Cheetah lives.....!

While browsing the blog of my web friend Neo-NeoCon, I was amazed to see that the original chimp star of the old 30's Tarzan films, Cheetah, is still alive at the age of 74! Not only alive but apparently doing quite well with an art career to boot! If you're like me you haven't thought of Cheetah in a very, very long time and one would have to assume that the chimp star would have died many decades ago. Finding and seeing the picture of Cheetah again was like finding an old friend.

Easter.....

Whether you are a devout Christian or just a person trying to do the best he can in life, Easter is a good time to reflect on becoming a better and more useful citizen of humanity. For some reason this morning as I thought about the day, some of the old sayings and proverbs that have meaning started to come back to me. Some from the Bible, some from Alcoholics Anonymous. Here are a variety in no particular order:

Gratitude is an attitude

First things first

Where there is hatred, let me sow love

Let go and let God

Yesterday is a cancelled cheque, tomorrow is a promissory note, only today is cash in the bank.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy

Grant that I may not so much seek to be understood as to understand

It is in giving that we receive

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This too shall pass

Acceptance is the key to my serenity

If you desire many things, many things will be seem but a few

And from Mark Twain these gems....

Let us not be too particular; it is better to have old secondhand diamonds than none at all.

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Wildflowers...

Today's picture of the day reflects Spring in West Texas. I have been intending to photograph this spectacular field of wildflowers every time I am at the Sibley Nature Center on business but have not had my camera with me when there. Today I made a special trip just to get the shot. Not entirely what I want as one day last week there was a beautiful thundercloud to the south which would have added a wonderful backdrop to the image, but the photographers life is never idyllic so I will settle on this early morning shot for now.

It is always nice when a family returns to Midland to visit their old home, a home were they lived as a young family just starting out on life's journey. Nice for the family and especially nice for the community when the family includes two Presidents of the United States and two state governors [don't forget Jeb].

President George H.W. Bush, wife Barbara and First Lady Laura Bush were all in attendance this afternoon when their newly restored home on Ohio St. in Midland was officially dedicated as The Bush Childhood Home. The Bush home has been restored to look much like it did in the later 1950's when they lived there for several years while President Dubya Bush was in elementary school. Much work and even more money has gone into refurbishing the home through funds raised privately within the community to honor not only the current President but also the senior Bush's for their service to community and country.

The dedication ceremony was nice with the Bush's and a few of their old friends from those days relating stories of the warmth and friendliness that Midland is reknowned for. A pleasant event. However here's a word for the organizers of the dedication. Next time you have an event don't put the raised media platform in front of the entire crowd. No one could see the speakers.

The Bush Childhood Home is only about one half a mile from the Bedford estate so we're hoping a few tourist drop by and notice our new roof repairs which, God willing, will take place next week.

Memories....

I mentioned a month or so ago that through the Internet I had found and contacted the two families who now occupy the homes in St. Louis where my grandparents lived and where my parents grew up. The current owners were nice enough and had promised to send photos of the homes that held so many memories for me. But, people are people, and to date I have received no images from them.

But coincidence does sometimes have a way of helping us along. While on my fraternity fishing trip last month I was reminded that of all things, one of my fishing buddies grew up in Webster Groves, Mo. Webster is the small township in St. Louis where my Mom grew up and is next to Kirkwood, home of my Dad. I asked my buddy if he still knew anyone in Webster who might take a picture or two for me. "No problem", Phil said, his sister Molly still lived there and he would put me in contact with her. And that he did.

Even more coincidentally Molly lives just one block over from the old home of my cousins and is a board member of the Webster Groves historical society. Stranger still she was born in the same hospital as my sister.....in Summit, New Jersey. Molly was more than kind in offering information about Webster Groves and Kirkwood, and was even familiar with my great grandfather's old homestead which is now an exclusive development known as Craig Woods. She said that she would love to take the photos, and that she did.

Here at 35 S. Rock Hill Road is the beautiful old home where my mother spent her high school days. And I suppose the front porch is where my Dad used to show up to take her down the street to the soda fountain. My parents met and started dating in high school. Met through my Dad's cousin Pat, who lived one block over from where Molly lives today. Strange.

Worth the effort.....

Like most photographers, I take pictures just for the pleasure of doing so, or to record moments I don't want to forget. The vast majority of photos never make it beyond my computer, a website or hanging on the walls of our home or my office, but sometimes things happen to make the effort all the more special.

Today I received an email from the secretrary of automotive racing legend Dan Gurney. Legend is a word too often thrown around in sports circles, but is the only word to describe Gurney, who for the last 50 years has driven sports cars, Formula One cars, NASCAR and Indy Cars with great success, in addition to designing and building cars and owning premier racing teams. He remains the only US citizen to win a Grand Prix in a car of his own construction. Dan is the first driver ever to win races in the four major categories of motorsports: Grand Prix, Indy Car, NASCAR and Sports Car. To this day he is one of only two drivers in history (the other being Mario Andretti) who have ever accomplished that.

What Kathy, Mr. Gurney's assistant, wanted to know in her email was whether I would sell them a photograph I had taken of Dan and the other luminary drivers that had attended the Chaparral Museum opening in 2004 here in Midland. A good shot of 7 of the sports premier figures such as Phil Hill and Gil de Ferran seated together on the panel with Gurney honoring Jim Hall. Apparently my Chaparral website had drawn their attention and Kathy got my email address therein.

I had to write back and tell Kathy that I was sorry that I could not sell the photograph to Mr. Gurney but that it would be my great privelage and honor to have one printed to give to him. And indeed it is just that......

History alive......

History came alive again yesterday at the Commemorative Air Force........the CAF. A large crowd was on hand to hear four WW II combat veterans of one of the greatest battles in American History, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, popularly known as the "Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot". This moniker describes what a complete rout was achieved over Japanese Air Power, American aviators shooting down close to 350 Japanese planes in just several days time.

What made yesterdays seminar so interesting was that these four men saw the battle from such different perspectives. One was a young officer on the submarine Cavalla which had screened the Japanese fleet and later singlehandedly sunk a large Jap aircraft carrier. After firing 6 torpedos at the Shokaku which later sank her, the Cavalla was depth charged for more than two hours by Japanese destroyers. Hearing this account from someone who was there was as dramatic as history gets! The Cavalla lives on still as a permanent history display docked in Galveston.

Another of the speakers had been an LSO [landing signal officer] on the carrier Lexington. Some amazing stories here too, like the mistaken attempted night landing by a Japanese Zero fighter plane. The Zero realized his mistake at the last moment and flew off into the night. One of the gentleman was a Naval fighter pilot who shot down several Japanese dive bombers, but his most tearful recounting came when he described his return at night, low on fuel, to his carrier. The order was given to the ships in the fleet to turn on their lights to guide the planes home, something not done in wartime operations. The joy the pilots felt seeing these searchlight beacons was so great that this veteran pilot still gets choked up when he talks about this over 60 years later.

The fourth member of the panel had been a gunner on a SBD dive bomber and got to watch the whole battle unfold while circling in a safe position away from the fleet 30 miles away. Not wanting to risk these planes staying on deck, the order had been given for them to launch and stay away from the action. This gentleman had, on a previous mission, been shot down over Truk Lagoon, was given a two week recuperation pass to Honolulu and then returned to his flying duties.

For one interested in aviation history, a more memorable experience could not be had. For those in Midland, you should try and attend these events, especially featuring these WWII veterans. These men were all in their early to mid 80's. Sadly they won't be around much longer.

In May, my good friend Joe Galloway will be the featured guest for a seminar on Vietnam helicopter aviation and the principal speaker for our Memorial Day program. Hope to see you there.

Act Naturally...

Country music legend Buck Owens is dead at the age of 76. Many people think of Buck first and foremost as the host and star of the corny but highly visible show, Hee Haw, which is sad. Buck was a forerunner of modern country music and originator, along with Merle Haggard, of the upbeat rockabilly Bakersfield sound. In fact Merle played bass in Owens first succesful band. His music influenced many famous recording artists including Emmylou Harris and the Beatles.

So long Buck thanks for the music, go get a Tiger by the Tail!

A picnic would be nice.....

In my younger days I used to relish cold weather. Now, two or three days of cold and gloomy weather like we've been having is about it for me. After my major surgery I find myself much less adaptable to the cold, or maybe the cold and wind. Perhaps too I'm just getting old. Nah, that couldn't be it.

But I do long for some warmer weather to soothe my soul. I can only harken back to today's Picture of the Day and remember the warmth of summer weather and a picnic with loved ones on the green grass of the estate. I too can remember when we had a nice yard with green grass for this picture was taken before D. Daphne Dog moved in. It's amazing how much damage a hyperactive canine can inflict on St. Augustine!

And a note here: I reserve the right to complain about the hot weather come August.

Roof Update:

1:05: I am sitting at home waiting for the representative of the roofing company from whom I got a bid last year. The roofing company who was supposed to be here last Friday afternoon. I called them this morning using my most bright and cheery voice to let them know that their man was a no show. The appointment today was for 1:00 o'clock. It is now 1:05. Dare they stand me up twice? More news later as it breaks.

