Renfest 2026...

Cathy was a bit under the weather this past weekend. She marshalled enough strength to sit in a lawn chair and praise the almighty soccer on Saturday morning but was not up to a trip with the Zamora clan to the Texas Renfest. I was up to the task. It had been a few years since I had attended the Renfest and as usual I tried to recall past trips that had been documented on blog posts but with Cathy's help we remembered that once upon a time pre internet when Mary was one year old we took my mom to renfest with us. Mom was probably just a bit younger than I am now. Thanks kids, for taking me. 

We met up with the Smith family there and with all in costume we made an afternoon of medieval times.   

 Nico is not going to recall this trip but they will tell him, "that time you went with pop-pop."

 I took as many photos of drummers and belly dancers as I could. This is an old renfest favorite, Tartanic. 

You can check out some 20 year old old renfare blog posts here and here. I'm pretty sure we've been sometime between my mom's trip in probably 1992 and the 2007 links and now but I don't have the info at hand. 

There are many shows to see and though we made only an afternoon of it I feel we caught a good sample of the entertainment and excitement the fair offers each year. 

There were some horns...

...and I got this one after dark photo of a brass quintet with tuba playing from a balcony as I passed by. 

More music. 

Won't somebody tell me, just what does a plague doctor do? 

Some people lost their hang chops before the fireworks. 

A photo from 2007. Still my favorite belly dancer.

Still a few weeks left. Check out some renfest if you can. 

 

 

More RenFest...

So you may be getting tired of this stuff, but I really had a bunch of good pictures, so many that I have trouble deciding which to use.

Here is a little crowd participation, these performers suck you in, get you involved. Here we were supplied with percussion by a group playing old English tunes and we jammed.

Scotsmen with bagpipes and drums. A group called Titantric, I bought one of their cds and it is quite modern compared to the traditional thing they were doing here. The cd had hip hop beats, spoken word poetry all accompnied by bag pipes. I liked it.









This group had a hybrid Greek/Irish sound.
Girl with the guitar was also a heck of a fiddler.

Couple of guys from the same group.

Cathy. 

Great Concert Last Night...

 The Angelina College Visual and Performing Arts Department put on a fine small ensemble concert last night. There was a handbell choir, a sax trio a drum duo, a piano solo, a flute choir and two polka bands including our Lufkin Brass Group which I played in. The participants ranged from community members to students to members of the Angelina Civic Band all combining to have fun and provide free entertainment for anyone interested in good music.  I should have taken more photos of each group but I was partial if there was tuba onstage. 

The Lufkin Brass and that's me on tuba. I think our formation dates to 2019 and we have played off and on through this time at The Texas Forest Festival, the occasional BBQ joint, benefit or church and have had a few membership changes but it was enjoyable to play again with our latest lineup for an appreciative crowd.  

The other polka band on the program was "The Hungry Five." That's Phil on tuba. 

They called this group the "AC Chamber Winds." Since we were in the small hall at the college it's the main band reduced in size a bit performing one of the tunes that will be on our Nov. 19th Temple Theater Concert. 

Word in the bandhall after the concert was that this was a great success and the next small ensemble will be in Early April 2027. 

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.