Separated at birth.....?

First of all let me say that we in Midland are proud of our homegrown talent, Eric Winston, who was taken in the 3rd round of the NFL draft by the Houston Texans. After a stellar career at Lee High School and the University of Miami it will be nice to see someone we are familiar with playing in the pro ranks. The Bride and Jack know Eric's little brother from various sporting events.

But did Eric's picture in today's sports section of the MRT remind anyone else of some other familiar characters?

An added benefit...

As far as volunteer activism goes I've never lived in a city where so many people give of their time, energy and assets as they do in Midland. I try to follow the example set by such friends as Pat and Joan Baskin and the late Dean Stoltz as well as my parents in giving something back. The people who give freely do it for several reasons I think. Foremost, they want to participate in something that may help someone else, they enjoy what they do and they enjoy the company of other like minded citizens. This truly is enough, but it does feel good to be noticed and honored with an award occasionally, even if one feels somewhat undeserving.

It was a day...

I don't feel like writing a long expose of the day today, perhaps some details later. But it was a busy and interesting day. I attended events at two organizations I love and support, the Sibley Nature Center and the Commemorative Air Force. An open house for patrons at The Sibley and a seminar at the CAF to hear Col. Joe Kittinger speak. I had dinner with the Colonel at a small affair last night, found him quite personable and didn't want to miss his talk today.

OK, so I'm going to write more than I intended but you'll want to know that Joe was the guy who tested most all of the high altitude ejection systems used to this day by NASA and modern military pilots. To do this he made many trips in balloons over the New Mexico desert in the late 50's and early 60's. No ordinary trips, most were over 75,000 ft. where Joe parachuted out until he hit 18,000 ft. were his main parachute opened. His most historic flight took him to the edge of space at an amazing altitude of 102,800 ft. where Joe bailed out in -100° temperatures. Because of the very limited air at this altitude he hit speeds approaching 700 mph, becoming the only person ever to break the sound barrier without a powered vehicle. His altitude and speed record still stands after 46 years. Use the link above to see the remarkable photo of Joe exiting the balloon on his final and highest jump. Joe joked that his commanders were very proud that he hit his ground targets within a quarter of a mile on most jumps. Joe says that this really didn't matter to him. His personal target was "anywhere in New Mexico, Earth".

As if this wasn't enough of a career, Joe later when on to fly threee combat tours in Vietnam, where on his last tour he shot down a MIG-21 and then sometime later he was shot down himself, landing in the infamous Hanoi Hilton for two years. Later Joe became the first man to solo a balloon across the Atlantic, going from Maine to Italy.

And remind me to relate to you at a later date the details of one of the funniest war stories I've ever heard. The one where Joe loaded up half a years supply of empty Pearl longneck beer bottles, over 10,000 by his count, into the bomb bay of his A-26 bomber, took off at night and flew over North Vietnam. Finding the biggest road he could locate he dropped down to under 100 ft. and opened the bomb doors. Having so much fun with this he did it 4 more times. He has always wondered what the hell the North Vietnamese must have thought, finding about a half mile of broken Pearl longnecks on their road.

And if this wasn't excitement enough for the day, when I arrived home from the CAF, there in my email box were not one, but two personal emails from Peter Noone. For those of younger ages, that is none other than Herman of Herman's Hermits. More on this later.....

What...the pond again?

One of the things I love about West Texas is the vastness of the interplay between the sky and land. Land of the High Sky is our old motto. And last night the sky was wide, high, vast and beautiful with thunderclouds made more beautiful by the setting sun. I'm a sucker for big thunderhead photos and since we live in a treescaped neighborhood I usually have to run down to the duck pond to capture the full sky in a photograph.

So.....please bear with me today's Picture of the Day is yet another view of clouds over the duck pond. And this time the limitations of my digital camera are evident, to me anyway. Being dusk I had to bring up the brightness and contrast thus losing some of the sharp clarity of the cloud features. I should have taken one of my 35mm cameras with the panoramic lenses.

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.

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