End of the Year in Photos and the Yearly Catfish Count...

 It was a good year. The fish bit, our health was good, we traveled and the family did great. I tried to capture some of that fun with a end of the year photo collage. There are 1000s of photos to chose from. What with all the grandkids in for Christmas I've probably made 500 photos the past month alone so it would probably be easy to make 10 collages like this one but all different. 

The yearly catfish count is down a bit. I totaled 171 catfish brought to the boat in the past 12 months. That number does not include a handful of largemouth bass and bream, 30 or 40 white bass, various saltwater species of shark, whiting, redfish, Spanish mackerel and speckled trout or the fish we caught in Canada that included smallmouth bass, walleye and pike. I estimate at least 15 different species of screaming beasts were were subdued and eaten by me and my close associates and despite the decline in numbers no one ever said, "wish we had some fish to eat."

There is good reason for the decline in fish counts. In our retirement we have camped more and I think there were 10 Travel Trailer Trips to various states from New Mexico to South Carolina plus one visit to a foreign country, Canada. There was also the fire that damaged the boat and thanks to the kids for that refurbishing job but those things cut down on some lake time as did the trips we took that were purely for tubing and swimming fun. 

Happy New Year. I pray that all have the fun we do. If good weather holds I'd like a local camping and fishing trip but the first reservations on the calendar is for camping at Galveston Island State Park for the downtown Mardi Gras parades. 

          

The Great Christmas Boat Rebuild...

 If you follow this blog you might recall a few months back how my neighbor's workshop and a car caught fire and how all this was across the property line just behind our boat stall and caused scorching and melting damage to my boat. A local boat dealer, Callahan's repaired the motor very well, my neighbor fixed the trailer lights and for the most part we were back on the lake catching fish. The boat is 20 years old (the motor is newer) and it's a catfish boat so in addition to some scorching melting there was some good honest wear and tear to areas of the boat. 

Here is a before photo. Keep in mind this boat has been stall kept it's whole life but thousands of fish have been jerked out on the carport and dozens of girls in swimsuits have sat on those seats.  

I deemed the main carpet as good but there was age related fraying and then scorching to the three back deck panels so those were the only recarpeting done. You can see Morgan and Peter showing off upholstering skills. 

This was a bit of a thorny problem. The gas cap had melted and no longer fastened. I was a bit worried about contamination of the fuel and taking this apart involved removing old, hardened fuel hoses to take the decking off. It was easy to find the spout part with gas cap as Miguel googled the patent number but I don't think that gutter part to protect the carpet from fuel overflows is available on the internet so it was reused.  

Tim, Warren and Katie crawl the boat like lizards. It was nice that this was a dry mild Christmas, good for outdoor work.  

Rose and Morgan assemble the new Bimini top. This one is all hard supports, new cover and a new boot to protect it from the elements when not in use. The old top was aged and a bit melted from the fire and the old boot was totally melted.   

Morgan, Warren and Tim put the new top frame in place. 

Morgan gifted me a pop rivet gun which he purchased to fix the hinges on the front entry gate and Katie purchased a pressure washer to finish off the work with a good cleaning. Here's Mary and Katie giving the boat a fierce washing. 

It was great the weather was good or this part would have been much more uncomfortable. 

The final product. We need some good sun to dry things out after washing but other than age related wear and staining it looks quite a bit better and all the improvements will make time on the lake easier and more comfortable. I think I'll add some rod holders to get the pile of poles that we always seem to have on the floor up in an out of the way position. As a young man I just tossed those rods in there to get to the lake faster but as an old man I spend way more time messing with my stuff  so laying the rods down to fit in the garage and lifting the top for travel should not slow me down anymore than I already have. 

Here's a Christmas Staff photo of the Wallace boat works crew. They do good work and Cathy and I thank them for the gift of their time, talents and treasure. It's very rewarding to see that the things I have valued in life, not just the hobby of fishing but everything that goes with it, fun, family and good memories matter to them as much as it does to us. 

 

 

It's Not Your Mother's Football...

 Me, along with Cathy and Matt made the drive to see our nephew Chase play with the Shreveport Rugby Club against Cy-Fair. We had a good time, a great visit with Chase and the team won.

Rugby is not totally unfamiliar with me. Back in the late 70s when I was a student at Stephen F. Austin State University many of my friends from the dorm including U.S. Tico and another jr. high friend from the old neighborhood, Joe Jones played on the SFASU team. They once won a a state title in 1978 and still have occasional team reunions. 

I always tried to go to the Saturday SFASU games if I was not marching with the Lumberjack Band at a football game and was interested in playing but if you don't make it on the field in during the 1st or 2nd half you can always come play the third half which involves lots of beer, the singing of bawdy limericks, various stages of undress and girls that follow the team around calling themselves rugger huggers. 

While I was sitting at the game it occurred to me that all those rugger huggers I knew back then are now pushing 70 (as I am also) and since we all are beginning to rack up some serious years of sobriety we skipped playing the third half for a quiet dinner on an outside patio and some good conversation. 

Here's the best photo I got with my cell phone of Chase in action during the scrum. That's him about the middle of the pile, the red and black of Shreveport and the shortest shorts. Shorts have to be short because if the are not short they are long. I think when me and Chase met we both had on short shorts It's a thing with us and hopefully one day you will meet someone you can have a thing with too.

We arrived about 10 minutes or so into the game and missed Chase getting a yellow card for punching a guy. Chase, if you see us running late hold those punches till later. 

Shreveport won and I think they had 50 points. I forget how many the other had but a high scoring game is always exciting. I caught Cathy at home later at the computer looking up rugby shirts with slogans. I can tell by the way she's acting that I will probably have to play a third half to hear the bawdy songs.  