1:30: Miracle of miracles, Brandon from Nxxxxxxx Roofing called to appologize for being late and is on his way to the estate. Can we dare hope that a solution is at hand for the roof?

1:40: Brandon arrives with no less than the owner of Nxxxxxxx Roofing. The word of my plight must be out. After a half an hour on the roof they descend with the joyful news that not only do we need repairs but really could do with an entirely new roof. Not a surprise to me really, but none the less hard to contemplate. Anyway they gave me a bid for repairs and one for a new roof.

1:45: I suddenly feel the need to go to bed!

My kingdom for a roof...

The last few days have been wonderful and a rarity in West Texas. A slow misting drizzle all day Saturday which is a God send for germinating grass and plants. Even the deluges of last night and again today were bearable for those of us with defective roofs because we know the ecosystem needed the moisture. Defective roofs do, however, take something away from the joy of rain.

Regular readers will be familiar with the travails of our roof here at the estate. A small leak gone malignant and turning the interior plaster in the den to mush. The interior repaired due to January visitors and a massive plastic sheet, sheets acutally, added to the roof to protect the repairs. So far with much alteration and attention this arrangement has worked fairly well, but a new roof without a Beverly Hillbillies effect would be nice. Not to mention cutting down on my worry during middle of the night downpours.

I admit I let the leak go too long without professional repairs but now that we're ready to go on that job, I have just one question. WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH ROOFERS IN MIDLAND? I have only been able to get one bid, from a company who told me that they would be the highest, but the best. Fair enough, but prudence requires me to get at least one other estimate.

I did have one small company recommended to me and they came right out and promised to get a bid to me in a week and then do the work when the weather turned cooler. That was 9 months ago. I've called them 4 times since.....and still no bid. I next ran into an employee of the major roofer in town, owned by a friend no less, and this nice young man said he might do the job in "off hours" and he would be out the next day to offer a bid. No show, no bid.

Another company in Odessa was recommended by a neighbor. This company said that they would be in Midland the next week and would stop by to offer a bid. That was 3 weeks ago. So last week, in desperation, I called the original high bidder and said for them to come out and reassess the job and I would be ready to go. The estimator said he would be here last Friday or would call. I'm still waiting by the front door with my phone........

I would offer names here, but the Internet is a strange thing. With my luck one of these companies would see my mention of their dereliction and we will be blackballed from ever having roofing work done again. I suppose someone will finally make it out and do the job, I know the roofers are enjoying busy times, but I've never seen such shoddy business practices. It reminds me of the drilling business, where in bad times the drillers and service companies will be bringing donuts by the office every week begging for your business. Then when times do get busy, they won't return your calls.

Excuse me now, I hear thunder again so I've got to get up on the roof to check the plastic.

They say it's your birthday....

It's a birthday of sorts round about now. Not my natural birthday nor my AA birthday, but my Blog birthday. Streams is four years old this month. Actually I have been blogging since June of 2001 when I discovered Blogger and tried the format out starting as a place to record some of my dreams but then developing into a daily log for family and friends. Streams came later as the whole blogging culture blossomed and I decided to try my hand at it by building my own template. The rest is history. Some of my scribblings back then I find amusing and interesting now. I see on the Streams archives that four years ago this weekend I was doing exactly the same thing I am doing today. Cleaning up dust and leaves. Life is exciting in the fast lane!

Some fast computin'...

I finally got my new computer built and up and running. To say what a difference is putting it midly. The difference between a 1963 Chevy Nova and a Ferrari.

I had my friend Graylon of AGE Systems build it for me. I had in mind what I wanted, something very heavy into graphics and speedy, but not top of the Intel line speed so I got a 2.8 GHz processor which is fast enough for me. However, as I put in the order Graylon told me I could get a beefed up RAM for only $79 more than the 512 Mb I had envisioned. Beefed up meaning doubled at one full GB or RAM. We're cookin' with gas now.

Graylon was able to transfer all my files into Windows XP without any problems and many of my downloaded programs for which I had no discs. I did have to purchase a couple of my mainstay graphics programs like Paint Shop Pro, but at a discount since I had previously purchased them and this was not so bad a deal as most had been seriously upgraded since I had bought them years ago. The only drawback is that I now don't have the Microsoft office suite as I did have which means I'll have to fork over more dough to Bill Gates for the simple pleasures of Word and Excel©.

The main reason I was finally reconciled to get a new machine was that the old 1950's model Compaq was not really set up for broadband and networking. So, I got the new machine and the Brides networked through a router and we are now enjoying the speed of Grande.Com. Things are working well. I had to download a whole new software and driver bundle for my scanner to work with Win XP. A massive 38 Mb file which took only 10 minutes to receive. On dialup this would have taken all day.

I've been enjoying setting everything up on the new machine, finding nifty multimedia stuff Grayon stuck on for me and especially finding out that I could alter the entire look of the Windows XP system by changing the display to "Windows Classic". I didn't like the bright blue of the toolbars on XP and there is more viewable area using the "Classic". Besides I don't want to move into the 21st century too fast.

The Poultry Professor.....

Professor Robert C. Clark has died at age 84. Prof. Clark has undoubtedly had a profound influence on your life. He invented the chicken nugget and forever changed the landscape of eating habits for Americans, especially those under the age of 12.

Among other poultry based innovations were his invention of the chicken hot dog, a secret chicken barbeque sauce and various poultry cold cuts. Known as the "Edison of the poultry industry" Baker was inducted into the American Poultry Hall of Fame in January 2004 in recognition of his work in the agricultural industry.

Those that knew and worked with Prof. Clark said that alhough he was somewhat hen-pecked at home he was no dumb cluck and all in all he was a good egg.

Let's go fishing.....!

I am recently back from my annual fishing excursion with my fraternity brothers from Trinity University. This was our 31st annual "Let's go fishing" event. It had been since 2004 that I was able to participate. Last year, for the 30th anniversary, the group went to Costa Rica and by the pictures I saw, had a remarkable time. I was unable to go due to the recent surgery I had undergone at just months before the trip, but this year I was back among the fishermen.

I started going in the 80's when the group stayed at some modest little fishing cabins on the Colorado river in Bend Texas. Thankfully I was there only a couple of years before we graduated to accomodations more befitting our group. For the last 20 years we have been staying at the Carpenter Family Ranch on Greenwood Creek as pictured here. Ben Carpenter was a modest businessman in Dallas who owned such things at Southland Life Insurance Company and Las Colinas. He also has a freeway named after him. Greenwood is over 2000 acres on the river and has a gorgeous creek running next to the house. Mr. Carpenter died just weeks ago, so we are unsure of our continued use of his home, this may have been our swan song at Greenwood. It has been a perfect place to have a fishing reunion, centrally located and with serveral boats made available to us in addition to two full time cooks who lay on a mean spread at every meal.

The accomodations aside, it is a remarkable thing for us to have gone on the trip for all these years. The permanent group is comprised of 16 people with others having been in and out over the years. When we started going on the trip, some people had not even married yet and now they have grown children. We've watched each other age gracefully, mainly, but not without going through the trials of life with such things as divorces and alcoholism. Thankfully we now all seem to be on the gentle upward path and enjoying life. The event used to be a time for great revelry and some hard fishing hours, now we seem to enjoy taking hikes and talking. It's a great thing to arrive each year and start off once again like we had not even been apart. We even caught some fish this year!

Concussion C. Remorseful....

No one hates spammers more than I do, but I do wonder about these people. Where are they located and how do they think up the ridiculous names that appear in the "from" box. Perhaps they use this tool. And if you want to go into spamming you can use it too!

My spammer name is Concussion C. Remorseful.

Enter your name to get yours:

Oh Joy.....new tires!

Well I bought a new set of tires [tyres for UK readers] for the "silver bullet" today. I like the tires, they're very nice, but frankly if I'm going to shell out over $450 for something I'd prefer it perhaps not be something so, well utilitarian. You know, you wake up with tires on the car and you go to bed the same day with tires on the car, but suddenly you're out 450 bucks for the privelage.

I'm going on my annual frat brothers fishing trip this weekend, driving about 500 miles to and fro and the old ones were getting a little threadbare. The old models were Goodyear© Eagles and I was disappointed in the mileage that they had before they succumbed. They weren't terribly bad, but needed to be replaced. I know this because most of the time that the Bride and I went anywhere in my car she would point out the bad wear patterns with a look of concern on her face.

My vehicle has fairly wide rims so these tires were probably a little bit more than the average tire and even at that I eschewed the Goodyears in favor of the slightly more inexpensive B.F. Goodrich's. But still, $450. I still think tires ought to cost around $50 each. The salesman laughed.

12 years today...

