatrical spectacle. The good days are excellent and bad days are just every kind of not awesome imaginable and I'd be lying if I said I was totally tolerable during those lulls. Sometimes I bring it home on my shoulders and my lovely wife takes the brunt of  this occasional storm cloud, and God Bless her the most.

I would also be lying if I told you that I'm capable of always having 100% positive subject matter.  But here is the good news, I'm going to find some way to turn it back around and make it that way.

For those of you who are fans of FRIENDS, prime time past or like myself, king of the re-runs, I can only think of Alec Baldwin's guest appearance as Phoebe's boyfriend, Parker, who is physically and mentally incapable of being negative or unhappy.  It's unnatural, comical, and towards the end of it, a little annoying.  After a while all I could think was 'Shut up dude! There is nothing interesting about tail lights or cab rides in traffic!'

If I've lost you, watch the clip.
FRIENDS "The One In Massapequa" S08E18 © Warner Bros. Television 1994-2004

If you couldn't tell by now, it's not my favorite week, but I'm writing this, and it's making me feel better.  That's got to count for something, right?  It's my happy place. Stack it with a late morning or an hour before closing, 'zone out on the couch time' at Snug on the Square. Quite frankly, I need to do this more often because it's therapeutic.  At work, I also walk a lap or two around the office complex pond.  That works exceptionally well when I face the temptation of regrettable actions or words. I get fresh air, inspiration, and clarity.  If your office complex has one of these, grab a bottled water from your office fridge and take a lap.  It may do you some good, as I've recently found that it's beneficial for me.

The office pond.  If your workplace has one, spend time there.

This brings me to my point and question.  You don't have to be a Parker.  Most people are not Parker.  We will all inevitably have many crappy days and we will experience negative. 

So I ask you this. Where is your happy place?  That one place where you can decompress, escape the negative, take your mind off a stressful, wretched day, and get clarity and perspective?

I want to hear from you!

-DAN+McKINNEYTX-

Yours Truly, Dan+McKinneyTX @ Elm Fork Shooting Sports

In Food as in Life, When One Door Closes, Another Opens. Harvest: The Dawning of a New Season of Food for McKinney

Photo Credit Paul Ernest Photography

ONE DOOR CLOSES ANOTHER ONE OPENS
Since I started this blog last month, one of the adventures I've been excited about is food.  While I can't claim the "foodie blogger" status in the slightest, I can, however, claim that I am more of an "appreciation blogger" when it comes to local, up and coming chefs on the rise with a passion for culinary excellence, and restauranteurs who do good for the community. 

The old saying that comes to mind as I write this blog is "when one door closes, another door opens." As McKinney restauranteur Rick Wells closes the doors to Sauce on the Square and neighboring Grotto, in a week, he will reopen those same doors with a brand new and exciting Farm-to-Table concept: Harvest Seasonal Kitchen. Sauce's Andrea Shackelford will take the helm as Executive Chef.

Photo Credit : Paul Ernest Photography

THE CHEF
I sat down with Chef Andrea recently to get in on the excitement of this highly anticipated new restaurant and learn about her journey. Originally from the Houston area, she relocated to Dallas where she graduated from Lake Highlands High School and got her start working in a local bakery.  After graduating from SMU in 2007, she worked under the guidance of her mentor, Tim Bevins, at Dallas' own Dragonfly and Craft restaurants for 5 years before emerging on the McKinney culinary scene.

Chef Andrea brings an incredibly refreshing energy to this highly anticipated restaurant, choosing to work with local farms from Texas and Oklahoma as providers of fresh local meats and vegetables, and wild caught seafood from the gulf.  This energy spills from her kitchen out into the field where she works with these farmers, building relationships, and getting to know their processes, as well as participate in their adventures.  She rolls up her sleeves and farms with them. With this in mind, we're far more likely to see a farm truck pull up at the back door of Harvest than one bearing the name of a larger food distribution company.  This deepens the sense of community that anyone with an appreciation for the Farm-to-Table movement can expect to feel.

THE RESTAURANT AND THE FOOD
In addition to the Farm-to-Table element patrons have to look forward to, Harvest will also have a resourceful and Green element to it.  The space will be constructed and fitted almost entirely from recycled and repurposed materials from Sauce, and will accommodate 90 guests in the main room, with a private dining area in the former Grotto space, set to accommodate up to 60 guests. 

When it comes to the food there is one thing I can really appreciate from Chef Andrea, and that's simplicity.  While precise preparation is a culinary standard, she takes the approach of focusing on not overcomplicating the menu, and just focus on making good food.  What we have to look forward to is an adaptable seasonal menu consisting of traditional American choices such as Collard Greens, Fried Chicken with corn meal derived from heirloom grains from Waco, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Cajun dishes such as Boudin fritters, as well as common fish selections from the Gulf, one of Chef Andrea's favorites.  To top it off we have a flat iron steak option to look forward to and finished off with old school desserts such as a spice cake with a tomato soup base! Before I get too Rolling Stone about it, I'm going to stop there.  As someone who likes surprises, I don't want to ruin the fun. I hope to see you next Friday night for the Harvest grand opening.

