Ducks, Bent Trees, Horseback Riders, Just a Day on the Big Slough...

I spent a nice afternoon yesterday in the Big Slough Wilderness Area . It's duck season and with recent rains the water is up a bit. The pot hole in this photo was attractive to wood ducks. It's wadable water to get downed birds but on my last trip on opening day this was dry land.   

I bagged one wood duck hen yesterday and missed an easy shot on a drake. I probably saw all total a dozen ducks including about six that swam past me on the big slough while I was watching the pothole. Those six hugged the far undercut bank in the fastest current. They made themselves too much trouble for an old fat man in waders to even think about shooting and trying to retrieve.  

It was a good day for stalking quietly through the winter woods and I slipped up on a big hawk eating this racoon. He flew and after a photo of the carcass I went on down the trail to leave him to his business. 

After shooting that duck I slipped up to the big, fast water with a long straight away view down the slough and saw several more ducks probably including the drake I shot at swimming on the water. I was well hidden, not moving or making noise and they flushed. I pulled back to keep and eye on the pot hole where downed birds would be retrievable and I hear voices approaching from near where I had seen the ducks swimming.    

Duck hunters don't have to wear orange as ducks see color but I keep hunter orange in my backpack for if I come on other people and I want to be seen. I donned an orange hat and these horse riders appeared. They spotted me and stopped to talk. They were looking for a lost hog dog. They gave me a found duck decoy.

I guess I was raised to hunting by a WW2 veteran who was very cautious with guns and hunter safety and in the old days horse back riding, especially on open national forest land was considered dangerous as some one might spot the large animal and mistake it for game. Hunter education courses have been mandatory in Texas since 1988 and anyone born after 1971 needs it to hunt. It's possible that people are safer in the woods than when I was a kid. 

Those riders seemed surprised I was duck hunting without a dog. I had hip waters and a 12' telescoping fiberglass crappie rod that I rake them in with. Pretty low tech in the modern world but it works. They probably told people they came on a Wildman in the woods, an old guy with long gray hair and beard who had walked way into the middle of nowhere.      

Speaking of wildmen I noticed this bent tree across the old grown over logging road trail down to the water. Trees in the woods get bent by storms, the weight of  ice on the branches or other trees falling on them. 

Then I noticed how the branches of the horizontal tree formed an interlocking natural latch against the vertical tree. 

Can you see it? Locked tight. This looks like the work of a Sasquatch who does not want me down in this part of the woods. I thought it would be pretty funny so I urinated on his gate just to let him know who is boss. 

I saw no more ducks so when shooting hours ended at abut 5:20pm I walked back to my truck arriving in the dusky dark. There was a dead pine sapling about 25' tall across the road. There was another truck down at the dead end that must have parked before it fell or was pushed down so it had not been there too long. I carry an axe, shovel and tow strap and was able to break out the top of the tree and toss the skinny trunk off the road. Did someone want me to spend the night?

Anyway we have two ducks in the freezer with plans for Cathy to cook her famous fried duck breast and gravy. That, along with any other duck hunts before closing day on Jan 30th and Bigfoot encounters will be other blog posts.       

 

Drum and Tuba Christmas at Posadas...

Mary worked last night. She's a night shift labor and delivery nurse for those of you thinking that Drum and Tuba Christmas is her day job. I had to find a sub and fortunately I did not look very far as her brother Morgan filled in on the drum chair to play the Posada celebration at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Old Pop-Pop appreciates that he has two children to step up and back up his musical efforts. Actually have two more children and I'd liove to see what they could do backing me up but be ready for mixed results if it's on drums.    

If you aren't familiar with the 400 year old tradition of Posadas take some Aztec Winter Solstice celebrations, combine it with a dramatization and procession of Mary and Joseph's search of a place at the inn, prayer, songs, food, and a Piñata and you have Posadas. Since the seven points of the Pinata represent the seven deadly sins of lust, greed, gluttony, sloth, envy, pride, and wrath the blindfold represents faith and the stick is virtue to overcome sin and the goodies inside the Piñata are the riches of heaven one will receive when they overcome I think it's only that it's only natural we insert some Drum ad Tuba in there somewhere. 

Only problem was that when they served pizza and the piñata began I lost half the band. Fortunately we jammed a bit before it all started.             

This was our third drum and tuba show of the 2023 Christmas season. I'll probably have to send that suit to the cleaners.  

As long as you want the dynamics loud me and Parker are good at it. 

A video of us popped up on a Facebook page called Here I Am Lord to Do Your Will. That seems appropriate.  

Looks like a good time was had by all. 