Just remember that when you solo a verse to the song, if you mess it up they pour a beer in a shoe and you have to chug it from the shoe. As a bartender once told me, "you'll be surprised what they will drink out of." 

  

    

 

My Year End Music List...

 Every media source is pushing the best of, most listened to, most streamed, biggest fan and I'm sure there is some negative Ned or Nellie that has put out a worse of the year music list. I have news for you. If you used a streaming service they picked the music for you. They pushed on you like hard drugs. 

I picked my own music from this back room in my house. This is an old photo because it's not quite as neat as you see here. Seems like the drums are stacked a little higher along the right side of the room right now and there are piles of cds and longer record stacks on the floor but that just means I'm letting the grandkids run wild with instruments and I'm picking the music to suit my mood. Sometimes I don't put it up because I play it again.  

What usually happens is in the evening Cathy might be at the computer inputting some St. Vincent de Paul paperwork from the day while I cook and pick records. If I'm cooking French or Spanish or catfish the selection is appropriate. It gets more appropriate as the evening wears on.  

I did buy some new music this year. It was mostly by bands and artists I have seen and a few I might even know as knowing goes in the digital age and have met . There was a Christmas release by Eight Foot Manchild, a new Preservation Hall Jazz Band cd, an old Drums and Tuba album, (they give them away free but I paid them) a Cockaphonix , a Red Barrat, and an Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band. If that looks like it's heavy on the brass band thing I think I also bought singer songwriter James McMurtry's new one and the last album by the late Todd Snider.  

I did not keep count of the used records but there were not many since I am minorly worried about this back of the house room becoming unlevel and uncoupling from the rest of my home and falling into the backyard. I am close to the end but stuff has to last me. As a precaution I did give away about 20 records because I bought these. That Artie Shaw, a compilation released in 1956 is a gem. 

Don't let them push music or any content on you. Pick your own. It does not need to be the latest greatest. It could even be from me. 

   

 

What You Do?...

We do many things. I know it seems like an ever revolving good time camping, fishing and grandchildren escapade around here but there are actually things that we do to help people. We volunteer for St. Vincent de Paul which can be a full time job if you are carrying the on call phone and are often called to play music for funerals, weddings and Quinceaneras by our church family. Lately we have been handing out red cards. 

All people in the USA have rights and protections under the Constitution. You may have seen a TV show where they said, "innocent until proven guilty." It's true and the red cards give examples of how you can exercise your rights. They are not legal advice and for this it's advised you check with a trusted legal provider. 

In case you think this is some radical thing the Catholic Bishop of Tyler put of this letter and it's a document the Catholic Bishops of the United States are in agreement with as they support vulnerable migrant populations. As I am a member of the local Catholic Church I'm glad to see this. 

So far we are on our second box of cards well on the way to distributing close to 500 in the community. We give handfuls to friends and they spread out from there. 

If you need some red cards they can be ordered from a Union shop and you can also be supporting good jobs, wages and benefits or you can download a form and have your own printed in business card format   

You can also see me for a handful of red cards. 

All these things that we can do for our community, our church family or your friends might not seem like much but hopefully they will add up especially as everyone gets involved. 

 

  

  

A Perfect Tuba, Book Report...

 

I was in a local merchant recently. They were ready for the gift giving season and I saw a stack of these traditional kid recliners for sale. They were camo, apparently targeted to East Texas tastes. Rated for the 1-5 year old age group they probably sold like hot cakes. I expect some buyers remorse when these kids turn 12 and they don't want to do anything but hey, it was a good Christmas.  

I just finished reading this book, A Perfect Tuba. I've played the tuba since 1969 and how I came to this book is a story in itself. My friend Anne told me about hearing a podcast interviewing the author Sam Quinones and I checked it out. It looked good and as books accumulate around here like fire ants and yellow flowers I allowed I'd see about it sooner or later. In a few days the book arrived in the mail. I'm not sure if it was accidently ordered or maybe sent by an unknown friend but if that's so I thank them again. I enjoyed it and my wife says it makes me easier to understand.  

In the book, Quinones, who has written several books on the opioid addiction crisis weaves a story of the history of great tuba players and famous horns which advanced the possibilities of the horn and stories of kids that came to the tuba as a kind of last resort (my story) toiling along mastering an instrument that more often than not does not lead to great public recognition, money or compliment but instead furthers the person, the organization and the community in which they are a part. 

Quinones writes of tuba and marching band, "They offer us lessons in how to confront our mass market culture of addiction." He relates that a band director once told him that what he wrote about opioids, you see the answers to these problems in tuba and band. 

In other words tuba might be the answer to the 21st century word enshitification, which began meaning the decay of online services which once benefited the user but swung to less features and more cost to provide max value to the share holder and is a definition that has begun to apply to other areas in our lives such as politics and society. 

That child recliner is enshitification. Next they get their own TV and of course a product to put in the cup holder and while a TV is pretty cheap these days the real cost of all this as you can imagine is down the line. 

Get them a tuba which you really don't even have to buy since because of it's cost it's generally a school supplied instrument. Here's a clip of where my horn has led me. "Up on the House Top" is a simple Christmas song but on examination there's more there. It's the second oldest secular Christmas song behind Jingle Bells and was written in 1864 by Benjamin Hanby. It's the first to mention Santa Claus but Hanby who died in 1868 was more famous for anti slavery songs such as "Darling Nelly Gray."

You might not make money or get famous playing the tuba. I don't own a recliner but I do sit in a sexy S-Chair. I cover songs that lead me down a historical path. I think the world is a better place because of these things. Maybe on another day I'll answer the question of which comes first, the tuba or the player.