I have been clean, sober and alcohol free for 12 years today. Such a miracle and another chance at life. There is a passage in the "AA Big Book" which says, "we do not wish to forget the past, neither do we dwell on it". Indeed. There is not a day that goes by that I do not remember what five years in hell is like and with gratitude in my heart I intend not to repeat it.

Thanks to all those who have made a difference over the years.......

Master Mechanic......

I received a call today from friend Jim Edwards at Chaparral Racing saying that they were stumped with a compression problem on one of their Pennzoil Indy cars and would I have a look. So out I went. First I had them strip the body covers and pull the engine. Then it was a simple matter of adjusting the boost level on the dweezle valve with a torque wrench. A piece of cake.

And if you belive that..... Actually I was out at Chaparral Racing for a visit and Jim was dismantling the car for some major maintenance. He asked me about how the work was going on the Bride's Yellow Bug [note: work? what work] and the discussion turned to how hard it is to work on one's own personal vehicle these days. Jim admited that he has to take his own vehicle in to the shop just to have the spark plugs changed. Here's a guy who can completely strip and rebuild an Indy car, but doesn't have the time nor patience to change his own plugs. Something's wrong with that picture. And that would be the amount of crapola that automotive engineers stick in ever smaller engine compartments. Remind me to tell you how they had to take the front end of my car apart just to change the battery. On second though, please don't, it brings back bad memories.

Saturday postscript: amazingly we were notified today that the Bride's Yellow Bug is fixed and ready to be picked up on Monday. I had said I believed that the problem was either a broken oil pump of clogged oil line. It was the later. So, the Bug had bypass surgery and hopefully all is well. At least until we get the bill.

Daily report....

It has been a busy week, not so much productive, as just busy with the realities of life. First, the vaunted Yellow Bug of the Bride developed a problem wherein it has no oil pressure. Fearing the worst if driven I trailed it in to one of the very few local shops that works on VW's where it sits even as I write. We have been sharing my auto or taking turns with it. How people in the prehistoric days of my childhood survived on one family car I can't recall, but it's amazing that there were not more acts of family violence involving cars back then.

Actually the car situation would be worse if not for our other problem of the week, a flu sticken child. Young Jack became very ill last Saturday and for safety sake he has been kept home, which has also kept the Bride home more than usual.

I'm glad to report that Jack is doing better, but was kept home again today because of a bad cough. I knew he was feeling better when I came home for lunch to check on things and found him ironing in his underwear while watching TV. You heard correctly, ironing in his underwear. His Mother's clothes no less. At least he had switched channels after four days of watching ESPN and was watching something educational. The Game Show Channel. We did, however, get to spend some quality time together watching a live car chase in L.A. on CNN.

One more day out of school for Jack, perhaps we'll get the Yellow Bug back and all will be back to abnormal normal.

Into the future...

I did it today, I gave the go-ahead to have my new computer built. After years of dreaming of what I wanted in a new 'puter I had almost just decided to go the route of the majority of Americans and Dude, order a Dell.

However I have been talking to my friend Graylon Coffin for years about building one and he can deliver a custom built machine for about the price of a beefed up moderately priced Dell consumer box. Graylon is one of the authorized Intel dealers here and a wizard. His custom built machine will not be much more powerful than what I could get with Dell, but the real advantage is that he will not add all the peripheral and background programs [i.e. nonsense] that Dell would stick in the box, thus allowing it to operate at a greater speed.

From what I have now the new machine will be like going from the Wright Brothers biplane to the space shuttle. Top speed is not that important for me, so I'm getting a 2.8 GHz processor, but graphic quality and the ability to handle large graphics is. I'm getting a top of the line graphics card and 1 Gb of memory. I have 48 Mb of memory now. An 80 Gb hard drive may not sound too large to some geeks I know......but I have 3.2 Gb now and I have never filled it up. I'll be saving pictures in larger resolution from here on in.

From where I sit now, it should be a thing of beauty. And, Graylon designs these things to be easily upgraded or to mix and match hardware, unlike the consumer boxes that, at some point, you are stuck with what you have. Happy Computing...!

Barney is gone....

Barney Fife, Don Knotts, has died. It was a shock when I read this news a moment ago on another Blog, from Australia of all places. That was the universal esteem in which Barney was held, the classic loser with a huge heart. A great piece of my childhood is gone. It must have been prophetic that Jack gave me a DVD set of the early Andy Griffith Show for Christmas two months ago today.

Barney made the show as much, or possibly more, than Andy, Opie or Aunt Bea. But all together they were great, a real slice of American life. When Deputy Sheriff Fife took a detective job in Raleigh and moved from Mayberry the show was never the same afterwards. What else can be said, or need be said about Barney. So I will just Nip It, Nip It, Nip It!

2 Good Chutes....

Today's Picture of the Day is one of my more unusual shots. See if you agree.

Somewhere, I hope, I still have a Beta format tape of a complete airborne drop from take off to landing. I didn't jump but filmed the whole operation from the cargo bay of a C-130 and from the cockpit. I haven't seen it in over two decades but as I recall it was really a great film. From the cockpit I got good shots of troops exiting the aircraft directly ahead. As I was usually going out the back it was something I had never seen before. One of the most memorable parts of any jump was that instant as the chute opened and you got a glimpse of the aircraft flying away, something very few people get to experience.

In all my jumps I never had a malfunction or was injured on landing, but I saw some close calls and had one myself. Once jumping from a group of five C-141's, one of the trailing aircraft was too low in the formation. As I exited the aircraft my first view after the chute opened was of a massive jet plane flying right towards me. Luckily the pilot spotted the problem and executed a quick turn raising his wing over me and my fellow jumpers. I can still imagine myself snagged on that wing or perhaps sucked into a jet engine! On another occasion I spotted a jumper near me with his chute in a "cigarette roll", where the nylon had wrapped around itself on opening transforming the chute into an olive drab streamer. This poor trooper was plummeting to earth at deadly speed. Luckily, the army trains it's jumpers well and he was quickly able to open his reserve chute and make a safe landing. All part of the job.

Midland Panorama...

Several weeks ago I mentioned being high atop the Midland County Courthouse with Judge John Hyde. I left the reason unstated. The reason, now stated, is that we wanted to reproduce a panoramic photograph to match one that I had from 1926. My new panoramic view matches as closely as possible the shot taken in 1926 though from the old courthouse the original photographer was closer to the street than I and I did experience a slight degree of distortion due to the panoramic lens I used to shoot the images that make up this new shot. I've become interested in who the 1926 photographer was and what kind of camera and lens he used to shoot his wide angle image. I've not yet added the numerical reference points to match the pictures, but again the points in the old and new photos match up very nicely.

Adios Cox.....!

Today was a day I have anticipated for years. Walking boldly to the side of the estate, implement in hand, and with a deft whack...snipping the Cox Cable connection. Here I am caught at the moment of snipping. The gratification was immediate. As I've said previously I lost all love for Cox when they charged me $100 just to change my account over to this address when I bought the home. Also gone is the Southwestern Bell line which I will not miss either since they are not really the "old" SW Bell whom I trusted earlier in life. An added benefit of the line snipping was the beautifiction of the back lawn as both the Cox and SBC lines were strung with such inepptitude that they sagged to within barely 10 feet from the ground causing an unsightly eyesore.

All systems with Grande are up and running smoothly and I have to say that the experience with them, compared to Cox, was Grande. The service techs were nice, polite, helpful and efficent and the home office even called the next day to ask if we were satisfied and everything was functioning as ordered. What a change!

Isn't it Grande...!

I'm spending my lunch hour today, well OK probably the rest of the day, at home with Charles of Grande Communications. That's Charles above, tapping into the main cable feed in the alley. We are finally moving into warp speed with our communications systems. A move long overdue, if for no other reason than I think that Cox Communications is a surley band of foul smelling carpetbaggers. I've held that opinion ever since they charged me a smooth $100 just to flip a switch when I moved into the Bedford Dr. estate and transfered my account to this address.

But Cox will soon be a thing of the past, as will Earthlink, SBC Global Communications aka AT&T and EV1.com. These will all be replaced by one wire with Grande's bundled service encompassing TV, Broadband, phone service, a free hot breakfast everyday and fresh flowers for a year...or something like that. Plus blinding Internet speeds compared to our two dial-up systems. As much as we do on the Internet it's amazing that we've survived with a dribble from the digital hose for so long.

The only bad side to the move is that I probably will have to replace my computer that was built during Herbert Hoover's administration with a new machine. Seems that 1920's technology just doesn't have the horsepower for modern systems. Come to think of it that's not really so much of a downside. My 'puter has 3.2 Gigs of hard drive space, 48 Megs of RAM and the cathode ray tubes keep burning out. A new one is in order.

An interesting sidebar to the Grande visit is that Charles is yet another Army Veteran who got his technical training via Uncle Sam. The last communications technician at the estate had also been an Army Vet, a Ranger to boot. I always enjoy talking with the guys about their experiences. And the Vets seem to be the most professional and hard working guys around. See you on the new high speed super cyber highway.

Another passing...

