Big Eddy, Eisenhower Park...

Seems like the wet weather and high water has kept me from outdoor activity lately. Maybe it's just that stage in a sportsman's career where he would rather talk about going fishing than really go fishing. With Morgan in Italy for his job we paid a visit to Ali and Parker this weekend and I took the time to pay a visit to a city of Houston Park, Dwight D. Eisenhower Park.  

This Park is at the lower end of Lake Houston where the dam empties into the San Jacinto River. There is The Lake Houston Wilderness area nearer to Morgan's house on the upper end which we have explored by canoe. I am very impressed with the quality of outdoor experience available near the city. The only sounds of civilization  is the occasional whistle of jet engines approaching Hobby International. On a foggy day like this one the jets could not be seen.  

This spot is called Big Eddy and is actually a branch off the main river. It is also a canoe launch. No motors allowed. 

Looking toward the mouth with the river somewhere down there. I was interested in the dam area because I has seen recent video of good white bass fishing by boat behind the dam. While I got close enough as I explored around to hear the rushing water of the dam I could not see it or find bank access. 

Good bit of wildlife to be seen. I saw deer on the road driving in as well as cormorants and blue herons. Usually a good fishing sign, lots of birds near the water but I caught no fish myself this day.

Nice river sand banks. Makes you want to dig. I flushed up a flight of wood ducks from a pool behind this sand bar. Looks like if you head up the eddy this way you reach a rip rap dam with a road on it. It's blocked by a locked gate and probably leads to the dam tailrace. 

A big white heron hands around waiting for winter to be over on the Great Lakes so he can head home for the summer. 

Nice foot path along the water. 

I saw about a half dozen people in the park. Three guys fishing a park pond that had beware of alligator signs, a guy walking a dog, a woman who looked like she was stretching to prepare for a trail jog and a Texas State Trooper who I swear was stealing the paper from the portapotty. I had urinated in that unit before fishing and duly noted that just in case there was toilet paper. After a drive around I returned to spot the trooper standing outside the unit with a roll of paper in his hand. I ask myself why as I kick myself for not making photos.  

So it seemed pretty isolated but I can guess that it might not always be so. Most every tree at the waters edge had corks, lures and plenty of mono fishing line wrapped up in it. If you zoom this photo you can see all the line. My guess is about 6 million people living within an hours drive of this spot. If they all get hungry and the grocery store is closed a few cormorants, a pelican, several wood ducks, two alligators and three deer are not going to go very far.    

Mardi Gras Galveston...

You probably know by now that we like Mardi Gras. Mine and Cathy's second date was to the New Orleans Mardi Gras. I think we were on our first date and we are not sure who brought it up but some one mentioned they were going to Mardi Gras. Someone else said, "me too, let's go together." We have lost count of the Mardi Gras we have attended and through the years we just go the whatever is handy, New Orleans, Lake Charles, or Galveston. Although Fat Tuesday is more than a week away the parades are rolling and we have found the first weekend of Galveston to be uncrowded at the parade routes along the seawall and a perfect place to introduce granddaughter Parker to her first Mardi Gras. 

Parker and Ali display the Bead Baby necklace Cathy caught from a float. Cathy only whimpered a little bit when we made her give it up to the real baby. Parker wears ear protection to save her hearing from blaring tubas. Probably should have wore some sunscreen because even thought the Gulf was shrouded in fog UV rays reddened her little fair cheeks. 

I'll get up some tuba player photos to my facebook tuba player photo album shortly. It has turned into my life's master work, taking photos of tuba players. I did not notice the lexan mouthpiece when I snapped this. I have recently began using these which are made by the Kelly Company.  I like them better than brass and have one like this model this guy has which is patterned after the Hellborg mouthpiece used by John Phillips Sousa's tuba player. You can get most any color you like including sparkles. I discovered if you took pot luck on the color they were about half price. Mine is baby poo green. It's my second favorite, nothing on the color but I have one with a deep cup, clear that I favor.   

Cathy likes beads. Very therapeutic, going crazy grabbing beads which signify nothing at all. 

Cathy and Parker all serious about the next float coming. 

After I ripped my shirt out reaching for beads Cathy offered her shirt and she would just wear beads. It would have looked something like this. 

Mardi Gras in America dates to a small celebration held when French Explorers landed near New Orleans in 1699. It actually has pagan roots as a Spring Fertility festival dating back thousands of years. When Christianity came along it was easy to roll all that celebrating into a prelude to the Lenten customs of fasting and penance. Parades as we know them started up about 1837 in New Orleans and 1871 in Galveston. Mardi Gras in Galveston stalled out during the hard times of WW2 and only resumed in the mid 1980s. 

Hopefully you can enjoy your Mardi Gras as much as Parker did. As someone at church told me "Lent lasts a long damn time."

No more fussing...

Lot of argument these days. About all kinds of stuff and here is a solution to the most classic argument of all time. Do you hang the toilet paper over the top or coming from underneath? 