Harvest Facebook Page

Harvest Seasonal Kitchen

Family: It's a Team

Before my next feature I just wanted to take a quick recess, and reflect on one of my themes.  Family.

Around town, I see all sorts of teamwork going on.  There are youth sports teams, high school drill teams, charity teams, street teams for bands, debate teams at school.  You see a lot of teambuilding exercises at work.  I even see some great teamwork going on between the vendors at the McKinney market.  But there is one team that sits at the top for me.  Family.  I don't often see family be compared as a team; a unit of people working together to function and accomplish all sorts of goals. 

I ponder a lot of ideas, and get a lot of my inspiration for blog topics from my own adventures and life events, usually while holding my baby daughter.  Yesterday I had to remind myself while she was in need of consolation, this is a team effort. As the man of my house, I have to be there through the best and worst of times and keep my head in the game.  I have to be there for my team. 

With teambuilding at work, where you're sorting out routine processes, people may be learning how to work together, putting a Band-Aid on some sort of procedural glitch, and create a professional harmony.

With a sports team, like baseball or basketball, it's a group of people working together, each bringing their strong point (position) and the end result is baskets and runs.

At the market, it's a "hey can you make me some change for this 20?" scenario....

But the family team is lifelong.  It's not a seasonal thing like a sport, and it's not a 9-5 thing like work. It's loved ones working together to function, or achieve many goals ranging from very simple to very complex and challenging.  Obviously this evolves over time as we all get older and our roles change in our loved ones' lives.  Children become adults, adults become parents, and parents become grandparents, etc.  But even as things evolve over time, family still requires teamwork.

I've found as a new dad, this is something I occasionally have to remind myself when I get off track.

I welcome your input.

-DAN+McKinneyTX-

Mo’Joe Matt: From Casinos to Coffee Trucks

Photo Credit: www.mojoeagogo.com

MO’ JOE A GO-GO: McKinney’s First and Only Mobile Coffee Truck

A recurring theme I keep gravitating toward is McKinney’s own “Unique by Nature” slogan.  While the city has it’s suburban standard, and western and northern sprawl of 135,000 and rapidly growing, it also has its pockets uniqueness and a deep sense of community.  With this combination of rapid, but sensible growth and an ironclad community centered around a sensible blend of history, healthy lifestyle, and uniqueness; you have the perfect foundation for giving back to the community.  What better way to achieve this than by way of the ever-growing mobile cuisine aka “food truck” culture?  That is being accomplished in great strides by McKinney’s own Matt Drew, owner and founder of “Mo’ Joe a Go-Go” McKinney’s first and only mobile coffee shop.  

THE MOBILE COFFEE EXPERIENCE:

I came across his glowing shrine of a vehicle in the back of the McKinney Farmer’s Market around May while my wife and I were taking part in our Saturday morning routine.  There was nothing discrete about his parking job, or the truck for that matter. After all you have rows and rows of booths, stands, and then a completely overhauled FedEx truck with a cosmic paint job, a window, and an outward facing sound system.  We walk up and it’s essentially a coffee shop on wheels.  Before I get too Hemingway’s “Farewell to Arms” and ramble a never-ending chain of events I’m going to get to the point.  It was the best coffee I’ve ever had, and everything we have ordered every Saturday morning since, has been delicious.  What sets this coffee apart from the rest other than a pleasant avoidance of being served lukewarm or watered down, is that it is sustainably and organically grown, and avoids artificial flavorings, preservatives, and GMOs.

 CORPORATE GRIND TO COFFEE GRIND:

On Board the Mo'Joe a Go-Go truck: Matt Drew @ work on his
UNIC Stella di Caffé in which only 85 are available in the US.

This past Saturday, I was welcomed onboard the Mo’Joe a Go-Go truck where I got to see behind the scenes what all the hype was about, and get to know the man behind the coffee.   This ultra-friendly guy in the window with a Mo’ Joe tee, and a down to earth personality is the former Director of Marketing for MGM Grand Las Vegas and just prior to starting Mo'Joe, he was the Director of International Marketing for Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma.  What does this have to do with coffee you may ask? Absolutely nothing.  Matt’s passion is serving the community and specialty coffee.  So just over 2 years ago he and his wife moved to McKinney. “Being from the Pacific Northwest, I could take it for granted, or be somewhere like McKinney where it hasn’t really caught on yet and offer something new to my community,” Matt says as he passes one of his specialty Mochas down to a customer. “One thing that Vegas did not have is a Farmers Market, and so what better way for me to sort of switch gears in what I was doing in my career than to come here to McKinney and focus on something I’m passionate about?  This is my way of bringing something to my community that they didn’t really have yet, sort of my way of giving back.”  The giving doesn’t stop at the coffee or in McKinney.

GIVING BACK:

Matt has set up Mo’ Joe a Go-Go as a partner with Heifer International, a non-profit organization centered around empowering developing nations to self-sustain and become less dependent on foreign aid.  A percentage of Mo’Joe sales go towards quarterly purchases of livestock for these developing nations to work towards building a thriving agriculture-based economy.  In addition to giving to these developing nations, he brings it on home as well, to McKinney’s Samaritan Inn, where he donates unsold pastries and goodies.