Time marches on, which is a good thing lest we become bored. But on it's march it slowly starts to leave some loved ones behind. One more important person in my life has left the march. Mrs. Victoria Chapple died last Friday exactly one month shy of her 100th birtday.

I've always described Victoria as my third grandmother, but really she was more like the kindly great-aunt who was always glad to see you. I believe that Mrs. Chapple was probably the first person my family met when we moved to Midland 46 years ago. She was our next door neighbor from then until now and knowing her she would have been the first on the block to bring cupcakes [she made great cupcakes] to the new neighbors. She was a great friend to my Mom as is her daughter Tohya today. It's going to be awfully hard knowing that Mrs. Chapple is not at home next door anymore....she has been for five decades in the Craig family life.

Victoria had an amazing story, some of the details you can read in the link above. Born in Panama when Teddy Roosevelt was the President, daughter of a Panamanian Supreme Court Judge, her brother an ambassador to France and a girl so lovely that she was chosen the Queen of the Panamanian Carnival....their equivalent of Mardi Gras. She attended school in London, taught english and she later married a handsome young army doctor stationed in Panama and made a life with him which eventually brought them to Midland in 1936.

Victoria was without a doubt the kindest, sweetest and most giving person alive. As my old friend Bill Stallings in Houston said today when I told him the news, "well I really didn't know her very well, but I do remember that she was very nice to all the kids and gave out homemade cupcakes for Halloween". Yup that was Victoria. Except that she also had a great accent, sounding like a very sophsiticated Charo...

Up on a roof.....

Today's "Picture of the Day" finds me up on the roof of the Midland County Courthouse along with District Judge John Hyde and his bailiff Rusty. I'll leave you to talk among yourselves about what we were doing there. However if your choice is that I was about to be hung you are wrong. Maybe next time, but in due course you will find out the purpose of our excersion.

I have to tell you that it is lovely from the top of the Courthouse, but today it was also cold and blustery. And also, there are no side nor parapets to the top of the courthouse so one can take some great pictures if he looks over the side.

Internet Journey.....

In the last several days I've put the Internet to work in ways that it's inventor, Al Gore, could never have imagined. The modern Internet contains so much data and ways to retrieve it that I am more amazed all the time. Some things done with the data can be for nefarious purposes, but some result in good things. Such is my story today.

It started several days ago when my friend Bill Loos sent me some interesting links on Microsoft's mapping site TerraServer which showed some old WWII bombing targets in West Texas. I'll share these in a later post. I had tried TerraServer some years ago, but found it somewhat lacking, especially in comparison to Google's map function. But apparently TerraServer has been greatly enhanced since my last visit and I decided to explore some aerials of homes I have lived in and the homes of my grandparents in St. Louis.

I found my Mothers' parents home in Webster Groves where I had spent many an early Christmas. The house was built in the late 1890's and is a marvel, all wood, three stories on a beautiful street. You can see it here on Rock Hill Rd. It is on the far left at center, the second house down with a swimming pool, a modern addition. My Grandparents lived there from the late 1930's until the early 1960's.

Next I went a mile or two away to the home in Kirkwood Mo. where my Dad grew up at 44 Hill Drive seen directly above the red dot. A home that my Grandfather designed and built in the mid 1930's. I helped clean the house out in 1995 after my Grandmother and Grandfather had passed away so I had more recent history with this home, where I had spent much time over the years. And this is where the interesting part of the story really begins, for in viewing these homes I came to realize that with all the 1000's of photos I've taken over the years, I had none of these homes that were so important in my life. I've often regretted not taking a camera to St. Louis a decade ago to record all the memories.

I have had some experience in researching addresses on the Internet using such sites as 411 Locate and Anywho.com but not where I knew virtually none of the information about the occupants. However in browsing 411 Locate I came to a reverse address lookup. Type in the address known and amazingly it will give you the names and phone number of the current owner. I did so on the Kirkwood address and swiftly came up with that information, a Bill and Michelle A. With a little trepidation I called the phone number and sure enough it was the correct home but I spoke with a Nanny who was quite a little suspicious of a strange caller who wanted a picture of the house, even though I explained the story of why. She said she would leave a note.

Wondering whether my message would get through, I decided to explore futher. I remembered hearing that the person[s] who had bought the house from the estate was an attorney, so I Googled attorneys in St. Louis and immediately hit upon Michelle A. at a major lawfirm that had a very good website with biography and email contact. So...today I sent an email to Michelle and within hours I had heard from her! Though surprised that I had tracked them down, I think Michelle understood my purpose and was glad to learn some of the history of the house. Surprisingly she said that her husband is an attorney in St. Louis and has quite a love of art and art history, which is what attracted him to the house. My grandfather was an attorney, an artist and had quite an impressive art collection and being somewhat of a Bohemian had desiged the house with quite an artistic touch.

Michelle promised to send some photos of the house, which has been given a much needed make over. Something that I could tell had been done just from the aerial photo. Michelle seems like quite a nice person and apparently looked over BigGoldDog.com for she made a nice reference to Tres in her second email. I hope to hear more about them and now it's on to try and contact the owners of my Mother's old home on Rock Hill Rd. Hope they're as nice!

Updates....

First, a quick update to yesterday's story of the historic home photograph. An immediate response to the possible identity of the house was offered in an email by alert reader Bob P. who wrote....

"We moved to Midland in 1944 and lived a few blocks north of this house, it was known as the Midkiff home. I have enjoyed seeing your photos of old Midland, as they bring back memories of Midland while going to high school here. My grandfather came to Midland in the early 1880's and ranched southeast of here for many years. I think the brown stone house in your blog was where Mollie McCormick lived, she was Leona Bryant Smith's mother."

Thanks Bob, I'll have to do more research into both houses.

A second update is to our previously told story of the mysterious "harmonic hum". I've been waiting until I was sure of the outcome, but it appears that the hum has departed as eerily as it appeared. I noticed this a week or so ago while walking the Big Gold Dog one morning. As we ambled down the alley about half way through the walk, it hit me that something was not the same as previous mornings. The hum was gone. I thought that maybe it was just that the wind was from the east wafting the hum away from us, but when the wind turned back from the west the result was the same.....no hum.

When I am at the old stadium walking most days I think I can still hear the motor in the distance that was causing the hum and that, logically, something has been fixed or adjusted, but I can't help wondering if the fact that Father Rodney at St. Ann's Catholic Church was also bothered by the hum has anything to do with it's disappearance. Prayer does work miracles!

History tour...

My family has lived in Midland for 46 years now and in a town the size of Midland one would think that he knew almost all the history and historic places. But that really is not the case. Probably, I'm much more knowledgeable on places and events around the town than the average citizen but still I have much more to learn.

Today I decided to spend a couple of hours taking some photos of places I have been interested in. First, I took many shots of an old stone house just north of downtown, a house made of the sandstone which came from the original Midland County Courthouse. There were originally several of these homes on Colorado St. but one of the two remaining homes burned several years ago and was torn down. I wanted to capture the last one while it still stands. Sadly, until just recently, no one in Midland in a position to take action has seemed much interested in preserving our structural heritage. A prime example was the demolition of the train station decades ago.

With my love of trains my next stop was to take a close-up of a train traveling through downtown, something I've wanted to do for a long time. By close up I mean within about 15-20 feet from the tracks. At our home, about a mile from the tracks, it seems like we hear a train about every five minutes. But trying to catch one coming through town while attempting to photograph it is a different thing indeed. I waited by the tracks for over 45 minutes without the Cannonball Express making an appearance.

Not to be discouraged I moved on to a house on the west side of South Big Spring St. about a mile from downtown. I'd seen it from the road as I drove by many times but never had been any closer. This house looks to have been build in the late 1800's or early 1900's and would have been some distance from the center of town at the time. Once, one could tell, it had been a rather substantial home for early Midland. Though still lived in, it is in very bad disrepair and sits surrounded by old commercial buildings and some small ramshakle homes. Seen here in the "Picture of the Day" I have digitally removed the surrounding buildings, trash and old cars and given the shot a slight colored pencil effect making it appear somewhat as though it were still outside of town as it once was.

I'm not sure whose home this was but I've sent the photo for identification to my friend Judge John Hyde who has become somewhat the resident early Midland history expert. Judge Hyde and I have discussed further ways to enlarge my Old Midland website to encompass more history and photos of Midland past. To that end he and I are going atop the County Courthouse this week to take a panoramic view of downtown showing the same scene as appears in the first photo of the Old Midland website. How it looked then and the way it is today. Hope to have it up soon. And if you have any knowledge of the home pictured today, please let me know.

Snoopy Dawg.....

Today I'd like to introduce you to Snoopy. As I tell some people on our daily walk, he's my "spare dog". Actually he's become quite a good friend though he belongs to the Mladenka's down the street.

