00:00:00AC Failures And A $99 Tune-Up
00:00:38Still Healing After The Flood
00:01:45Camp Mystic And The Weight Of Loss
00:02:20Lunch In Kerrville With Mark Armstrong
00:03:58Seeing The Damage And Community Spirit
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
“We are still healing” isn’t a line you say for effect. It’s a status update from a community that lived through catastrophic Texas Hill Country flooding and is still carrying the weight of it. I spent my birthday weekend back in Kerrville, Texas, along the banks of the Guadalupe River, because I needed to see the river one year later and talk to the people who never got to “move on” when the cameras left.
We reflect on what it means to witness flood damage in person, from the river corridor stretching toward Canyon Lake to the places where devastation is still visible. The hardest stop is near Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, where the grief doesn’t resolve into a neat lesson. There’s no closure to be found, only a clearer understanding of how deep loss can run after a natural disaster and how long disaster recovery really takes.
Over lunch at the Lake House Family Restaurant, owner Mark Armstrong shares a perspective that stopped me cold: how you can feel like “the luckiest guy on the block” on the worst day of your life. That tension between gratitude and heartbreak is a thread so many survivors recognize. We also talk about what gives towns real resilience when the water recedes: neighbors helping neighbors across Kerrville, Hunt, and Bandera, and the kind of togetherness you can’t fake.
If this conversation moves you, subscribe, share it with someone who cares about community resilience, and leave a review so more people can find these stories. What does healing look like to you after a disaster?
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English
United States
SHOW NOTES 🔗
TRANSCRIPT 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:13.439
Austin feed is hard on AC systems, and they break down at the worst possible times.
00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:18.239
Most A C failures we see could have been prevented with a system tune-up.
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:22.960
So if you're worried your old AC won't make it through summer, get ahead of the problem.
00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.640
And Honest, our professional AC tune up is only$99.
00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.839
It comes back by our no-breakdown guarantee.
00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:34.159
Only$99, so your system works better and lasts longer.
00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.759
For AC and plumbing repair, you can trust, call Honest.
00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.920
And we are still healing.
00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:43.200
I wish we were through, but we're not.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.880
We are still healing.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:55.679
That is Mark Armstrong, the owner of the Lake House Family Restaurant in Kerrville, Texas, right on the banks of the Guadalupe River out in the Texas Hill Country.
00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.439
That is where I spent my birthday, July 4th weekend.
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:27.519
And between having good friends, one of the things that I definitely wanted to see was not just experiencing the Guadalupe River one year later, after one of the most tragic events ever happened in Texas, as far as Mother Nature and flooding, and I had volunteered at the Sandy Creek which flows into Lake Travis later in July of last year.
00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.400
And that damage was horrific.
00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.319
Indescribable.
00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:50.799
And people are still healing and mourning the loss of well over a hundred lives, including the young girls and counselors at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas.
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:58.159
I did go by Camp Mystic, saw that, and it there's no closure on it.
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.040
There's no closure to be had when you visit it, but it is very emotional when you see this, and you see Camp Mystic across the river.
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:18.560
Devastation's still clearly visible all the way into Kerrville, and of course, all along where the Guadalupe River flows into Canyon Lake.
00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:20.400
Tremendous amount of damage.
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:31.759
Well, I got to speak to Mark Armstrong when we had lunch at his establishment, the Lake House, which has been around for 44 years at this location right here.
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.039
Simply picturesque, beautiful.
00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:40.159
And Mark, who has done a lot of interviews with several media outlets.
00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.439
In comparison to the world around me, I'm like the luckiest guy on the block.
00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:59.199
So it that's hard to process how you can be so lucky on the worst day of your life.
00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.840
Now that is quite a perspective to have.
00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:12.960
Seeing that, witnessing the power of water and mother nature, such as that in person, it's something that I had to see and talk to the locals about to truly grasp what that was like.
00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:29.120
And whenever you get an opportunity to witness communities coming together and helping one another, which all of those hill country communities have done, it was a tremendous visit to Bandera, Kerrville, Hunt, just talking to the people.
00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:35.439
And when you feel that sense of community and togetherness, man, it's always good to talk about.
00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:13.439
Austin feed is hard on AC systems, and they break down at the worst possible times.
00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:18.239
Most A C failures we see could have been prevented with a system tune-up.
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:22.960
So if you're worried your old AC won't make it through summer, get ahead of the problem.
00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.640
And Honest, our professional AC tune up is only$99.
00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.839
It comes back by our no-breakdown guarantee.
00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:34.159
Only$99, so your system works better and lasts longer.
00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:37.759
For AC and plumbing repair, you can trust, call Honest.
00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:39.920
And we are still healing.
00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:43.200
I wish we were through, but we're not.
00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:44.880
We are still healing.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:55.679
That is Mark Armstrong, the owner of the Lake House Family Restaurant in Kerrville, Texas, right on the banks of the Guadalupe River out in the Texas Hill Country.
00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.439
That is where I spent my birthday, July 4th weekend.
00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:27.519
And between having good friends, one of the things that I definitely wanted to see was not just experiencing the Guadalupe River one year later, after one of the most tragic events ever happened in Texas, as far as Mother Nature and flooding, and I had volunteered at the Sandy Creek which flows into Lake Travis later in July of last year.
00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:30.400
And that damage was horrific.
00:01:35.040 --> 00:01:36.319
Indescribable.
00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:50.799
And people are still healing and mourning the loss of well over a hundred lives, including the young girls and counselors at Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas.
00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:58.159
I did go by Camp Mystic, saw that, and it there's no closure on it.
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.040
There's no closure to be had when you visit it, but it is very emotional when you see this, and you see Camp Mystic across the river.
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:18.560
Devastation's still clearly visible all the way into Kerrville, and of course, all along where the Guadalupe River flows into Canyon Lake.
00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:20.400
Tremendous amount of damage.
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:31.759
Well, I got to speak to Mark Armstrong when we had lunch at his establishment, the Lake House, which has been around for 44 years at this location right here.
00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:35.039
Simply picturesque, beautiful.
00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:40.159
And Mark, who has done a lot of interviews with several media outlets.
00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.439
In comparison to the world around me, I'm like the luckiest guy on the block.
00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:59.199
So it that's hard to process how you can be so lucky on the worst day of your life.
00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.840
Now that is quite a perspective to have.
00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:12.960
Seeing that, witnessing the power of water and mother nature, such as that in person, it's something that I had to see and talk to the locals about to truly grasp what that was like.
00:04:13.199 --> 00:04:29.120
And whenever you get an opportunity to witness communities coming together and helping one another, which all of those hill country communities have done, it was a tremendous visit to Bandera, Kerrville, Hunt, just talking to the people.
00:04:29.680 --> 00:04:35.439
And when you feel that sense of community and togetherness, man, it's always good to talk about.
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