Good to See a Friend Doing Well...

Our friend Hugo is back in action after being sidelined for the summer with stem cell and bone marrow transplants, chemo and all those things that are necessary for your health and healing but because of the delicate precautions to preserve your immunity that are required cut you off from your community. Hugo is back in the community of the St. Patrick's Catholic Church Bilingual Youth Choir, a group which along with our old friend Maria they have organized and taught to sing, play guitars and percussion and serve in creating a joyful noise.    

Hugo is an old friend from working at the papermill together and Maria was a teen in our choir more years ago than I want to count up. When Hugo got sick they called on us to come in as backups to help out with the music. Not that we have been really all that needed because as we were getting a new repertoire of music under our fingers the talent of the kids really exploded and they played Masses by themselves when we were traveling and a couple of the Catholic School students are playing for any occasion when music is required there.   

Of course it's no wonder that these kids are successful when you see the dedication their parents put into the process. Somebody has to get them there on time, attend rehearsals, Masses at the two different churches we play during each month, set up, take down, hauling the gear, copying music, bringing birthday cake and food when there is an occasion to celebrate (I've eaten more good home cooked Mexican food after rehearsals than I need) and a thousand picks and patch cables more. It really takes a family to make a difference and these families have changed the world. 

 It's good to have Hugo back. He's a great guitar player. If you ever need someone to move the root note a tritone away but keep the thirds and sevenths and pick the melody at the same time Hugo can do it. After being out he slipped back in the group playing well and using a guitar he had dropped and broken the headstock but found time to skillfully repair while he was out sick. The kids adore him. 

If your kid is bilingual and wants to sing and play there's a place for him. Some days it seems like we are barely fielding enough music stands and chairs. We are getting older and may not be in this group forever but I think it's safe to say the future of music at St. Patrick's Catholic Church is in good hands. 

 

 

The Ever Popular October Fishing Report...

We made a quick trip to the lake yesterday and caught our supper. My supper was considerably smaller than Cathy's supper but at least I managed a couple of fish and looks like the pattern is blue cats cruising the shoreline to take a bait suspended under a slip cork.  

Here is a photo taken looking north and the boat is positioned right in the middle of the old Angelina River channel. Today's monitoring shows the lake at 61.7% full or about 11 feet low. This is due to a variety of factors, a draw down due to work on the dam, summer water releases for power,  down stream drinking, and to defeat saltwater in coastal marshes and of course the drought. It's a very good reason to be concerned and involved any time there is a public discussion on water issues. A little planning now and we don't suffer a perfect storm of conditions that make our supplies run critically low or it's not sold off to the highest bidder who might not have local interests in mind.  

I guarantee there's more than a few johnny come lately bass fishermen, pleasure boaters and jet skiers who bought big rigs when gas was cheap and they thought they would look good in a stylish fishing shirt bought at a big box store that are surprised by all these stumps showing since the lake dropped. It's probably been 35 years or so since I met someone lost out here and the timber was still thick enough he couldn't see back across the lake from where he come to the boat ramp. It's all rotted off since then but I know it's there and as an old school lake guy I know not to speed through these areas. 

Heck I don't even wear a shirt fishing. The lake water was 77 degrees which might be warmer than the water aerobics pool has been lately. It was the first time at the lake in 5 months without wearing swimsuits and the afternoon sun made everyone think about taking off their shirts.  

We caught several fish in deep water but the main pattern turned out to be slip corks along the bank. Here in this photo the back of the boat sits in about 14' of water and the fish were just cruising the area taking the bait floated under slip corks 4' deep. Or at least they were taking Cathy's bait. I got a few bites but I was trying out a new 8.5' spinning rod Katie brought from Chicago. The length made me slow on the hook set and I think this pole might be better suited to long saltwater casts when you spot fish under birds way out. 

The depth break here is very close to shore. When the lake is up we have caught probably thousands of fish on the sloped bank in the background.   

In this photo we are headed down the long boat cut. That big 4' tall or so stump would be a motor wrecker with the lake at 6' under pool. At full pool it's getting harder to see the cut but the boundaries are very noticeable for now.  

Final total was 9 fish. Just enough for supper.

The two biggest were filleted and frozen for a nice grilled or blackened meal at a later date and we fried up the small ones. 

The menu was fresh caught fried catfish, friend sweet potatoes and navy beans. 

  

 

Brazoria County Fair...