I generally walk the Big Gold Dog down the alley, which passes behind the Mladenka's house....and Snoopy's backyard. I don't know when, it has been a long time, but Snoopy started to jump the fence in his own yard to join us on our walk. For a long time he was very wary and wouldn't come near me and barely near the Big Gold Dog. But as time has gone on he warmed up and now looks very glad to see and smell Tres and will stand by my side while I pat him and rub his ears.

We all agree that it's not a good idea to have your family pet out roaming the streets and the Mladenka's eventually raised the height of the wall you see in the photo. The wall in this image is deceptive, it's well over 6 ft. tall. It makes Snoopy work a little harder to get over, but as you can tell he can't be discouraged by a thing as trivial as a six foot wall in joining us.

Two summers ago, I believe, Julie started joining me on our walks for a period. She wasn't aware of Snoopy and his behavior. This was when the wall was lower and Snoopy prefered to jump the fence under the cedar trees at the corner at the corner of the backyard. Well as we approached the Mladenka's stretch of the alley, Snoopy decided to come on over. It looked like a big black dog fell directly out of the cedar trees into our path....scaring the peewaddlin' out of Julie.

Snoopy will walk with Tres and Me where ever we go, but when we turn for our home, Snoopy turns for his and jumps back into his own yard, to await the next days adventure.

Attention shoppers.....!

Big Gold Dog.Com, you've visited the website, perused the Blog, read the book and seen the movie. Now you too can own genuine Big Gold Dog© merchandise! Thanks to the inspiration of Eric's Wal-Mart of the web at
The Fireant Gazette I have opened the Gold Dog Goodies© online store. The store has been stocked and is ready for use, but new and exciting items from around the globe will be added constantly.

All proceeds from the sales of products will go towards our Jack's college fund. Well, much of the proceeds, OK, some of the proceeds may go to Jack's college fund. Bulk, discounted orders are welcome. All we need to do is to sell around 55,000 coffee mugs and Jack is off to school. Your business is appreciated! Stop in often at Gold Dog Goodies©

New Feature....

Tonight I preview, for your enjoyment, a new feature here at Streams....a series of animated features from WallyBall Films. Tonight's presentation is a short documentary film showing what actually goes on with "action figures" while their owners are away. The film is entitled GI Joe in action. For the future, I'm also working on a new concept featuring a jaunty clay figure that I've tentatively named, "Gumby". Enjoy the show.

Woody....the opening

The opening of Woody Gwyn's exhibit at the Museum of the Southwest has come and gone, but the memories linger. A grand time was had by all as admirers of Woody's works filled the hall at the museum. The artiste had no real time to mingle with the crowd as he was kept busy signing the finely done catalog that was produced for the event.

Woody was an hour late exiting the museum and arriving at the home of a local collector who hosted a reception for the artist. I arrived with my dates shortly before Woody, yes dates. Julie and I were accompanied by friends Suellen McCommon and Jeri Drozd who wanted to meet Woody. We enjoyed the fine foods, the girls sampled fine wines [OK, heavy sampling] and we had a grand time visiting with Woody and old friends.

We also had a great time getting to know Maria Hwang from Santa Fe who produced the catalog and Katie Leonard of Findlay Art in New York City, one of the galleries that represent Woody's work. The girls were truly impressed with life in Midland with Maria ready to move! Maria's doctor husband is a flying enthusiast and she promised he would be at our Air Show this year, she also invited us to tour Santa Fe's art galleries and lesser known eating establishments with her. Katie has offered us her studio condo in New York City while she and Julie see "Wicked" on Broadway.

Woody, humble artiste that he is, was truly overwhelmed by the support shown by his home town none more than these two adoring fans!

Woody Gwyn.....

Our art museum, the Museum of the Southwest, is featuring a "revisiting" of the work of our good friend, artist, Woody Gwyn. The exhibit opens this Friday and runs through March. Woody arrived today and I met him at the museum, along with his art dealer from New York/Santa Fe and his agent from Dallas. The display of his work looks wonderful; the picture at left was taken with Woody in front of the main wall of the exhibit.

The work behind him is one of his trademark pieces from an earlier period, a work of almost photo realism depicting a cut through a hill country section of I-10. Use the link to his website above to view the many splendid variations of his talent.

Woody grew up in Midland and in fact painted the mural that still hangs in one of the main stairwells at Midland High. We are going there tomorrow so that Woody can look into some much needed restoration. After high school Woody was going to go to the Chicago Art Institute, but instead on the advice of famed artist Peter Hurd, he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Painting the Southwest, Woody ended up in Santa Fe, later in California and now resides in an amazing hacienda in Galisteo New Mexico which was built in 1754. Julie and I have had the pleasure of visiting Woody there and have been invited back. Something we can't wait to do.

For those readers in Midland, try and find a day in the next month or two to visit the museum and view Woody's work. Woody's works hang in some of the most prestigous museums in the United States and in the private collections of major collectors and corporations.

The Harmonic Hum....

The Harmonic Hum, sounds like a 1960's band or perhaps a Perry Mason edisode as in "The Case of the Harmonic Hum". In my situation it is the noise I hear every time I step out of doors at the estate, or for that matter anywhere in the neighborhood.

To the best of my knowledge I'm not hearing things nor have I gone whacko. Others have heard it too, wishing they hadn't, for when I point it out to them they say, "you know I hadn't heard it until you mentioned it, now I do". Some even say later that since I called their attention to it, they can't not stop hearing it, which is the case with me.

I first started hearing the hum many months ago while out in the backyard on a quiet and still night. It seemed to be a long way off and I thought that surely it was some machine abberation somewhere that would be fixed directly. I was wrong. The harmonious hum is there 24/7 every single day and night, Christmas included. I now sometimes even hear it indoors while awaiting sleep at night.

To acquaint you with the experience, imagine yourself in a large very quiet house late at night. The hum sounds as if someone in a room far away from you has just taken the phone off the hook.....a dial tone muted, a midrange audio background noise. This is what I hear constantly, especially when the wind is lightly blowing from the southwest. Even at the stadium where I walk everyday I can hear the hum and it still sounds fairly distant. The stadium is well over a quarter of a mile from our house.

I can pinpoint the direction of the hum within 10° or so, my compass tells me it's coming from roughly a direction of 220°. I haven't done a map recon yet drawing a line from my house out in a direction of 220° but I can tell you that such a line would pass nearly through the First Baptist Church about a half a mile away. I had suspected that this might be the source of the hum and logically it seems like it is probably some sort of electric motor powering a heating or cooling system.

But I've come to wonder. A mysterious hum coming from the Baptist Church. Is this some sort of mind control device. After all I do remember that they used to have speakers high up in their bell tower. Surely the Baptists wouldn't be after my brain would they? Well, no, not my brain but perhaps my soul!

Whatever the harmonic hum is and where ever it originates I'm really tired of it and will soon go down to the zoning commission, which controls such annoyances, and try to get action. Perhaps before the Baptists capture my brain!

How's that.........?

Today, of course, is Martin Luther King day and with Jack out of school and many offices closed [including Julie's] the holiday was on my mind as I started the day.

As I opened the front page of the "Midland Reporter-Telegram" I first noticed the picture of Dr. King and then directly above, the lead headline......."Experts say race to be entertaining". Wow, I thought, that's a pretty bold and provocative statement and frankly not too much in the spirit of the day. I would call the last 200 years of racial relations interesting, but entertaining is perhaps not the word I would use.

But, oh those wags, at the newspaper. Upon further reading of the headline article I discovered that they were referring to the Governors race, not relations among our ethnic groups. Sometimes I do wonder whether editor Gary Ott is poking a little satarical barb at us on purpose.

Boyz......

Today's picture of the day captures one of the events this evening as our Jack has three amigos over to spend the night. Did I ever act this way? Undoubtedly, there were just no cameras around to capture the action.

Mama......

Julie, Jack and I wish to express our heartfelt sympathy to Midland writer and fellow blogger Jimmy Patterson and his family on the loss of his Mother today. Jimmy's personal and touching account of his Mother's last weeks relates how he and his family faced this moment of deep and painful sadness with diginity. It's a chronicle worth reading....

Announcing.......

The picture above is of my brother Mark[r] and Me[l] with Speaker of the Texas House Tom Craddick who was in town to announce legislation proclaiming the Craig boys as "Texans of the Decade".

Well not really, that may come later. What Tom was in town for was to announce our Blakemore Planetarium renovation program for which he was instrumental in getting the funding. Our planetarium is a great civic asset but has become worn and dated over the years. That is about to change with the complete renovation of the present building, construction of a new education building and the installation of a digital projection system to give us IMAX type experiences.

We will also focus on distance learning to serve the very large geographic area that we cover which will include data links to the McDonald Observatory which will enable us to view real time projections of what they see on their world class telescopes. In fact McDonald is so excited about the possibilities that Dr. David L. Lambert, head of astronomy at the University of Texas and director of the McDonald was in attendance today and will have lunch with several of us tomorrow to chart our course.