Remember, there are 12 days of Christmas and when that finishes it's legal to eat King Cake and the Mardi Gras Season starts. Any part of that you can use a tuba, some drum, a piñata and pizza.   

 

Drum and Tuba Christmas in it's Ninth Year...

Drum and Tuba Christmas, a little family musical group has been in operation since about 2014. It started out with me and my daughter Mary on drums, with my son Morgan subbing one year and after a couple of lean years where everyone was having kids, working nights or restricted because of that COVID thing we have been back stronger than ever this year with grandsons Ezra and Luca joining the band and really pulling their weight and demonstrating not only do they have good rhythm but they know how to stand on a stage and show you what a song is for. 

I'll have to borrow a quote from my 13 year old granddaughter Coraline who said after we camped and attended a music festival this spring and said, "it was the best time I have ever had in my life." That's how it felt playing music with the grandkids.   

If you count the street busking in the park I did and a gig for a church luncheon and an invite to play Huntington Healthcare and Rehab I've made three shows in 10 days. Pick any favorite musician my age and see how he did. I'm probably in the ballpark for this kind of thing. Here's a photo of Cathy with friends Joe and Cheryl at the church gig. I primed the pump so to speak by making them one of our Carl and Cathy Radio zip drives full of tunes. After they here that they will understand all and be dressing like elves and playing with us next year.  

Feliz Navidad!

In case you don't know drum and tuba Christmas was originally a pagan festival. We just changed it around for our own purposes.  

At the nursing home one spectator told me, "you would be nothing without those kids." I'm not sure how to take that but I'll take it because I think he meant well and the kids did play well.  

Mary's back to the night shift this week and kids will be expecting Santa. There is almost too much fun to have. Look for Drum and Tuba Christmas at a venue near you. 

 

The Catfish Fillets in Tomato Cream Sauce Fishing Report...

We had planned a camping trip to Hanks Creek on Lake Sam Rayburn and had two great sites booked. One was for us and the other was for the Zamora's in the VW camper. The forecast started looking iffy so we decided to cancel. It ended up a steady rain all night Friday. Me and Cathy would have just snuggled in the Rpod and wore nice rain gear but everything in the boat would have been soaked and the grandkids, being a little closer to the ground would have been wet and cold. All our great plans turned into a lake trip just us.

The cold front blew out the rain but left north winds, clear skies and high barometric pressure. Fish don't like those conditions but we managed 12 keepers and threw back a bucket full of ridiculously small fish that some how took the hook. Cathy had big fish with this blue cat.  

It was brisk on the lake but not too windy to be dangerous. Water was 57 degrees and I did not check the air temps but Cathy looks all puffed up like the young mocking bird I see perched on the porch on cool mornings with his feathers puffed up like a down jacket.   

The lake is very low with lots of stumps to hit if you are cruising outside of boat lanes or river channels. Low water can be good for catfish as you can find those spots with tie ups right where the drop offs are which makes for good fishing. We were trying to find an old spot that Cathy named "the elevens" because two stumps close together looked like the number eleven. The last recorded sighting I can find where the lake was low enough to find the elevens was 2010. on review of the photo I don't believe this is it but I marked it with the GPS anyway.   

On the return home we maximized our catch by cleaning a couple of fish whole and saving the backbones for some old school frying later, filleting several small fish for some hunks to put in a courtbullion (kubeyon) soup and with the big fillets I whipped up this tomato cream sauce over baked squash and noodles. That's a potato salad I made for a side and I invented a Creole tarter/remoulade/pink sauce with mayo, ketchup and mustard that looks like it might become a mainstay around here. 

Ingredients in this dish are nothing special. I could probably cook it or something like it in any family kitchen that has basic vegetables, spices, butter, oil and a couple of versatile cooking pans. There was a suggestion last night that I write a cook book and call it, for the sake of keeping this page family friendly "Sh## In The Kitchen."    

We will be making the catfish count for the year in a few weeks and I know this is a low year but that's a stage of outdoorism when you make the transition from quantity to quality.  

 

Music in the Park and It's Varied Reception...

My old Taekwondo instructor, Master J.D. Olford always mentioned that there was something in the water in Lufkin, Tx and he was not talking about a good thing. Taekwondo is all about presenting yourself well, being the best you can be and being proud of it. Master always said that folks from Lufkin sat back and did not get too excited about these kind of things almost to the point of looking unenthusiastic and not knowing how to act. 

I guess what I do when I play tuba in the park is a throwback to the old Taekwondo ways in that I am out in public presenting myself. It's Christmas and I wore my crazy Christmas suit (kind of a uniform like a martial arts dobak) and played (like a belt form material) seasonal tunes. There were many joggers, walkers and young people out and I got smatterings of applause, vocal encouragement and had a passerby make the occasional cell phone video for the "look what I saw in the park while jogging" social media post. It was a good audience and a good time.       

