Jam Session Photos...

A few photos from the fish fry jam session. Pop and Morgan work it on out on acoustic instruments.








"Three cords, a red guitar, the truth." A famous quote, can't remember who said that, it was either Woodie Guthrie, Bono or Glen Beck. I do know it was Eugene Hutz that said "Don't trust a household without a gutar in it." Here Morgan plays a Fender Strat he bought on ebay. I guess there are households that don't trust househould that have guitars in them.



Left to right Morgan's friend Jerrod, Miduel on drums and Morgan work out the electric jams. They were trusted on this night by the neighborhood. Been about a year since anyone called the sheriff for the loud electric music, see I can be good, but then I never picked up one of the eletrified instruments this night. Hey, I guess that's being good or maybe being old when you don't have to play at your on jam session.

Did You Know There is Sand at the Beach...

Ever feel like pulling yourself into a hole in the ground? If you are lucky, you will have friends to help you. Mary lays back while Crystal digs.
Keep telling yourself, "don't lick lips, don't lick lips..."

















"Hey guys, where are you going?"

Fun at the Beach...

Good friends and family gathered at at the beach. Looks like all have something spotted out at sea, left to right Geneva, Pop, Crystal, Don Miguel, and Alejandra. Nice shaded porch on this house. I don't like to sit in the sun any more, might make my skin look old.



Don Miguel handles grilling duties. More than one way to burn at the beach. For dinner is riblets, wings and sausage.










Alejandra made menudo for breakfast. Cathy says "better wake up than coffee." Just for the record in a recent Rolling Stone magazine interview singer Greg Allman of the Allman Brothers band was photographed wearing the same bath robe Cathy appears in here. I think she had hers first.

Happy Birthday Miguel...

Miguel closes his eyes and concentrates hard just prior to blowing out his birthday candle because he knows that if he does a sloppy job and spews spit all over the cake with the sudden rush of wind from his oral cavity his girl friend Mary will be so mad. Nothing ruins the day like a bespitted birthday cake.

Texas Beach Scenes...

A Texas beach is one of our favorite places. Never mind the water is sometimes chocolate brown and the sand in your swimming suit is not a pristine white, there is something I can't quite put my finger on that makes this one of our chosen vacation spots. We used to get beach houses all the time when the kids were little, had to take a break for a few years while I was back in school, looks like we may be back on schedule for summer beach fun from now on. This is the house we rented at Surfside Beach.





Sunset with the full moon rising over the Gulf.












This is a favorite thing, our surf rods in pvc pipe holders await a bite. I like beach front fishing. Surf wading or long rods in the holders it can be hit or miss depending on wind waves and tides, mostly miss this trip, it can make for an intense few minutes when all rods get hit at once.

Coraline's Baptism...

We were in Lake Jackson this weekend for Coraline's baptism. Here you see Parents Rose and Juan gathered around the fount with professional patrinos and godparents Mary and Miguel as the Deacon of St Michael's performs the Sacrament of Baptism.














Here's the whole gang, who all stayed at a beach house in Surfside for a little fun in the sun in addition to to being present for the baptism, Left to right, Morgan and Ali, Joseph and Vanessa, Mary and Miguel, Rose, Juan and Coraline with Bill behind, me and Cathy with Geneva beside me, and Miguel's' family, Ashely, Crystal, Selena, Alejandra and Don Miguel.

More Graduation Pictures...

All the fine Aggie graduates gathered in mass ready to go out and save the world, over 1000 total for this late summer ceremony.








The assembled dignitaries. All are here to make sure the requirements are met.










Sure wish I had an ipad. I would also be using it to kill time as the graduates crossed the stage. Guys like these are the first to hollar that things aint like they used to be. They are right. Wait a minute, I forgot, you guys done saved the world, take a break.

Kids at the Fish Fry...

Geneva holds Addison, born to Margaret and Kevin last May. Addison is making her first appearance on the blog.
Cathy demonstrates Coraline's features for Anne.

Grayson mugs for Uncle Carl and the camera. From the conversations we had I could tell she is an avid reader of these pages.

Graduation Fish Fry...

Morgan's graduation celebration continued with a fish fry on Saturday. Here's a sheet cake made by Mary, who is getting really good at making these in school colors. Give her a call, I am sure she can do your school.