Interest in the project was gratifying. In attendance at the press announcement this morning were the Mayor and a former mayor, two county commissioners, a city councilman, Dr. David Daniels the President of Midland College and two senior representatives from the University of Texas, Permian Basin. Brother Mark, a recently retired Deputy Director of NASA is our honorary chairman and flew in from Houston to deliver the keynote address. We thank all those who help make the two years of work on this project come to fruition.

The Sky's, and Stars, are the limit in Midland Texas.

The Soiree....

Creative writing [if that's what you call this?] at Streams came to a standstill these last several days as we entertained our semi-annual visitors Bruce Crandall and his lovely wife Arlene. Bruce was portrayed in the movie, "We Were Soldiers" by Greg Kinnear and was the aviation advisor for the film, so he always is a crowd pleaser. And so we always try and provide a crowd.

Our little soiree was Friday evening and The Bride outdid herself with a festive occasion and grand gourmet treats. We had a fine time and I'm sure that some of the people meeting Bruce for the first time enjoyed his stories as we always do.

Faces seen in the crowd included Judge John Hyde, Doc Dodson, Bill Coombes who is a board member of the CAF and Jim Edwards, manager of Chaparral Racing. Also Julie's Dad, Don, my cousin David Donnell and Suellen McCommon, one of Julie's best friends recently relocated to Midland.

National Champs......

If you missed the Rose Bowl game tonight you missed one of the best college football games in history, in my humble opinion, and one of the most amazing performances by a single player ever. Vince Young beat the USC Trojans and two Heisman award winners.

Honestly I thought it was over with six minutes to go, but I should not have counted Vince out. Truly amazing. The photo above is Julie, in the hat at center, surrounded by Vince Youngs family at the Texas/OU game in October. I had just talked to Vince's mother and congratulated her on that triumph for her son.

Congratulations Longhorns, it means a lot to the State of Texas to beat the boys from Hollywood!

Tradition: Adios, good-bye, so long...

Did anyone else notice something strange about this New Year's Day? As far as I can discern there is not one college bowl game being played today. Not one. For those under the age of 20 I will relate to you that all the major bowl games used to be played on New Year's Day. It was an orgiastic football feast lasting from 10 a.m. till after 10 p.m. A time for male bonding of the highest order and for the women to sit in the other room cooking and gabbing. In other words quality family time. At the end of New Year's Day you would know [most likely] who was the National Champion and the next day the holiday's were over and it was back to work.

Now? The bowl games began two weeks ago with the Avocado Bowl, Jell-0 Mold Bowl, Roto-Rooter Bowl....ad infinitum. If your team finished the regular season with a 6-5 record, no problem you were bowl bound. This is in some ways humerous to those of us who have been watching college football for 46 years. But mostly it is very sad. Crass commercialism has finally sacked the tradition in college football. This trend continues and in fact gets worse. I heard several days ago that The Peach Bowl, after all these years, will now be known only as the Chick-fil-A® Bowl. How catchy, will the bowl championship ring have a drumstick on it? A fowl wind blows in Georgia and in the tradition of college sports.

A New Start....

It's always good to start out the new year with something brand new. One something brand new of which we are very proud is our new website at The Sibley Nature Center.

Thanks to the very hard work and creative ingenuity of web designer Eric Siegmund the website has an all new look and many more areas of interest to enthrall those of us who are interested in all aspects of our life here on the lower Llano Estacado. Of particular interest to me [I am also the moderator] is the new photo section where the public can upload their photographic images that pertain to our biosphere and those who inhabit it. Also we have added a message board so that anyone can comment on or ask questions about areas of interest to them.

The website is only one aspect of change at the Sibley Center where we have rededicated our efforts in order to become a regional learning center for both school age children and adults. In the future look for a lecture series, special speakers and events...like our new annual "living history day". I hope you'll take a peek at the website.

A Big Day....

Today is a very big day for us and a day when a special blessing was bestowed upon me. A day when life changed for the better with the addition of two special people [and a dog!] in my life.

Please view our big day card!

"Hey" Mr. Speaker.....

So I'm at the Ace Hardware this afternoon shopping for carpentry brackets when I hear a voice behind me ask, "Hi Wallace, how are you doing?" When one turns around at the Ace Hardware, one hardly expects to find the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives asking how you are. But this is Midland and one never knows who he will see, from cabinet members to first families.

Mr. Speaker, Tom Craddick, is someone I've known for decades and he and I have always hit it off for some reason. Or.....maybe that's why he has been an elected official for so long, he gets along well with everyone. I originally met him because his sister Bonnie set in front of me in "home room" for four years in high school, we sat in alphabetical order and in those days had home room every single day. Cowden, Craddick, Craig, I got to know Bonnie very well.

The Speaker was in Ace Hardware to get a key made and to buy some assorted hardware. He, like me, was dressed in his Ace Hardware attire, a sweatshirt and shorts. As we shopped we had a nice chat and I had the opportunity to thank him for the funding for our planetarium renovation which he arranged and to put a bug in his ear about several other projects I'm involved in. He was interested to know about the Chaparral raceway project [he is a good friend of Jim Hall] and also said he would check into help from UTPB with the large broadband connection we need to link the planetarium to McDonald Observatory for live shots of what they are seeing down there. I'll see the Speaker again on January 11th for our planetarium renovation announcement party.

As I said above, if your timing is right you can run into some interesting folks in Midland. As an example, we are planning a reunion for Midland and Lee High Schools this summer, for the classes that graduated in the 1960's. On the invitation list are.... the Speaker, the former Secretary of Commerce [his wife and he actually], Gen. Tommy Franks and the First Lady and her husband, what's his name.

Christmas Day.....

I'll make today's post a short and sweet synopsis of our Christmas season so far. You are busy with your family and I with mine. We hope your Christmas day is as wonderful as ours. Compared to the last two years we are in Yuletide paradise.

Two years ago we were moving Julie and preparing for our wedding to be held five days after Christmas. Last year, of course, I was lying in Cardiac Recovery.

Since Wednesday and as of almost noon today we have been to Ruidoso, New Mexico, attended late night Christmas Eve church, opened Julie, Jack's and Wallace's presents and are preparing to host my folks for their gift opening and Christmas lunch.

Julie and Jack went to see her folks newly finished home in New Mexico and her Dad and I went up on Friday. It's a lovely home located in the pines about 7,500 feet up in the Sangre de Christo Mountains. On the way up Don and I stopped at artist Peter Hurd's Ranch at San Patricio where we had a nice visit with Peter's son, Michael [at right above]and Mike was able to finally identify and give a name to a Peter Hurd seriograph that I have. While in Ruidoso Jack, Don and I played miniature golf and rode go-karts, the weather being extremely warm for the season and the mountains mostly bare of snow which nixed Jack's skiing opportunities. We also went furniture shopping.....something for the new house and a new front bench for the Bedford Dr. estate.

Julie, Jack and I drove back Saturday afternoon and after a brief respite and finishing up our gift wrapping it was off to late church where Jack had acolyte duties. Once home Jack and I listened to some rousing Doobie Brothers music and then off to bed while dreaming of sugar plums dancing in our heads. Santa also had his duties putting Jack's new bike out under the tree.

Jack, of course, was up at dawn ready for the days treat and thrilled with his new bike.....complete with "double pegs". I received very nice workout/walking outfits which I needed, a cool multiple DVD set of the early Andy Griffith TV series and a stocking full of life's essentials! Fool that I was I thought that I could buy Julie's gift last week, an IPod. There was not one to be found in Midland [except at Sam's Julie tells me now!] so she had to settle for the gift card version.

This morning we have been enjoying our gifts, cleaning up and preparing for my folks. Jack and I had the first annual "poop n' hoops" contest. The first one to make a basketball hook shot got out of the big pooper scooper duties for the day. I was a shoo-in, but Jack surprised even himself by making the first hook. I've just completed the poop patrol.

Have a great Christmas........!

We wish you the merriest of Christmases and the most Happy New Year. A time to rejoice in all that we have to be grateful for. Click on the Christmas image above for the Craig family digital holiday card.....and a short movie of the crew!

Deck the halls.....or maybe an old lady!

I decided to get an early start on my Christmas shopping, so I began today. You laugh, I usually start in earnest on the 23rd. Frankly it has gotten easier as members of my family get older and less interested in the gift than the thought involved. Gotten much easier with a Bride who is very interested in shopping and doesn't mind picking up things, especially for my nieces. I've never really developed a knack for shopping for 6 and 8 y.o. girls. She also suggests things that I can get for other family members.

Modern technology has made it much easier too. Gift cards are not too emotional but they are very handy and a card bought here at a major retailer is good at any city in the land and the recepient can chose what he likes. My parents love a Luby's card, my nephew prefers Best Buy. My Mom likes Barnes and Nobles and the bride likes Talbot's [note: for prying eyes, not this year].

The Internet has matured into a great way to shop also. I first tried to order online in 1998 and I'll have to say it was a disappointing experience. Busy webservers, poor personal contact if need be and the agony of going through the shopping basket only to have an "out of stock" appear at the end of the ordeal. Today the poorly run sites have gone out of business or been purchased by the people who know what they're doing. I surf up my gift choice and then choose to use the 800 number to make the order. My preference the last several years has been the Stockyards. A great high end meat purveyor in Chicago that has not disappointed.

