My apologies for being so tardy to respond to you all, but it can now be said, without any fear of contradiction or correction, that I am a bit slow, in particular to realizing how many welcomed me to the Society in response to the initial post. Thanks for being better citizens than am I (so far, at least - my intention is to correct that).
Yes, my wife and I are native Texans, and now reside outside Fredericksburg, which was founded in 1846 by German immigrants, whose resident old-timers still greet and converse with one another in German. We LOVE it! We have a few acres of land attached to the house and raise Longhorn cattle, to sell, for beef for ourselves and family, but mostly to simply enjoy them.
Shortly after our move here, my wife began to volunteer at the local Hospice Thrift Shop, and in my visits to that store I saw a wealth of cast iron items; meat grinders, cast iron cookware of all sorts, the occasional sausage stuffer, Coleman lanterns and stoves, etc. She doesn't get paid, but I wind up paying for something with almost every visit to that place. It really stoked my interest in cast iron! (Not to mention trying to find shelf space or other places to store what I just couldn't leave at the store)
I already had some cast iron cookware, inherited from my parents and grandparents, including several spiders that had been de-legged to fit on a modern stove (ARRGGHHHH!!!!), had a few more pieces picked up at Rendezvous over in the East and Southeast, and those, coupled with my Hospice purchases spurred me to figure out what, exactly, I had by way of cast iron cookware, and that led to this site.
I have been blessed by the information here, and by the answers to my questions (which are becoming more frequent in these recent days).
Again, my thanks to all, and I feel indeed most welcomed.
Jess