 The Brazoria County Fair is a big deal. The night before we went had been some kind of discount ticket night so I can only guess how long the lines were to get a ticket then because there were plenty of folks there to pay full price. With all the Four H type shows, rides, food and entertainment the whole county cancels school the entire week. We came to the fair see our grandchildren working food booths and winning prizes for art.  

Coraline won Reserve Best of Class for an art creation called "Little Critters.  

The model was in a glass display case which is where we all wish to end up but that's makes it had to get a good photo. 

I did not tour the animal pens but the student art hall was impressive.

Tell that lady to back away from the turkey legs. Seemed that the national code of dress for the fair was cut off blue jeans and cowboy boots. I saw only women wearing this costume like a uniform of sorts and with a little advance notice I think I could have rocked a similar outfit as I have many pairs of boots and shorts in my closet but have never had the opportunity to put them together. 

Warren and Tim were busy at the fair with the local scout troop manning the baked potato booth and delivering ice to the various food booths. The scout troop has Big Bend and Philmont trips planned next year and this is a way for them to cover that costs.  

All in all a colorful fall evening. 

Always happy faces when it's fair which you should teach your kids only comes in the fall. 

  

Just a Quick Visit From Chicago to Hold the Baby...

 Our Chicago family, Katie, Peter, and the boys, Wallace and Hamish made a quick trip to East Texas just to hold the baby. With three brothers crawling all over him Nico likes to be held, expects to be held and enjoyed their visit. I think they all enjoyed it also. 

No activity was undertaken during the weekend of Earth shaking importance but we enjoyed the mild weather with a visit to the St. Patrick's pumpkin patch, watching the Zamora soccer games, cooking tacos, chasing goats and chickens and playing outside.  

The "work done on premises" photo. 

When ask what he likes about soccer he says, " kicking goals."  

The "put me in coach" photo

"Oh please Brer Rabbit, don't throw me in that pumpkin patch!"

Next up on the family agenda for components of this group is a Land Between the Lakes meet up and campout for Thanksgiving.  

Katie and Peter brought me a Big Foot Yard art or decoy or something like that. It's a fine addition and a new blog character. 

Really Good Dudes...

 When I was in college there was an old lake just out of town in a pasture and the owners of the property, whoever they were, did not seem to mind if hippies parked on the dirt road by the gate and walked down a rutted cow trail to go swimming. It was a good sized lake, several acres and I recall a small dock and decent fishing. 

A trip to the lake was a good way to start a party. I'd join a group of hairy guys in fraying cut off blue jean shorts which were the favored bathing suits of the era and tote an ice chest full of beer through the pasture to the waters edge. It's a fond memory because many places won't let you swim in cut off blue jeans and I've gotten too old to tote anything that heavy anywhere much less while covering uneven terrain. 

The lake was a good place to meet other people in cut off jeans, both men and women and hear about where the college parties might be for the weekend. On this day I don't remember who arrived first us or them but we met two very young girls, carrying their own ice chest and probably harboring the same intentions as ours's to meet people in cut off jeans and find out where the parties were.   

These girls were so young that they made us 19 and 20 year old college students feel like old world weary travelers. One was apparently old enough to have driven a car to the lake but the other one was a child certainly no older than 13 or 14. They were friendly and we sat around all drinking beer, swimming and chatting. 

As young healthy college age men in their prime we were fine specimens for drinking cheap beer in the warm afternoon sun all day long. Those young girls were not used to that. Car driver soon became very drunk and had to take a nap laying on a blanket in the grass at the water's edge. The other very young girl did not ever appear intoxicated and as I think back to that day almost 50 years ago may not have even been drinking. We continued on swimming, fishing and drinking.

Soon the sleeping girl stirred from the nap and laying on her back half conscious began drunken puking. As college students who had lived in the dorms we knew how to handle this. We rolled her to her side and held back her hair so she didn't get vomit in it or all over herself. My fine blog readers have probably never had such experiences but drunken puking while asleep is a choking hazard and if you have someone to help you, watch over you and hold your hair back you will feel better afterwards. 

Which is what this girl did. Young and strong she roused around and rose refreshed from her nap and rid of at least some of the alcohol in her system. The experienced drinkers we were pronounced her sober enough to drive. We helped them carry their stuff to the car and saw them on the way. 

They made it safely home that day and I know that because a few years later when they became legal age I would occasionally see them at the bar. We would nod and say hi but we were operating in different circles and all these years later I do not remember their names. 

I really don't remember exactly who the guys were with me that day but I could make an educated guess. Despite the frayed cut off jeans and all the beer drinking they were some really good dudes.