MIXING BUSINESS WITH PASSION:
While the “Mo’Joe a Go-Go” mobile coffee concept is unique for the community, Matt Drew is living a recurring theme I see from time; the inspiring “Corporate businessman-gone-local business owner” feel-good theme.  In this case, it’s “Corporate Grind to Coffee Grind” where he molds his high level marketing skills with what he truly loves, and makes him happy.  “I’m not doing this to get rich.  It’s my opportunity to build a fun and unique brand, and interact with people every day” says Drew.  “Like any start-up, it has its challenges” --but “I’ve always been more of a glass half-full kind of guy, and this is more about what we do, than the challenges we face.” 

WHERE CAN I GET MY MO' JOE?

Come down to McKinney Farmer’s Market in Chestnut Square this Saturday morning, August 30 from 8:00 AM to NOON parked next to Johnson House.  This time of year, I highly recommend the Frozen Mayan.  Mind=Blown.

Mo'Joe a Go-Go Links
Website
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook

Family: The Epicenter of Adventure

As I was watching my 7 week old daughter, Sophia, sleep in my arms last night, all my ideas started coming to life about our future here in the wonderful city of McKinney, TX.  It got me reminiscing about my lovely wife Katie and I's discovery of the Farmer's Market in Chestnut Square and how our Saturday morning routine really kicked things off for us as a family; getting out there in town, meeting people, building relationships, stumbling across local treasures, and simply discovering the new and the old. 

Photo Credit Mike M Photos

Becoming a father really shaped me as a person, and kicked off a whole new adventure for my wife and I.  A blessing really.  We have lived here just over 2 1/2 years, and in those two years the city's slogan on the water tower "Unique By Nature" made more and more sense.  There is a lot to discover here that is not the everyday norm of your typical suburban community.  That is a value that we plan to instill in our daughter and incorporate into our family life.  A sense of community, respect, being unique, and hope that some of it comes naturally.

I thought the appropriate kick off to this blog following the brief "gloaty" family history lesson was to put emphasis on the importance of family, and how family is the epicenter of adventure.  What greater feeling exists than showing your young children the concept of simply living, meeting people, discovering new ground, and getting them active in the community, starting at just 2 weeks old? If we're going the opinions route, I'd say not many.

Proudly Used Without Permission ;-): Sweetie Pies by Karen

Who makes up this Uniqueness by Nature? The people? The Families, and individuals alike.  I am beyond excited about this adventure and all of you who stop by for a read.  I hope to meet all of you around town on this foreseeably endless adventure.


-DAN+McKinneyTX-



DAN+McKinneyTX : an INTRODUCTION

Hello and welcome to my blog, DAN+McKinneyTX.  Here you will find subject matter pertaining to topics outside of the office.  Feel-good stuff.  Things that hopefully don't make you want to pull your hair out, and will take your mind off the grind.  A large number of my posts will be McKinney, Texas specific.  Having spent the first 25 years of my life living in Plano, I began the trend of taking my heritage back to McKinney, TX.  It wasn't until I actually moved to McKinney that I realized just how deep rooted my family was, here.  I don't use it for any sort of "street cred" or anything, but I am the great grandson of Isaac Crouch.  His name is on this building for those of you who frequent the McKinney Square.  His daughter, my great aunt, Violet Crouch Beatty, is a lifelong McKinney native and can show us all a thing or two about living life to the fullest and getting ourselves active in the community.  I get all my history lessons from her.  She and my grandmother, Betty, are the best direct sources of history lessons.


Photo Credit: City-Data.com

Like I said before, not for "street cred" but it's hard not to feel pretty awesome when I walk by this building every time I go into the square.  As I look at this photo while I write, I start sort of day dreaming about my future down the road and how neat it would be to have an office or small business in this building and just live here forever, and have one of those historic homes down the way; just like you see in the movies with children swinging on the large oak tree. 
As you may have noticed this intro blog has sort of turned into a "gloaty" personal history lesson, so please bear with me, I apologize. I need to build a foundation on why I have called my blog "Dan+McKinneyTX".

My great grandfather Isaac owned and operated the below funeral home Crouch-Moore Funeral Home on Tennessee Street, which is now home to Charles W. Smith and Sons Funeral Home


This brings me to the whole basis of my blog.  Living in McKinney.  As we gravitate our way out of the "gloaty" personal history lesson, which some of you might or might not find to be rather fascinating, just let it be known I will be covering mostly uplifting McKinney-based subject matter, as well as personal interests and hobbies.  I know for the last 2 1/2 years since my wife and I moved to McKinney we have loved it.  The square, the farmer's market, the locally owned businesses, the not-so-routine suburban culture.  I hope to capture the interest of McKinney residents and visitors alike. 

This is home now.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.  Thanks for visiting, tell your friends.

Photo Credit DALWORTH RESTORATION

-DAN [McKinney, TX]