Across the park I could see what looked like a food truck set up but it was really a local church feeding homeless people. I think there is a nearby encampment. 

Help to those with less is of of interest to me. We have lately been involved with the local St, Vincent de Paul Conference of St. Patrick's Catholic Church as an outreach to the poor but as there are so may programs for food in the area besides Thanksgiving and Christmas Food baskets we have avoided duplication of these efforts to help in other ways. 

I don't know if the church people thought I was homeless but a couple of different groups came over and invited me for food with three girls inviting me to play with one offering to jam on violin. 

I had about finished up but I armed up horn and music stand and walked across the park to the pavilion. As I say there were three girls inviting me but as I arrived at the picnic tables where the rest of the group gathered there were 30 or so other people there were not expecting tuba. I opted to take the nearest park bench instead if a direct assault. I thought it politer to be a bit standoffish with a tuba. After playing a half a dozen tunes some one at the food truck started up canned music and pretty loud. It did not sound like Christmas songs. I had been playing in the park over an hour at this point, a good days work by and standard and I packed it in. 

Like Master Olford said, it's in the water in Lufkin. People don't know how to act when they see street busking or musicians in the park and the girl with the violin never showed up.      

You can always follow me for more tips to see how the rest of the world lives. 

 

The Matchsellers at The Live Oak Listening Room...

The Matchsellers are a a bluegrass/old-time fiddle, guitar, banjo and mandolin group out of Kansas City. Andrew and Julie said they have been coming to Nacogdoches, Tx to perform and make friends for 10 years. They played to a happy, receptive crowd at the Live Oak Listening Room last night and their quirky, catchy songwriting combined with the traditional sounds of the bluegrass instruments makes you wonder why the whole world is not singing these songs.  

This was my first time to see them. Many of my friends are their friends and I can say that we've been missing out on some good shows. Nacogdoches and the fans there are a special place for The Matchsellers.  

Looks like some good venues they play especially if you like to sit and listen to music in a beer garden, a festival or a listening room. Apparently they do a full band show sometimes but this was a great, intimate performance.   

Catch some music at the Live Oak. Pot luck dinner starts at 6pm and the food was out of sight last night. I ate two plates of various casseroles and salads, two pieces of cake and a slice of pie. Music starts at 7pm. Donations to support local live music are welcome. 

 

 

Angelina Civic Band Christmas Concert...

On Dec. 3rd the Angelina Civic Band played it's Christmas Concert. It was a good one and under the direction of Paul Berler the band is larger this year and played a very good selection of Christmas favorites along with classical pieces that showcased a wide variety of time periods and styles.   

We have quite the tuba section this year. In addition to little old me we have Kyle, a former Texas A&M Drum Major and Phil, who is former Air Force Band. 

Once I was at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival standing along the edge of stage right and I looked into the the back stage area and I saw legendary blues man John Lee Hooker also standing there and watching the band. He was due to play next and when he turned and saw me watching him he gave me a big smile and wave kind of like I'm doing here. I don't know what that meant but if you emulate your heroes how can you go wrong?  

Cathy said she enjoyed the concert because singing along was encouraged on the Christmas numbers. She also said that during the Sonata Pian E Forte by Giovani Gabrieli and published in 1597 that she closed her eyes and imagined the great cathedrals of Europe. Isn't this what songs are for? 

Here's a complete list of the program.    

The spring concert, scheduled for March 3, 2024 will have an Americana theme. Our music library has been digitalized and music has been emailed out to band members. Rehearsals begin Jan 16th, each Tuesday in Hudgins Hall on the Angelina College Campus at 6:30.  

I don't have a recording of the band but here's Sonata Pian E Forte and it looks to be performed on the traditional instruments you would have heard in 1597. 

 

I Play Santa...

You were right if you thought you saw mommy kissing Santa. Someone said "I hope that's yo wife." It is but she did not know it was me playing Santa at the St. Patrick Catholic School Christmas Program. 

We have some history with St. Patrick's Catholic School. Our two youngest kids got a good start to their education there. Cathy has organized their Christmas programs before. On recently digitalized home videos a clip of a program when Mary was about 4 years old appeared. It included the procession of a live donkey into the church hall for the manger scene. Two of our grand kids also attend and were in this pageant and I played Santa.    