But today there were a few items I needed that caused me to visit some real life stores. My Mom, who says she wants nothing, actually needs a new Boom Box. Her current model has a defective CD player. So to Best Buy I went. I picked up the gift cards for the nephew, the Boom Box and something for Jack. Though crowded the shopping and checkout was actually not too bad. But on the drive out of the parking lot it happened. One of the reasons I prefer to shop online if possible.

To my way of thinking there are two classes of drivers at Christmas time. Those who consider the season and are extra polite and their opposite, those who consider the season a time to act out their worst behavior. I ran into one of those this morning.

Driving down the main internal road of the shopping center where Best Buy is located a 60'ish woman in an Expedition [i.e. land monster] was exiting one of the side parking areas and decided that she didn't need to stop for the flow of traffic. Turning at a goodly speed into the line of cars she had the nerve to honk at me and gesticulate wildly, I could see her mouthing something. Merry Christmas, I'm sure.

I wanted to stop and ask her what the cop who gave me a speeding ticket some weeks ago said, snidely I might add. "Lady is there some kind of medical emergency that's causing you to drive this way". Or is it just the Christmas spirit. I don't and won't ever understand some people.

Blizzard.....!

Blizzard may be a little melodramatic, but we did awaken to a heavy and beautiful snowfall this morning. I like our regularly occasional snowfalls and this is the first of the season, but my initial thought was, Uh Oh! I was nervous because of several activities occuring early today. The most important of which is my Dad's

release from rehab today for which my Mom will have to drive across town.

Aha, bad son you say to make your Mom do this alone. Well, the other event occuring today is the cleaning of our carpets by "Sonny" and his Mom for which I need to be at home because the Bride is at the dentist. "Sonny" is about 68 y.o. so you do the math on how old "Mom" is. But she's a worker and they are great carpet cleaners and so cheap we almost feel like we're guilty of elder abuse for what we pay them. I would heartily recommend them and will provide their number for local residents.

{.....Time passes}

Now.....Sonny is here, alone, and is busily cleaning the carpets, the snow is tapering off and all is well at the estate. I'll be off now to check on my Dad and then possibly arrive at the office just in time for lunch. This snow is beautiful especially because it is not bitterly cold out and it should be melted and gone by tomorrow when the temperature will reach the 50's.

{Update....yet more time passes}

My Dad is safely home from rehab and when asked if the roads were any problem my Mom's answer was, "It's nothing. I used to drive in real blizzards in Missouri". As I type Sonny is loading his equipment and the carpets look immaculate! Now I hate to walk on them they look so fresh. As noted above Sonny came without Mom this time and when I asked why he said that though she hated to she had to give up work when she turned 90! And on a sad note due to poor circulation she had to have a leg amputated. She's been to rehab and is now home learning to walk on her new artifical limb.......at the age of 92. The will to go on burns brightly in some people.....

Twelve [12].......

Our little Jack, not so little anymore, is 12 today! Since he will be gone tonight we had his little family birthday party at 7:30 this morning complete with cards, cake and one present. Not that he is deprived and only received one gift, but he discovered several more yesterday and got them then. This included a new jacket for knocking around in and a spectacular flat screen video monitor capable of carrying feeds from computer, TV, DVD and PlayStation. I hope that We He enjoys it!

Several nights ago while his Mother was out at another of her "girl" Christmas parties, Jack and I had a nice bedside chat about growing up and the responsibilities involved. A heart to heart talk where I described some of the pitfalls I had encountered and the talk where I warned him that if he tried any of the things I used to do he would be grounded until he left for college. He is truly a gem and I couldn't have asked for a better step-son, I love him dearly.

In addition to his little party this morning we took him out to the newly reopened Johnnie's Bar-B-Que last night. Johnnies, as I've written before, is a Midland legend that recently caught fire and just reopened on Monday. For local folks, it has not changed a whit except that now it looks and smells clean, but this did not ruin our dining experience. The only sad part of the fire was that Johnnie lost all of the mementoes that been hung on the walls over the decades. I asked the manager if we might bring some new memories in to hang, and he said he would be most appreciatative.

Outstanding in the street......

Several years ago I decided to drive the 20 or so miles over to Stanton, Texas on a photographic tour. For as long as anyone can remember, Stanton has had a sign outside of town that says, "Stanton, home to 3000 friendly souls....and a few old soreheads". The "old sorehead" theme has grown into somewhat of a town motto and now even the quarterly antiques show is called, "Old Sorehead Trade Days." Julie was almost blown up in a big butane explosion there last year...but that tale can be found in the archives.

The Big Gold Dog decided he wanted to go to Stanton that Sunday afternoon and I'm glad he did for we had a good time walking around the main business district. And it's good to know that there are some towns left in America where a man and his dog can just stop and sit down right in the middle of the main street!

Seven [7].......

Seven [7] is the proverbial lucky number. I like the number seven [7]and I feel like it has been lucky for me too. Especially today because seven [7] was the temperature when I walked the Big Gold Dog and I was lucky to make it home without becoming a cold weather statistic.

I have the cold weather gear available to wear but frankly living in the desert climes of West Texas I have gotten used to not having to wear it. And I have been in some really serious cold weather before in Minnesota....down close to -30° but I really prefer not to endure this kind of cold anymore. But it is supposed to warm all the way up to a balmy 35° today which will seem like summer in the tropics and by Saturday a heat wave all the way to 60° is expected.

For those out of towners reading, seven [7] in Midland is really not something that is for the record books, the actual record being 11° below zero. Still seven [7] is purdy darned cool when you were wearing shorts just several days ago.

Down at the fire house....

Several months ago, at the height of my period of feeling poorly, I was shopping at one of the large local grocery stores and I started to sense that I was getting light headed. More than usual. I was near check out so I 'soldiered' through with the intent of paying and driving home to rest. This feeling had come over me before, though not so intense, but I thought I could make it.

As I neared the check out station I soon started to sense that I was about to keel over, as in pass out. It was then that I spied them, a whole crew of Midland firefighters who were also getting ready to check out. My manly sense of not being a baby and asking for help was overcome by my reluctance to end up face down on the floor so I approached them and said, "Guys, I'm not feeling too well". They agreed that I looked pretty pale and escorted me out to their fire engine where they checked my blood pressure and other vital signs of life. We agreed that I should not attempt to drive home so I called The Bride to come get me.

While we waited I had a nice conversation with the guys about one of my old friends who had just retired from the fire department, photography and the Internet. The Bride soon arrived, I thanked them profusely and we went on our way. I went back to report to my crack medical team this sad turn of events and we decided that my blood pressure medication was the culprit of my ill health. I'm now off the medication and feeling 100% more wonderful.

But today as I was driving out to our storage unit north of town I realized that I would pass directly by the fire station where my caretakers are stationed, so I decided to stop in. As luck would have it the same crew of guys was on duty when I arrived and after a moment of reflection they all recognized me. It was lunchtime and I hated to disturb them but we had a nice visit and I was able to thank them again. I have to say I had a flashback to the old "Emergency" TV show. The one where much of the action was in the fire house, where the guys would be sitting around eating until that infernal buzzer gong doohickey went off sending them on their next mission. Anyway it was good to see these guys again and hear them say that they had visited Big Gold Dog.Com where they had been interested in my photos of old Midland, they even offered to contribute some photos to the site.

Thanks again guys. The next time you see a firefighter thank him or her, you never know when you'll need them.

Pink Eye...

I've been fighting an illness most of this week. I keep seeing a purplish-pink to pure pastel pink shading over everythng I view. At first it just flashes and then it turns totally pink for long periods.

Thank goodness it's not my body nor my eyes...it's my computer screen. A not totally uncommon occurance when something starts to go on the fritz with ones computer video system. It could possibly be the graphics card, but most probably it is my trusted and wonderful 19" Swedish monitor. For the first year that I had my computer I suffered through the use of the stock 15" screen that came with the computer. Yes, this was back in the dark ages of yore...my computer is that old. I thought that the box would go first but it just keeps plugging along.

I switched to the 19" monitor after I started flying a WWII flight simulator. The squinting to see the Focke-Wolfe 190's was killing my eyes. The 19" opened up a new world especially after I coupled it with a new Diamond Viper graphics card. Great viewing and really good for doing all the photographic work that I do.

But now the end is apparently near and I can't believe it but it is hard to find a new CRT monitor. The world has gone to flatscreen LCD. I'm not opposed to flatscreen nor LCD, it works for most people. However I have a corner computer desk unit so space is not a problem and I still think that CRT's have more vivid, deep colors for photography purposes.

One day during the week I went for several hours without a pink cast to my viewing and I thought that perhaps the monitor had found a cure for itself. But, alas, the pink is back and I'm afraid things are terminal. Julie has several old monitors at her office that I can use temporarily but decisions must be made.....