Glad to see someone has solved this. There is no way to hang this toilet paper. Now there are arguments to be made of course. But they are a deeper kind of argument. An argument that reasons to ask why. 

I suppose you could say this roll of toilet paper was made to put the most possible sheets on the roll. Unlike a donut with a whole in the middle that you cannot eat there is paper in the middle that can be utilized. I don't suppose that somewhere on the shelf near this product some enterprising marketer was selling the cardboard tube just like the bakery sells the donut hole. 

I suppose it's good use of natural resources instead of cardboard you can't wipe your hinny on there paper you can. Nothing is thrown away in a landfill it just all goes to flushville. 

Of course you could say this paper was marketed to people who don't hang their toilet paper at all and that would be me. I know there are more of you out there. I can't be the only one that prefers the hand rolling.     

We know there are some that don't do well with change and let me assure you there is nothing to worry about. This is a top notch product with great comfort and good wipeability characteristics.  

Cold Weather Catfishing...

I remember when I was a kid if we had an old army surplus jacket purchased at the old Army Navy Store on frank street we used to think we had some good cold weather gear. Plenty of winter days spent running down the old Angelina river in a flat bottom boat shivering like the poor old dog that ate peach pits. 

Yesterday with the wind chill at about 33 degrees I was dressed pretty much like Cathy is here. The only Army surplus I had on was a wool scarf tucked in my collar. My feet had $38 dollar gortex socks and on my hands for the run across the lake I wore a pair of thinslate gloves that are really for those just in case moments during cool month Chicago visit but more often that not come in handy when on the lake. 

With most boat ramps closed due to high water there were more cars than I expected at the Shirly Creek Marina boat ramp. Water is over the road to the marina so you need a boat to get to your boat if you are docked in a marina slip.  We saw this eagle on our last trip to this area and he was looking very noble while dining on fresh fish. Photo taken from 35-50 yards away, only slightly cropped. 

Matt takes awards with most fish. Boat positioning is best if wind is north or south on this spot and with it out of the east it put him right on the sacred pocket. Usually about 6' deep at this spot it's about 15' with the recent rains. You may note Cathy's thrift store rubber boots that are an integral part of her cold weather fishing plan. 

A slow but fun day on the lake. I'm glad we bundled up and toughed it out. That's 15 catfish to begin this year's fishing tally and I'm glad that there was not more to clean. They are swimming in our belly and I think Matt is taking his left overs back to Houston later today. 

Musical Heros...

While walking around downtown Shreveport we stopped to socialize with the statue of one of Louisiana's favorite sons the folk singer Leadbelly. He's special to me because me and old Lead have a couple of connections and one connection that goes way back. 

If you don't recall Leadbelly wrote such famous songs as Midnight Special and In the Pines. His descendants still live on the royalties his music makes. He was quite a persuasive character because he was able to talk the Governor of Texas, Pat Morris Neff into giving him parole in 1925 after being sentenced to the pen for murder. Old Lead was a sweet talker. Neff had ran on a no parole platform. Best I can tell Lead was in prison 4 times, once escaping and serving his final term in 1930 after stabbing a man in Manhattan. He was patriotic, attempting to enlist in the army during WW 2. He was turned down because of his age  and died in 1949 at the age of 61. Leadbelly recordings are easily available on any medium you wish today. 

Me and Lead share the same birthday. Once I gave Ben at Blackspot Tattoo a couple of recordings and said listen to these and draw me a tattoo. Ben called Jace, who was working at KRBA at the time and asked him to run the song In the Pines through an oscilloscope and send him a photo. Ben then tattooed the design in a band around my left upper arm. I carry Lead with me and me and Cathy sometimes perform this song at gigs. The song has a couple of sets of lyrics and I don't know which ones Lead wrote but one set is about murder and the other is about trains. I usually do the train version. 

        

Lead's real name was Huddie Ledbetter. I have a 6th great grandfather, Henry Ledbetter born in Charles City County Virginia in 1690. On his death in 1751 his will specified the inheritance by his son Henry Jr. born in 1728, two boys Abraham and Cato. History shows us that with the buying and selling of people these boys or their descendants could have easily ended up traveling by slave coffle to Louisiana.  Who knows, this might be another connection.   

Looked like down town had stars on the sidewalks dedicated to more musical performers. Here's one to Hank. I took this photo and there were more but about this time a drunk or stoned guy took up with me and started telling me his life story as we walked through the area. Twenty five or or more years ago before we quit drinking guys like this used to single Cathy out and talk to her, kind of like she had a sign on her head that only certain people could see that said CRAZY PEOPLE TALK TO ME. Now, in our sober years her sign seems to have gone off but there is now one on my head and they all head for me. That's what this guy did and began telling his life story as we walked along. 

After a bit he asked me why I was not talking and I told him that sometimes the best thing one human could do for another was to listen, besides if I start telling what I have done with my life it will sound as if I'm trying to get in a pissing contest of some sort. He went on and left us alone. Later we spotted him again but he avoided us. 

I did not get a chance to check out anymore stars.