We Ask Again the Eternal Question...

By the way, this is not a selfie. It should be comforting to you and I know it definitely eases my mother's mind as this photo is proof that we do use safety equipment while producing this blog. My mother does not actually read this blog because she has no computer and the small font is difficult for her to see but I have full confidence that another blog reader will call her and hopefully mention that we had on our life jackets. Again, by the way, does this life jacket make his butt look big? If so he will take it off but not right now. If you are going to take anything, shake anything in the canoe let me get my camera back in the dry storage.

The girls take a swim. These are not girls we met while canoeing. We brung them with us. 

So far each time I have had the canoe out I have caught at least one fish, sometimes more. They have not been large and beg the asking of the eternal question. 

More Music You Might LIke...

I am so far behind in blog writing I am going to reach back to our last New Orleans trip for some photos of the Wood Brothers. 

The Wood Brothers are Chris on string bass and Oliver on guitar. It's a kind of folky blues/Americana thing going on that has chord progressions you have heard before but what makes it a bit different is that the phrases resolve a bit differently that you might expect in ways that are unexpectedly pleasing and  surprising to the ear.  

Multi instrumentalist Jano Rix plays drums, melodica and and unusual percussion instrument the shuitar. 

Here's a close up of the shuitar headstock. Careful with that spelling. Some people call my playing "shitar." 

Oliver plays some cool guitars. Here's a nice thin hollow body Guild. 

Chris on bass. 

Jano on melodica. 

Check these guys out. Their new album is due in October. 

I Resume a Dormant Hobby...

My wife thinks this hobby is me trying to get my butt kicked. The hobby is me taking pictures of people of interest to me, without their knowledge and of course I avoid getting my getting my butt kicked while I'm doing it. I know it seems a bit creepy and slightly stalkerish but it is the age of people of Walmart and while doing this both me and the person I took a picture of had their clothes on so I figure no harm done. 

Here is a guy I spotted in the Chicago airport. We were waiting on the same plane so this could have gone madly badly wrong if we had ended up being assigned to the same row of seating. This is the photo I got. 

This guy is reading a book called "You are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life."  Here is a crop of the cover.

And if you still doubt me I snatched this copy and paste off Amazon. It's a self help book. 

Ok so no debates here on the definition of greatness or the fact that awesome is a word that grew cold about five years ago and in some circles never even got warm. No review or discussion of the author's previous work which was titled "Never Sleep With Your Drummer"  is required because I have never done such even though it is now legal for me and the drummer to take out a marriage licence. I think we should talk about what would make a better book. 

I think a better book would be "The Times I Tried to be a Badass and Failed." Lot more insight to be gained here. If some one just tells you how to do something it takes away the critical thinking aspect. You might as well be making cookies. Lot more handy to know the things to avoid.  

And that gets a bit harder as you age when you aren't as good looking, not so quick to duck, not so fast of foot, too loose with the tongue and slower with the wit. I don't know if getting away with this photo makes me a badass or just a mean person but I think I could write that book.  

 

Traveling with the Grandkids...

We flew to Evansville,Indiana with Coraline and Warren to visit Cathy's sister Margaret, husband Kevin and their kids Grayson and Addison. Thanks a bunch to our host. We had a great time relaxing, not doing anything that was too hard and just watching the kids play. 

Despite the glare from the sunroom/green house space behind the kitchen I think you can get the idea that this was a group that could put the hurt on some carrot sticks and mac and cheese. 

Shave ice killers at the farmers market. Warren looks like somebody put whiskey in his shave ice 

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Mr. Don't know it's over my head meet your swim wings. 

Cannonball. 

Double diving. 

I think that's a swan dive. 

Somebody thought they saw a catfish in the pool. 

Summer Bromance...

You know, a bromance. It's where two guys get together, don't need no stinking Supreme Court rulings or nothing like that and have fun. I mean lots of fun. 

It's a good kind of multi generational multi cultural fun. These guys hang out, ride a jet ski, listen to Def Leopard and go to Bass Pro Shops. They dance a little cumbia and bust a pinata.    

The good times roll and they don't mind letting it show. 

"Be back a little later, don't wait up!" 

Happy Birthday Mary...

24 years old! 

Quick Afternoon Canoe...

A quick afternoon canoe trip to Caney Creek Park on Sam Rayburn was nice quiet fun. Not many folks around and the park while perfect for our purpose is in poor shape. I think it took a good hit during the hurricanes and has not recovered. It's great for a boat launch, primitive camping or wild life viewing. 

We caught 6 big bream.

A nice day for sunbathing. No this turtle is not swimming in my belly. The turtles let the small boat get up close to them where they clear the area when the big boats come. 

A creek with a huge clog of an invasive species giant salvina trapped behind a log. This spot is about 10 miles from the first place I ever saw giant salvina in Sam Rayburn several years ago. Salvina kills the wave action that puts oxygen in the water. Most plants are good for fish in one way or the other. This one is bad. 

A red eared slider. In addition to turtles we saw lots of wood peckers and a baby deer frisking around. 

Note the salvina in the background. I have heard it gets so thick a dog can walk across it. 

Lake Jacksonville Weekend...

Sometimes I get the impression from folks that they think this blog is a realtime affair. It's happening right now. It's not but it does tell about the real good times we have, when I get around to sitting down and organizing it and one of those real good times was at brother in law John and wife Mari's new lake house. It's on Lake Jacksonville near Jacksonville Texas. 

Very nice spot. That path leads to the boat house. 

Cathy sits on the boat house dock. John and Mari have been up there most weekends this summer and during the week they keep the house locked. I think the boat house is open 24/7. 

From the looks of things on the lake boating, jet skiing and floating in the water off your dock are the main activities.  In this photo we have roughly left to right Megan, Caitlyn, Peter, Mari, Margret with Addison and John. 

From the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site they seem to keep up a pretty steady stocking program of largemouth bass. I think lake record is a 15 pounder. I would think by now any fish are pretty used to boats and jet skis because the amount of boat traffic is much larger than I am used to in my secluded Sam Rayburn spots. If I were a regular fisherman on this lake I would try trolling. 

Mary, Grayson and Caitlyn tube. You can see the lay of the land behind them. The shore is many nice homes and boat docks. I could spend the day riding around looking at the various styles of living which range from very modern with mini marinas to old school deep south tin boat sheds. All are very clean and well kept.  

The girls invented some kind of game to pass the time on the dock. All lined up you have Grayson, Margaret, Katie, Cathy, Megan and Caitlyn. In back is Mary. The front line shuffles around like musical chairs and the person in back closes their eyes and squeezes everyone's behind and tries to guess who is who. For some reason I did not get picked for this team. 

Thanks, again, John and Mari for a great weekend. 

My Mom, Kids, grand kids, great grand kids...

I used this photo on facebook but my mom wanted this photo on the blog for the non facebook users to see.

Happy Birthday Mom...

My mom is 91 years old today. She does not drive anymore but is going strong. 

Fish Fry 2015

My mom standing on the right with parents, brothers and sisters mid to late 40s-early 50s

Don't know the date late 40s-early 50s maybe. 

Early 40s

With the great grands last winter. 

Mother's Day 2015.