Yes, that one with his coat over his head. That's one of mine. He's 3 and would not nap or have a snack before the program so naturally his grip on emotions just barely held and I admire his discipline in not making a break for his momma's lap when the going got tough. Don't worry but he was fine later after a pancake supper, candy and rough house play in the church hall.  

His big brother Ezra took it all in stride. He might be made for things like this especially if it involves standing between two girls. 

Other than in drum and tuba shows I have never played Santa for little kids. I actually looked up Santa tips because I did not want to scare kids and it was basically be sober, be nice and be clean. I'm most of those things most of the time anyway so it went well with only maybe one kid sheading a few tears and one kid that while presenting a big smile was very confident as long as I was at arms length. Other than one beard puller (can you find fault with this? You would have done it also) the kids were very respectful and serious. Parents made lots of photos. No doubt I am all over social media this morning.    

Milo takes it in stride. Six months old and nerves of steel when putting up with Pop Pop's antics. 

Luca and Ezra, not fooled either. 

Oh yeah, Mrs. Santa. She's sober, pretty nice and clean or else I wouldn't let her sit on my lap. 

I got a Facebook content removed notice yesterday and the only thing I could think it could be was this Guardian article on old scary European Krampus customs whose images I love. Hopefully me kissing Mrs. Santa doesn't get me in trouble again.    

 

The One Man Show Fishing Report...

I took a day today. Cathy was busy with her regular counting of the church collection (referred to by Parker as stealing the collection) so I went to the lake by myself. I even forgot my cell phone and it was a nice change from the business of the past week or so where we babysat, played two funerals, played a civic band concert, bought a car, went to the Rudolph lighting, enjoyed the downtown Christmas parade and rehearsed for an upcoming Drum and Tuba Christmas Show. I don't think I left out too many things. 

I don't think there's much that's more beautiful than heading East down the lake on a winter day. I make this same run every time I go fishing so I have seen this many times at different times of day, all seasons and in every type of weather condition available to us here in East Texas but something about crisp, cool morning air brings better focus.     

I caught a couple of nice catfish quickly and it seemed like a mess was going to be quick work but it turned into one of those days where you catch one fish here and one fish there. Since the lake is at least 5 feet low I fished mostly deep spots. I noticed from my fishing blogs that 2018 was a year of high water and shallow fish in late December. Might try that on an upcoming camping trip. 

I did check one of my duck hunting spots. The season is closed right now for migration purposes and due to open this weekend. There were about a dozen teal loafing in my spot mid morning and when the flew several big ducks jumped up from somewhere else. Very pretty sights against the clear sky.   

Final total was 9 cats, nice fillet size with a meal planned Friday of Dad's famous Creole topping over broiled fish and baked squash served on a bed of noodles. That's for the big people. I'll fry a few pieces with hushpuppies and fries to keep the grandkids busy. 

I am the truck backer while Caty runs the boat on the trailer. All by myself I managed to remember how to do that. Maybe I'll do this more often.  

 

The Old Car is Dead, Long Live the New Car...

We put 195,000 miles on our old 2013 Ford C Max Hybrid. So far it's been the best car we have owned. We  bought the car in June 2015 when we spotted it on the local Ford lot at a price we could not refuse. Those miles represent a few trips across the country but there is also a lot of work miles I put on it driving around East Texas for home health and rural nursing home work. Repairs preformed on this car were minimal and mpg were consistent at 33-35 up until the day we traded in on this new to us Toyoda Prius.    

I'm retired, not rich and and this is the second car I've bought this year but with a little planning, saving and a firm idea of what you are willing to pay for I feel there are good used cars to be found. This one is a 2017 and it's a little older model than I would normally shop in a used vehicle but it's under 30,000 miles. It's cleaner than a 2022 Prius I shopped at a different dealer, there's not any design advantages I could see in a newer model and I could not justify spending 5 to 10,000 more even though I budgeted for that possibility. We received decent value on the trade in. It's a good color and Grandma is happy. The 50 mpg plus makes me very happy.

This car came from Advantage BMW in downtown Houston. There's a lot of very nice cars at that dealer and I think they wanted this one off the lot. The salesman made the first offer, I drove away to shop a different lot and on the way he called and made a better offer. I continued to shop but soon texted him to get the car ready. This is very similar to my truck buying experience with my friend Jorge at JM Chevrolet in Lufkin. They make the offer instead of asking what it will take to get you in this car and putting pressure on you. I don't entertain that I ever beat a car dealer but I stay in my budget and leave with my dignity.

After the deal I bet they certainly wanted the C max off the lot.  

Now retired and with the traveling we do pulling the travel trailer hopefully we won't put the miles on this car like we have some of them. If we do that's ok though. The old car is dead, long live the new car.