Family newsletter? Last year, I ripped the “best of,” or whatever I deemed to be the best of, into a book, aptly titled “Two Meat Tuesday,” or sometimes, it was just titled “astrofish.net/xenon,” Which, think about it, is the web journal’s home. I toyed with some ideas, but what I wound up coming up with was the text for a typical, I suppose, in this day and age, “family newsletter,” the ubiquitous item that kills many trees, and leaves the postal workers overwrought.
I was at the post office Tuesday afternoon, and as I inched closer, I kept hearing the usual refrain about “You want this there by Christmas?”
I kept thinking, “If I wanted it there by Xmas, I’d mailed it, like, last month. Duh.” But I kept my own counsel and didn’t mention that.
So what happened? I was in the UK with my family for Xmas ’04. Got home in time to get sick, get well, and hit the trail, metaphorically speaking, and I was off and running. West Texas. El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, up to Dallas, back to the coast a couple of times, and finally, down to Rockport. Where I rediscovered the joys of the coastal bend, that little patch of seashore that stretches from south of Houston, towards Corpus Christi, and borders the Gulf of Mexico.
I had much fun, just fishing off the piers, and on one getaway trip, I was coerced into hiring a guide with a strong boat for some shallow-water bay fishing. Which generated some excitement, and rekindled another fire I’ve got for bay fishing. I’d forgotten how much fun it can be. The scenic beauty of a Rosetta Spoonbill, looks like Pink Flamingo, against a backdrop of shallow shoreline marshes, and a silent oil platform in the distance, against the sun rise. It is the Texas coast.
Two of the trips to the coast were punctuated by hurricanes. Three, come to think of it. I had no end of fun teasing my mother about how I was heading into the gaping maws of a hurricane. What really happened is I got rained on once, and the other times just resulted in higher than normal tides, which, in turn resulted in better fishing conditions. But it did get to be a standing joke that me planning a trip to the coast usually meant a hurricane. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
I think I made it Las Vegas once last summer. Bubba’s birthday bash, as it were. And it wasn’t. But it was.
There was a trip up to Seattle for a family vacation, along with Wagner’s Ring Cycle (all four operas in sequence). On a couple of afternoons, I managed to grab some pretty amazing pictures, especially considering the hardware limitations, the pictures were mostly from the flower market downtown. Good images.
I was in Dallas for work, just prior to Seattle, and there was a new coffee shop there, with arguably the best coffee – espresso – in Texas. Better than any I’ve sampled in Austin. In Seattle, there was the coffee place, plus, of course, a pilgrimage to the original (big name brand here) store. What impressed me? The original logo had naked ta-ta’s on it. The spark is still there.
The images, especially the flowers? That gave birth to a new idea, the yearly family DVD. I’ve been toying with it for the last couple of evenings, off and on, trying to get it all ripped right. Now, I don’t figure – even my own family – is interested in hundred of pictures of me with a certain bass, my fingers hooked on her jaw for a few moments.
My phone went for a swim with me, and I think a little dunk in the creek shouldn’t hurt the phone that much, but was as dead as can be. Which, oddly enough, resulted in less fish pictures, as I didn’t have a handy way to get those pictures. Still, there’s a gem of an idea, born out by the odd collection of pictures – digital images – fish or not.
It’s not like this was that much of reach, not technically, but the idea had some merit. So my immediate family is getting an Xmas DVD, with hundreds of photos encoded, displayed, and in some cases, set to music.
It’s rather time consuming, but these days, or rather, the long winter nights, seems like it’s the best course of action, let the machine churn and burn.
One of the best events, despite the hoary planets and their displacement, was the family trip at Thanksgiving. Had a chance to fish with Pa Wetzel, and that was just the best, “The oldest man got the biggest fish,” he was able to brag.
As the images flip along, I realize that only family will get some of the references. Ma Wetzel loves pigs, and one point, collected items that were pigs. or pig-shaped. Both along the coast and then, along the freeway to Dallas, there are places that sell statuary. Concrete cast in various shapes. Like a pig. I was showing Ma Wetzel a picture of a half-ton concrete pig, and she decided that the picture wold be better than the pig itself.
There’s also a threat Sister and I have made, over the years, to buy and install the bird-bath with a replica of the “little boy peeing” as its centerpiece. Finally found it at one of the roadside statuary places, but no, I didn’t succumb to the urge to purchase. Must’ve been on my way to work someplace. I tend to show up broke and hope to earn enough to make it home again.