The rest of the menu, fish, shrimp, slaw, beans, potatoes and hush puppies.







Music provided by the Texas A&M Graduation String Ensemble Band. Left to right, Pop, Morgan, Mary, Jerrod and Mudbelly.

Graduation Day...

Morgan graduated from Texas A&M this morning. Here he is with proud parents.









Getting a most inportant piece of paper.

Few more Temple Photos...

This is a stone or petrified wood cross leaning up against the back of Morgan's house in Temple. Not sure what it is or may have been, the ends look to be cut smoothly. I know what I would do if I was a single man just moved in a house by myself. There was a nice empty corner in the living room. I'd lean it there.










How about a down stairs tour? This is the storm cellar. This chamber is located below the under the house ground level, the place where you find old children's toys but no children, lonely discarded Tupperware and old 8 track tape players aching for a comeback. Looks dry and clean now, the sump pump is a dead give away you don't want to sack your hoarded paper money in shoe boxes here.


This date, scratched in concrete over the door, 10-14-31 means the house is 18 days older than Pop.

This Evenings Deer Photos...

Took a five mile walk this evening. I usually walk 4 miles several times a week but added on the extra because of free donuts at work today. The deer were quite active and I took a few cell phone picture. That was the only camera I had with me.

May be this winter when I fall in a slough while duck hunting and soak the current phone I'll upgrade to one with a better camera. I note when looking at pictures on other folks phones the quality seems quite a bit better than mine. I'm not really tech jealous, it's just that with a simple plan upgrade I will be able to take pictures that look as good as the one Leonardo took of that Mona Lisa gal.


This deer says "Glad that man is in the fence, he looks dangerous."

Big Old Baby...

Coraline is getting big. So big in fact it takes the Galveston Bay Turning basin to have adequate room to swap ends. To roll into side lying as demonstrated here requires the main runway at Houston Intercontinental Airport and a travelers advisory warning of flight delays lasting one or more hours.

Vinyl is Hot...

That's the buzz anyway with many new releases being pressed and high end turn tables selling for a premium. You know I am always hip to then latest thing so here are some thrift store finds I added to my 500 plus (really haven't counted in about 20 years so it might be more) on our recent visit to Temple Texas.

With the strong Czech/Polish/German heritage of the central Texas area polka music is big. At one stop I picked up four polka records, priced right at $1 each. It tore my soul to think these fine records might lay in some dusty bin as a way station before the dump so I took them on. Note two records by the Makek's Orchestra (still in operation for over 100 years in the Corpus Christi area) Lee Roy Matocha ( passed in 2003) and Vrazel's Polka Band (just back from Europe, 55 years a going concern)

Plenty of accordion and tuba in these family bands that have carried on through multiple generations. These records I have purchased seem to be of 60s vintage with only one dated, March 9, 1968.

The other find is a Reader's Digest Box set of big band music covering the years of 1936-1945. This was a $5 purchase at Goodwill no date of issue. I have a real good selection of big band on cd and vinyl and in my prime I would not have been caught dead buying something from Reader's Digest but what the heck, I got old and didn't care anymore, except about the music.

So we are busy around here, listening to music. You never know about these old records, they may come in handy. These particular ones are big extra thick petroleum based 12 inchers. In the event of the end of oil I figure I melt them down I might have a decade or two of gas left while the ipodders walk everywhere.

Found Items...

Saw this washed up on the shore while on our last fishing trip. Coincidentally it was in the vicinity of the lost overalls. I guess stuff just washes up there.

Your guess as to function of this thing is as good as mine. Maybe an old red neck communications satellite like we used in the days before the Internet was in the air all around us. Maybe it's a vote counting machine, like we used in the 2000 presidential election. Give me two sturdy sticks and it would make a great instrument for me to play a cover version of the great Bongo Joe song, "I Can't Sing."

No, really my guess, judging from the ropes hung from it for attachment it's a fish hotel, creator unknown. Lots of cut out areas let little fish in to hide from big fish. Then while big fish say "I Know that little fish here some where" you drop a lure down and catch big fish. Nothing to it.

So even though the lake is a few summer time feet low, I don't think this was the original placement for this device. It will sit here for a while, waiting.