By the way, the pink effect has cast a new light on playing solitaire. With a pink overcast to the screen, reds are effectively cancelled out so a game is now much harder when one can't tell hearts and diamonds apart. Try it, it's very challenging.

All stressed out...

Today was a big day. A stressful day....by design. The occasion was my "almost one year from the big operation cardiac stress test". Not to keep you in suspense, all the studying for the test that I did paid off. I passed with flying colors, flying so high that I was in the top category. Whew! The stress passed away with that diagnosis.

I have been walking without fail every day, working my way up from stumbling just up the block a week after the operation last Christmas to three fast miles a day recently. My ace cardiologist Dr. Steve Brown, besides being a fine guy, is a great cardiologist full of useful knowledge and facts. He tells me that my "exercise quotient" is very high and that being in that category, studies show that my risk of a heart attack in the next 5 years is low to nil. I asked for a guarantee a little further out, but could not get him to commit to that. But he did say, that all indications are that I'm doing well.

For those who haven't been through this proceedure it is interesting and another example of amazing technology. First a measure of heart activity is done while resting including a sonogram of the heart. It's quite interesting seeing your heart functioning on the monitor. Besides the pictures, of course, the numerous electronic leads attached are recording a continuous EKG. Next it's on to the treadmill where the speed and angle of incline increases every two minutes. The biggest problem for me was not respiratory or cardiovascular, but the fact that my legs are not used to running uphill so after twelve minutes I had to call a halt due to cramps.

Immediately upon quiting the treadmill it's back to the sonogram to get pictures of the heart in this physically active state. Dr. Brown showed me the TiVo reruns while pointing out items of interest including no blockages and extremely good muscle function [picture above]. And that was that, except I asked if I might have a Donut from the box I saw at the front desk. The answer was........NO!

Fall's Glory.....

It has been a glorious fall season in West Texas with the trees in their best autumn colors even days after Thanksgiving. The sunlight, high clouds and gentle warmth have been a true blessing. Captured last evening as the sun was just below the horizon is today's Picture of the Day. A photo rendered just a pleasant memory today as 220 mph winds have shredded most of the leaves and filled the air with dust. Well, OK, maybe not 220 mph winds, but gusts are hitting 50 mph. Good bye sweet autumn.

On ye bulldogs.....next year

The football season for the Midland High Bulldogs came, sadly, to an end this afternoon. The 'Dawgs fell to the Plano Wildcats in a disappointing 20-7 game. Disappointing because it was not the Bulldogs best game and they gave away two turnovers that resulted in Plano scores.

Still...it was a magnificent season, especially if you are a bulldog alum and remember 50+ seasons of not going to the playoffs.....at all! The 'Dawgs have now been in post season play in 3 of the last 4 seasons, having played in the state championship game several years ago. Today was a sad end for the kids and fans but being among the last 8 teams in the state playing at the end of the year is not a bad season at all.

Personally, I'll miss watching the team practicing while I walk around the track at the old Midland Memorial Stadium every afternoon. It was an up close and personal experience with them practicing only yards away and gave me the occasional opportunity to talk with some of the players and coaches. Thanksgiving evening the team practiced at 6 p.m. and as I walked I noticed two kids arrive early and begin to work out before anyone else was on the field so I stopped to chat with them. It turned out to be Baron and Brandon Batch. Baron was the key player on the team and now has the single season MHS rushing record.

Besides the obvious work ethic of being first on the field, Baron and his brother Brandon impressed me with their articlulate conversation and polite manners, "yes sir, no sir". For local fans Baron tells me that he is leaning towards playing at Texas Tech but recently he is being courted hard by Miami, Tennessee and Florida State. These facts caused much chagrin to The Bride, who is a dyed in the wool Red Raider fan.

Great season Bulldogs........

Thanksgiving.......

A day for remembering all the blessings bestowed upon us. Even in rough times we have things that we should be grateful for. We hope your day will be a great one. Here's a little card for you on Thanksgiving Day.

A Special Day......

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, an important day to show our gratitude for all that we have. But today is a very special day too. In fact, there is speculation that the 23rd of November gave rise to Thanksgiving. They say it's your birthday........ da da da.

Snippets....

A couple of quick notes just to let you know I'm still here....

Oh the irony of it all! The Texas Christian Athletic League high school football championship game between Midland's Trinity School and Pasadena South Shaver school was cancelled yesterday after fights broke out in the 2nd quarter. Apparently these were some serious scuffles as the police were called and fans from the two schools had to be led out of seperate gates. Yes, that's the Christian Athletic League!

Midland is an interesting town. On Thursday I went to the funeral of a fine lady who was the mother of one of my high school friends and a church member whom Julie called on periodically. While in the line to sign the guest book I noticed that behind me was Don Evans, recently the Secretary of Commerce. Though I don't really know Don, he is married to the sister of another high school chum, so I introduced myself and caught up on what the chum had been up to all these years. And today, as the bride and I were in line to be served at the First United Methodist Church Thanksgiving lunch, we offered to let a group of older women preceed us in the line. They thanked us and appreciated our gesture. I hope this was noticed in Washington as the group included the President's Mother-in-Law, Mrs. Welch. Acutally it is not unusual to see her at church and social events around town, but I always want to ask her, "How are George and Laura?", thankfully I never have.

Back among us......

My Mother has been an avid and active pursuer of our family's past for many decades now. Her skills in geneology have allowed us to trace our family tree back several centuries and to several European countries. She has researched both her side of the family as well as my Dads.

Doing research into my Dad's family past they have journeyed to Darmstadt Germany and found records about the family before they migrated to the U.S. in the 1870's. They have visited Scotland where she found my namesakes, in the Wallace and the Craig families. They made two trips to County Antrim, Northern Ireland where the name Craig is as common as Patel in India. From here my Dad's grandfather Craig came to America, while his brother, Sir James Craig, stayed and ended up becoming the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.

On her side of the family, the King clan, she has traced the lineage all the way back to North Carolina in the 1700's and then mapped out the family over the centuries as it moved west into Tennessee and then into Missouri. One of her great aunt's was even named Missouri Gordon to honor their arrival in that state. Over this long period of time, many family names appear in our line of descendants. One of those is Judkins, my Mother's Great, Great Grandparents.

Some years ago, she and my Dad had heard that there might be a Judkins family cemetery plot somewhere in soutwestern Tennessee and so on a trip to the area they searched for it, coming up empty. I have to add here, that for most of her geneological career she has done her research the old fashioned way, by visiting courthouses, libraries, farmhouses and by writing letters and making phone calls. Apparently she would leave her name and phone number at some of these places should anyone find any pertinent information. And apparently people do save this information.....for last week my Mom got a call from a woman in southwest Tennessee. Her family had recently purchased land in Giles Co. and had found....yes you guessed it, a cemetery deep within the woods and covered with brush.

These fine folks took the time and very great effort to clean up the grave sites and photograph the markers. One of which faintly reads "Robert B. Judkins"......my Great, Great, Great Grandfather, born 1807 in North Carolina , married in Giles Co. Tenn. in 1830 and died there in 1890. A rather amazing story, I think, highlighting a direct link to our past and probably the most gratifying experience of my Mothers long career in geneology.

Veterans Day....

Honestly, I can't remember when I've been so touched at an event for Veterans as I was on Thursday when I attended the annual Rusk Elementary salute to Vets. I admit to shedding a tear.....ok, several tears.

Rusk Elementary School has been holding this event since 1998, I found out today, but this is the first time I have attended on the advice of a friend who helps put it together. The tribute originally started out in the school auditorium as a way to honor Veterans and to teach the elementary school kids what others have sacrificed for their freedom. So successful has it been that it now must be held in the Commemorative Air Force's largest hangar...and it is packed by 100's of Veterans, their families, well wishers and over 300 kids who put on the show.

After the Veterans signed in, we were then directed to walk in front of the stage to greet the kids. I wasn't prepared for the reception. Hordes of smiling, cheering, waving kids all wanted to reach out to shake hands and offer their thanks for our service. It was especially heartfelt to those of us in the Vietnam age group who had missed this type of gratitude 30+ years ago. Bout of tears number 1.

Over an hour of good old fashioned kid generated entertainment followed based around a USO show, entertainment that had obviously taken many hours to put together and rehearse. The crowd of us "old timers" enjoyed seeing kids having a great time. After the show, each and every Vet was presented with a packet of parchment replica documents of the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Gettysburg Address. But the special gift was another similar parchment document especially printed and framed for the event. A declaration from the kids to us Vets proclaiming that they would never forget our sacrifice. All the Vets were asked to stand, 100's of us, and we were each presented with this precious document, hand delivered by a child from the school. Bout of tears number 2.

This was a special day and so many thanks go out to the students and teachers who spend so much time working on the event and to sponsors such as Southwest Airlines who lend support to the endeavor. I'll remember this for a long time to come. Some images of the event can be found at: Rusk Veterans Tribute